Overall a poorer season on the East Coast with strong El Nino conditions and a large pool of cool green water persisting between Matakoa Pt in the eastern B.O.P. and Tolaga Bay on the east coast.Only one Blue Marlin and less than half a dozen Yellowfin Tuna were landed south of East Cape.However Glistening Waters still managed a good stike rate on Striped Marlin for the hours spent on the water.
Glistening Waters departed from Wellington in the second week of January in readiness for the first 4 day charter with Texan,Henry Robinson on the 18th of January.Given the nature of the season we travelled directly to Waihau Bay where our efforts were rewarded with two large tag & release Striped Marlin ( est. 100kg & 120kg) and several other shots.Tired but happy after the trip through the night! These were among the first to be caught at Waihau for 2010 and Henry really wanted to catch his first marlin.Favoured by good weather this trip really illustrated the capability of our vessel in range and speed.
Next on the agenda was the Bay Bonanza which was a non-event with only one day fishable and no marlin caught-the exact opposite to last year.
The next 3 day charter-a combination game and charter affair was dogged with bad luck after heavy flooding in the east coast rivers had brought down much debris and we managed to hit a log and damage the starboard propellor.With speed limited to 8kts we secured a variety of bottom fish but were unable to locate any billfish.
Next up was the Gisborne Marlin/Tuna tournament where we were successful with the winning tag & release marlin – still with our self imposed 8kt speed limit.
The following 10 days were spent on the travel lift at the port of Gisborne while the prop shaft was checked and the propellor sent away for repair.10 days of prime February gamefishing out of the water but many thanks to the staff at Henleys in Auckland and MCannics in Gisborne for the quickest turnaround possible.
The final charter on a vibration -free vessel with a group from Feilding led by Mark Feildsend caught and released their first marlin along with a range of bottom fish.This was the last marlin of the season to be caught out of Gisborne on the 10th of March.
After a deferred charity trip for WONS with Jim Hight & family we departed for Wellington on April 2nd with guided hunting for Red Stag on our coastal Wairarapa Station already underway and the stags roaring well.