New Zealand’s trout fishing is undoubtedly world class, and for this reason I try to plan a trip there once a year. My latest visit was meant to be only slightly different to the last, joining four good mates to check out a few rivers in the North Island we hadn’t fished before.

One of our major suppliers at The Flyfisher is Manic Tackle Project based in Auckland. We’re regularly on the phone with the team at Manic and during a conversation a couple of months ago, Rene Vaz asked me when I was next coming to New Zealand and suggested we find time to fish together. Everything fell into place. I adjusted my flights to arrive a couple of days early so I could visit Manic’s headquarters and, weather permitting, also spend a day fishing Auckland Harbour for kingfish.

Locking in a single day’s open water fishing months in advance is risky to say the least. I’d run that gauntlet many times before and so I had little expectation we’d get kind weather and the kingfish would be present. But every now and then you roll the dice and get lucky. This was one of those days!

 

After an early start with Rene and friend Matt in glassy-calm conditions, we pulled up at the first piece of structure that was likely to hold kings. Rene tried to pass me the rod when we got into position but I was keen to see how it was done before taking the reins. After a few casts Rene hooked into a nice fish that hit hard and proceeded to rocket towards a buoy chain. When a kingfish decides to run there’s very little you can do but hang on and soon enough Rene had lost his fish to the chain. I was left looking at a busted 40lb leader and wondering if maybe we’d had our one chance for the day?

 

However as we moved from one piece of structure to the next, we found fish in every spot. My head was spinning when despite polaroiding, hooking or catching fish on one buoy, Rene and Matt would decide to move to another! I hate leaving catchable fish, but sure enough the next piece of structure would be even better. As more fish were landed, poppers were tied on and we began to experiment. After a few casts with the popper, the best fish of the day was hooked, a fat 75cm kingie. Interestingly, all the better fish ended up coming to the popper. Maybe these kings just don’t see many poppers? Another point to note was that as the sun got higher, it became evident the shady side of each structure held the most fish – or at least the most fish that wanted to eat the fly.

The day just kept on building. We polaroided huge numbers of fish patrolling various structures and we also found schools of kings busting up. Sometimes you didn’t even have to strip the fly, there’d be a fish on it as soon as it landed. The sight that sticks with me is seeing a nice king hovering almost motionless, staring at the floating fly like a trout and waiting for it to move. We quit at midday, satisfied we’d caught enough. I would have seen a thousand or so fish and we caught a lot; maybe thirty? But none of us were counting because it was just one of those red-letter days where it all comes together and the only thing you can do is look at each other and say… Wow.

 

For me this was easily the best start to any flyfishing trip I’ve had. In fact it was one of the top fishing days I’ve had in my life! Anyone visiting Auckland should consider a day on the water chasing kingfish. Should it all come together like it did for me, you’re in for a wild ride!

Thanks to the team at Manic Tackle Project for taking the time out from packing orders to have some fun on the water. You can view Manic’s great range of products and more by visiting www.manictackleproject.com