loyal royal

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thank's you guys had a bit of a quite one as i am nearly 40 now as for the fishing reports the weather has turn again we have had a cold blast from the south and high winds and some heavy rain but i have a bit of news i have put my boat on a drystack in auckland when we what to go out we phone the guys one hour befor and they will put it in the water and we just get on and go the place is called pier 21 marine center . when we return they wash it down and flush the engine then place it back in its berth hassle free boating. i am only put the boat in for the summer so we can get more use out of it and some after work trips aswell . the boys are really looking forward to our fishing trips and if the boat is in this drystack me and the boys can go out on our own as is a bit difficult launching a boat with a ten year old and a six year old but they are very keen heres a photo of us leaving saturday morning to drop the boat off. mark b

well the kawhai we had we smoked it with manuka chipping first we rubbed salt on the fillets and then brown sugar left them for half an hour and then smoked for 20 mins they was not that bad but they left a bit of a burnt wood taste in your mouth in the fishing shops here you can buy differant flavoured wood chippings ie jack daniels and beer flavours and many more i will have to give them a try . mark b

well we got out but it was not that good sorry charlie i ment we drove for an hour and then launched and sailed to tiritiri we caught loads of little snapper but could not find the bigger one's . we fished four different locations and some drifting for a lot of the day there were lots of bait fish on the sounder but no snapper. on the radio the other skippers were saying the water is still to cold and the bigger fish will move in around the end of october the begining of november so not long now but i did catch somethink for the plate a nice john dory 3lb 6 which we ate last night and my mate caught one aswell he's went 2lb 8 and we all so had a kawhai which went 4lb dead on so not to good but we did catch and it was a long day and just three fish to show for it . mark b

i have managed to scam a day off work tommorrow and its forecasting lite winds and 18 celsius i have a mate that i work with and he has been fishing the hauraki gulf all of his life and he has a day off as well just sorted out the boat hitched up and we are ready to go . we are going to fish an island called tiritiri matangi its about 1 hour north from auckland we are leaveing at six in the morning 7pm uk time i am really looking forward to this trip as the snapper are starting to feed here now as the fishing paper are writing i will do a full report when i get back if i catch anythink

well to tell the truth i have only been out twice we had a few little snapper all returned but i don't have any marks as yet and i am waiting for my garmin blue charts to come from the US but it is starting to warm up here it's 18c here today and clear blue skys when we went out we fished a place called the noises a group of small islands and rock sticking out of the water the sceanery is stunning and the little bays on the islands are just amazing on the way to the noises we were joined by a pod of dolphins and on the rocks was some seals thats the reason we only caught a few snapper i think but i only went out to test the boat realy . once the weather get a bit better i will be out most weekends if the boss lets me . over here in kiwi land on the tv they have a fishing programme called the ITM FISHING SHOW where he tailers a 7 meter boat around nz catching any think from snapper to kingfish its good programme and the boys love it the guy who hosts it is mad you have proberly heard of him mat watson he caught a 70lb halibut from a rubber dinghy and jumped out of a helicopter on to a sailfish he allso has his a web site itmfishingshow.co.nz but speaking to some of the fishermen here soon as the sea gets warmer the big snapper move in and the sea comes alive can't wait . mark b

after washing down reef raider down last weekend i noticed some green sludge coming out of the engine water in take ie where you put the muffs to rinse your engine out with fresh water i phoned silverdale marine and was asked to drop the boat off anyway the gear box oil seal had gone the engine has only done 40hrs and etec say that you only have to service the engine evey 3 years ? i picked up the boat this morning the mechanic has informed that this is common on the etecs but all's good as the warranty covers it and there is a five year warranty on it . mark

the weather looked good though who won the comp and what was the weight of the fish caught . mark

i caught a brill off bournemouth a couple of years ago on baited hoki's i think it was about 3lb . mark b

congrats to you both and on your new famliy member well done guys mark julie and boys

thanks dave i will have a look and get back to you . mark b

i have a small problem with my electrics on board reef raider when all my aux's are on i switch on the deck wash and all my electrics turn off ? when i turn the pump off they all come back on why would this be can anyone help mark b

sorry typeing error i put 58 knots when it was 48 knot sorry i don.t read what i write sometime and my spelling is bad . mark

hi bob how are you mate who said anythink about coming back we have only just got here . we have just got in from a walk along the beach at caster bay and i must say i wished i had taken the boat for a spin today its been flat clam and sunny allday' as we were walking along we saw there was a big boil of water and seagulls everywere' just about 100 meters from us 'ganets were diveing and there were kahawai jumping out the water caseing the smaller fish pilchards i think i can't belive that there is so much action and it so close to the beach and the bloke next to me on the beach said that the snapper will be chasing the smaller kahawai and its still winter here roll on the summer .

thanks billy have you heard from rich atall hes last posting was in december where has he gone and how are things in sunny weymouth mate are the family keeping well ? . mark b

thanks dave sorry the hear you have been layed off work hope you find some work soon as god starting to sound like a kiwi now (soon as ) . yes i can't wait to get out there but i have a few things to buy for the boat yet ie safey gear life jackets flares and i have a garmin gps plotter coming from the states the 3210 and the little black box that go's with it so i can plug my transducer in to it the boats and outboard are both 2008 so i don't have to worry about serviceing for another 2 years and theres only 60hrs on the engine anyway but one thing i learnt with this great fishing club is never go to sea without all your safey gear ?. mark b

thanks martin mark b

thanks guys charile we live on the north shore in a place called castor bay and the beach is at the bottom of the road which is about 200ft away so not far to tailer (we could push the boat to the slipway its that close ) oh and all the slip ways here are free to use and some of the good ones have floating pontoons and changing rooms . i must say that snapper i caught it was out on a charter boat from a place called gulf harbour about 1 hour north from me here in auckland anyway i have joint this fishing club called browns bay fishing club and i joint it the night befour this trip that night i was asked if i would like to fish tommorrow on this trip so i said yes please so the following day i was up at 6am drove to this marina and meet up with them all the youngest i think was 65 and been in this club from year 1 so one of them said lets have a pot so we all put in $10 each great i thought so we headed out of the harbour sailed for about an hour anchored up and then we started fishing as the day went on lot of small fish was coming up someone had a nice john about 3lb the bloke that caught it said they are very good eating everyone on board was useing small baits ie cutting pilchards in half and useing just fillets i stuck to a whole pilchard all day and it payed off last bite of the day and my rod when mad i did have a few smaller snapper through out the day but they came strait up this bigger one didn't so when on board every one looked at me yes the new boy won the money but hey i stuck with the bigger baits as i was told to do and it payed off and it was very nice to eat . so do you think that i will be invited again ? .

oh and my snapper

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hi everyone i'am back on the site again thanks to paul d well it's been a long 5 months but i am finaly here in new zealand house sorted schools sorted jobs sorted and must important a boat yes i had to do it but hey the fishing here is umbeliverble and the views from my house are to die for back to the boat its a 20ft zenith aggressor with a 200hp etec and i have had it for a week now and not even been out in her yet but i did test it and we nearly hit 48 knots it flys and her name is reef raider . back to us the boys have really settled in well at school and our jobs are going fine aswell it's just a little cold in the mornings here we heat pumps when i kick julie out of bed to put them on can't wait for the summer oh one fish to record for the book a 5lb 6oz snapper but it was on a charter does it count . regards mark b