Pelorus Tours - RD2

The rusty gear can tell...

Got picked up by Gary and Ellen from Nydia bay and couldn’t have had a better captain to take us over to havelock. Not only did we get fresh mussels for breakfast but he also told us an extensive history of the area and the sounds in general as his family have been working there for generations. Was a lovely trip to start our day, on top of that as we were both heading onwards to Blenheim ( we had planned to bus) he offered to give us a lift there as well!

If not my mates insisted, I would rather keep silent about this terrible fishing charter experience. Last weekend I went fishing at the Sounds with my family and some friends, we got on the boat at Te Mahia Jetty at around 9:30am. Then the skipper brought us to check his mussel farm. At first the skipper served us his mussels, we were delighted, but then was one and half an hours slow driving on the boat (about 9 knots). After the long waiting, we finally got to the fishing spot. The fishing spot was really disappointing, It was shallow and calm(here I mean lack of oxygen for the fish), I couldn't see any seaweed or rocks along the shore around the spot. At this spot we got couple Spotty and one or two barely legal size Blue Cods. And then the skipper kept trying some where nearby, of course not good at all. I did ask him to somewhere deeper or has more seaweed area, but he refused to go. I can't believe we took 2 hours driving and one and half hours boating to some where the skipper reckons best for fishing spotty, of course it turns out barren! We had 9 people not including the skipper, we started around 9:30 am and finished the trip around 3:30 pm, we got one Blue Cod home for each person and around 10 Spotty altogether. Some of the Cods I didn't reckon legal size, I tried to find but can't see any ruler on the boat, but the skipper said okay and kept them. I could only took photos for the evidence. On this trip we paid 160 dollars for each adult, my 3 years old daughter was free, he charged my son 80 dollars. So including my wife, I paid 400 dollars for this good at Spotty fishing Charter trip! I was unhappy and I tried to ask the skipper not to charge my 13 years old son, actually he did tried 5 minutes fishing but slept the rest of the trip! But obviously he refused to make a compromise. I got angry not only the skipper shew us to the Spotty play ground, but the fishing gears he offered! My friend brought 4 rods on boat, the other fishing gear he provided was in very poor condition, you can tell by the rusty hooks, not mentioned the rods and wheels! The other thing is, he brought just couple decayed Squid and fish for bait! Yes, and a handful chicken meat, to be honest, I know chicken meat works for fishing, but when it comes to a fishing charter, I just can't believe it! Finally we had to use the spotty meat to fish for bait! I would like to keep silent, but my friends reckon this will only hurt other people if I did't speak out. Hopefully he will take good care of his reputation rather than just money.