Fishing – Sharks and scallops up, crayfish down

What seems to be a growing problem lately is an increase in the number of sharks that are patrolling our waters. Divers are reporting that as soon as they let their speargun off, a shark will quickly appear looking for an easy meal. My advice is to get your fish to the boat and out of the water as soon as you have shot it. Once this is done, a shark has no reason to follow you for that easy meal. For those of you who are not aware, a diver had his hand bitten by a shark last month while diving at the Cavalli Islands east of Matauri Bay. This was a Mako, which is generally the most aggressive shark found in our waters.

Scallops have been on the menu for many this summer. This is good news, as it seems that there are a few more scallop beds around this year than last year. Crayfish, on the other hand, seem to be few and far between. It is obvious that if we do not look after our reserves, soon there will be nothing left! Quotas are there for a reason, but it does not mean that it is a minimum target to achieve every time you go out on the water. Be selective, keep only what you can eat and enjoy the day out!

Continuing our series on fishing lines, we will now cover mono-filaments. There are many different types of mono-filament. All mono-filaments are actually not round but slightly oval in shape. When these products are formulated and extruded, not all the parameters can be controlled simultaneously. If that could be done, you would have the perfect fishing line product. So, for example, you can have a thin diameter, low stretch, high linear strength product, but the knot strength will suffer in the production process. Or you can produce an abrasion resistant, high strength product, but the memory will be bad and it will be generally harder in character. Therefore, when choosing a mono-filament, try to find a product that has a low memory, or is supple, and has a good diameter to linear strength ratio. For example, 0.40mm diameter should be a minimum of 10 to 11kg linear strength. Suppleness is the key characteristic, as hard line kinks easily, makes bad knots (on thicker trace line you will find your knots work loose and you lose a good fish), and is hard to fish with, especially on a fixed spool reel.

Tight lines!

Anthony Roberts, Tackle & Outdoors
tecnisportnz@gmail.com