Bay of Islands

BAY OF ISLANDS FISHING TRIP

A few of us at Desolve HQ were in need of a wellness retreat after a few months straight hard on the tools. Wellington's famous 'good days' can be few and far between at times so we had our sights set on the long hot days, uninhabited white sand beaches, and the clear blue waters of the Bay of Islands. A few days up there saltwater fishing, chasing snapper and kingis and cracking beers at sunset could cure almost anything.

We had a boat anchored up in Whangaroa and all ready to go, all that was needed was a reasonable weather window so we could clock off from work for the week and hit the road.

THURSDAY: North Island Road Trip 

When the day finally arrived, our crew of Rob, Jack & Lachie, (decked out in the new Untouched Waters Summer ‘23 gear of course), loaded up the truck in the wee hours of the morning and set off on the 900+ km trek. The 13 hours on the road was always going to be a big of a grind but the carrot at the end of it was more than enough to keep the mood high. 

We picked up a hitchhiker, Benjamin, when passing through Auckland and it wasn't too long until we arrived late at night in Whangaroa and managed to pack the boat and fit in a night cap to make sure we were raring to go first thing on Friday morning.

FRIDAY: Pekapeka Bay Dive

After a slow morning and not many bites while we got our bearings, the guys took the opportunity to go for a quick dive to have a look around. Towards the end of the day we got the dingy out in the evening and went for a skurf in the warm waters under the Dukes Nose in Pekapeka Bay.

A few wines/beers we caught some fish around the boats lights at night and made an instant kiwi classic of pasta with a red sauce paired with the fresh catch.

Jack wearing the Desolve Untouched Waters Tee – Sea Grass and Emblem Boardshort 

SATURDAY: Cavalli Island's Cook Up

An early Saturday morning took us out of the harbour on the path to the Cavalli Islands. Non-stop teasing all morning from the depths finally provided and the boys (mainly Jack) started pulling up some kai for dinner. Jack pulled up a couple of good sized snapper and Benny put a couple panneys to his name. Rob kept an eye on Poseidon from the top deck and Lachie missed every moment on camera due to his head over the side of the boat.

With our yeti full we found a beeeeeautiful spot on the beach and set up shop and cook up the days catch over our bonfire grate. Benny took charge dealing to the gutting, Rob was on fire duties and Jack sorted some veg.

A few more beers went down as quick as the sun and we talked nonsense about the giant kingy on the menu for tomorrow.

The boys cooking up a mean feed – all wearing items from the Untouched Waters Summer ‘23 Collection.

SUNDAY: Kingfish & Sashimi

Another early morning, with big plans and throbbing headaches we were on the search for kingis. The weather had deteriorated from what was originally forecasted but you get that on the big jobs. Nevertheless, we found a rock with a hell of a tide and lines were in. Bite after bite Jack finally hooked one. Mere metres from the boat before the tax man took his cut and some leaving us a lure down. The luck continued to dwindle, a few more snapper, some kahawai and rat dogs, but no proper kingis.

Calling it even, we headed back to Whangaroa. Got into the skurfing once more and prepared some sashimi for dinner.

MONDAY: Roadie Back To Wellington

A sleep in and a boat clean was all that was asked of us on Monday. The dread of the 12 hour drive back to Wellington beckoned with a yeti load of the good stuff to take home.