Hi all

Can you believe it's March already? Hopefully the game fish have been kind to you and one or two have graced your decks. For me personally its been an outstanding year for Marlin but with Yellowfin tuna being so thick around the country, I've managed to weave my way through all of them so far.

It's an exciting time of year though, Game fishing hits another gear until it starts to die away over April, and the inshore fishing starts to really get exciting.

And boy have we got some great events coming up! First up on Friday 7th of March we're holding registration and briefing for the 2025 Simrad Raglan One Base at the Raglan Club. The weather is looking amazing for the whole week at this stage (famous last words, or possibly the curse of the black jellybean!) So hopefully you've got some crew sorted and some days off for the following weeks to give it death! We have a mid week Prize Giving at the Raglan Club on Wednesday March 12th, and the the comp ends with Prize giving on Saturday March 15th.

Then on March 26th we have our March club night and prize giving for the Summer champs, so make sure you put a ring around that date for another great night at Summer Champs Sponsors Hunting & Fishing Te Rapa.

And theeeeeen, we have the Hunting & Fishing Big Four Comp Starting on April 12th and running through to the 27th, with the prize giving to be held on 14th May .

Don't forget the NZSFC junior Nationals are running in parallel with the Big four so get your young people signed up for that two, with some great prizes from Daiwa and other sponsors. Get more information from here NZSFC Youth Nationals 2025 – New Zealand Sport Fishing Council

So that's it from me for this month, hopefully we'll see you all at the Simrad One Base!

Cheers

Bob

For more information on Simrad Raglan One Base visit our website

Woohoo Lachie's set a new WSFC Junior Yellow Fin Tuna Record

What an outstanding achievement for our junior member Lachie Anderson reeling in a 53.5 kg Yellow Fin Tuna on a 24kg line. This breaks our current junior record of 33.60kg caught on 26/03/2016 held by Thomas Purdie.

Lachie battled the fish for 1hr and 3 minutes and was pleasantly surprised when it hit the surface and he saw how big it was. What makes it even more impressive is he had a sore arm at the time and found out later that it was broken. Congratulations Lachie and the team on McSlay.

February Club Night

It was wonderful to see some new faces at our February club night. Members left equipped with some useful information for our upcoming WSFC Simrad Ragland One Base competition.

James Pike provided safety tips for departing from Manu Bay in a small boat. He explained the maps he uses to determine if conditions are safe for boating and showed us his nearshore fishing spots that have proven successful for him. He described using the coastguard app to log fishing trips, including details on destination and expected return time for safety purposes. Additionally, he offered several boat maintenance tips.

Bob Gutsell then shared his game fishing techniques of when, where, and how to increase your chances of a successful day fishing. He presented a formula to help predict the best bite times and shared the resources he uses to decide his fishing spots for the day to avoid aimlessly driving miles and miles. Bob also stressed the value of local knowledge and insights from recent successful anglers. Additionally, he provided examples of technology and apps available to help predict where fish are located.