Game fishing in New Zealand is steadily becoming more popular as boat, engine, and tackle technology has completely reinvented the sport, and made it accessible to anyone keen enough to give it a go.

Howling reels and big smiles are two things that soft bait fishermen get to enjoy on a regular basis. Soft baiting was one of the first real game changing lure technique to revolutionise fishing in New Zealand, particularly if you are chasing snapper. The advent of braid line, and powerful yet comparatively small thread line spinning reels, made this method of fishing not only great fun, but deadly in pretty much any water up top 40 metres. Fished from kayaks or small boats right in close, these lures have proven effective on just about everything from john dory, kingfish, cod, kahawai, to absolutely monster snapper. From a larger boat they are also very easy to fish the highly productive 15 – 40 metre water band.

Big, fat fish that are awesome to eat! Deepwater species make up a staple target for fishermen all over New Zealand, particularly in the colder months when snapper and game fish take a winter break. The catch is often made up of fish that are large in size, where sometimes just one fish can fill the freezer and provide food for a month. It can be very rewarding, exciting, and certainly provides a solid work session if you are not using electric reels. It also means that these giants of the deep will be making a one-way trip, there is no returning fish that are pulled up from that depth, as they are ‘blown’ from the massive change in water pressure and usually float to the surface for the last 50 metres once you have them up that far. Here’s where sensible catch management is required for the respect of the fishery and the protection of your own spot X’s for next time. ‘Deep’ water, means anything over 100 metres, and commonly down to 350 metres or even more. This means specialist tackle and techniques are required. Pete Lamb operates long term Wellington store Pete Lamb Fishing, and has been operating charters that prospect the deep for many years. Here’s a really comprehensive article on deep water fishing with specific focus on some of the Wellington region areas, but all the other information is relevant to fishing these species all around the coastlines of New Zealand.

Catch fishing have invented a new way to add a bit of extra vavavoom! to your lures. Check it out here...