DEEP – SEA FISHING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 8

DEEP - SEA FISHING.

FINE SPORT AT TAURANGA. NUMEROUS PARTIES AT WORK. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] TAURANGA, Monday. The fishing grounds off Mayor and Motiti Islands have provided splendid sport during the holidays. Fish are reported to be plentiful, and the catches include sharks, lcingfish, hapuka, schnapper, terakihi, trovalli, baracouta and other species. Messrs. Horace Barker (Tauranga), A. Barker (Lower Hutt), R. D. Barker (Christchurch), and E. W. Purdie (Wellington), visited the fisihing grounds between Mount Maunganui and Motiti Island, and caught scwt. of fish in less than four hours. The catch included 12 hapuku, up to 401b., 24 kingfish, 100 rock c0d,"60 schnapper, up to 211b., 1 baracouta of 4ft., a ground shark of 7ft., and a soldier fish of 2ft. Trevalli and kingfish were seen in shoals and seven kingfish were secured in as many minutes. Major Choate, Dr. MacDiarmid and Messrs. Ellis and W. Ferguson formed a party which visited the Motiti waters. They secured 35 hapuku, up to 921b., 3 sharks, up to 6ft., and numerous schnapper, terakihi and cod. A party of natives fished the same locality and caught scores of terakihi, rock cod and schnapper, as well as half a dozen liapuka. There has been quite a fleet of boats at Mayor Island, including the yachts forangi and Moana, of Auckland, and several of the boats have returned, and the information to hand shows that hundreds of hapuku and kingfish and thousands of smaller fish have been taken. Several of the parties each landed over a dozen hapuku and scores of small fish each day. One party observed a swordfish and a mako shark cruising in close company. The first big catch of the season at Mayor Island has fallen to a party of sportsmen on the launch Virginia, a ground shark, lift,, lcng. It fought for j two hours before it was killed.