Mischief Managed

Today my Dad and I went out fishing on our boat. I haven’t been fishing in such a long time so I was really excited. The weather was nice because the sun was out, but not to kill us. The waves were also a little rough which makes the boat ride more exciting. It’s fun when your stomach drops as the boat smashes over the waves. 

We launched the boat at Westhaven and headed out towards Rangitoto Island. We did not catch any fish at the first spot we tried, so we had to go further out. 

I baited my own hook…

And let the line down. When I was younger I used to find it difficult to feel the difference between a bite and the sinker jumping around on the bottom. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it though, it seems quite obvious now.

The first fish I caught was a gurnard. I thought it was a pretty fish and it reminded me of a butterfly. Again, when I was younger I used to find it so hard to reel fish in. It’s good to know that I’ve gotten a bit stronger over the years. These guys weren’t too heavy.

The next fish I caught was a kahawai. I thought he was pretty cool…

And then all of a sudden my Dad was cutting him up for bait. Poor fish. I felt quite bad. 

I insisted we put the next kahawai I caught back into the ocean. Ignore the blood coming from his eye… He’ll be right. Right?

I finally managed to catch a snapper. Whenever I would let my line down the kahawai would just attack my bait before the sinker could reach bottom (where the snapper apparently are). 

But then my Dad just had to show off and caught two fish at one time.

This is all the fish that we caught and kept for the day. Yum. I hope I can go fishing again soon and catch something bigger.