Howard Lewis caught this mako shark off Banks Peninsula on the South Island's east coast. Members of the Canterbury Sport Fishing Club regularly target blue and mako sharks over 20 miles out to sea. Several club members hold New Zealand records catching these fish on saltwater fly fishing gear.

See this big 159.2kg Hammerhead Shark taken off Tutukaka, Northland, New Zealand.

With the recently formed Canterbury Gamefishing Club now well underway, attention has focused on the species of gamefish most likely to frequent our waters. During mid-summer surface water temperatures peak at around 16 degrees centigrade. As this is about as cool as the surface of the water gets in northern New Zealand during mid winter, it would appear improbable that billfish, for example, could be caught off Canterbury.

The surface water temperature off the Canterbury coast during June and July falls to only 10 degrees.

The neighbouring Tautuku Fishing Club is located in Dunedin , 360 kilometres to the south, and it would seem likely that our catches will be similar to theirs. The mainstay of this club has been the various species of pelagic shark, notably mako, bronze whalers, blue sharks and threshers. Although these species are able to tolerate a wide range of water temperatures, it is probable they have a preferred temperature range, in which they are most active.

Another popular game fish in these parts is the yellowtail kingfish. Small numbers are typically caught around Christmas time when the water is warmest. It maybe they are around all year but few anglers bother to fish for them during the colder weather.

Albacore and southern bluefin tuna are also present off the Canterbury coast. These fish are able to withstand much cooler water than skipjack and yellowfin. Angling with rod and reel for tuna off Banks Peninsula is as yet, virtually unexplored.

Giant southern bluefin tuna have been caught far out to sea on the South Island 's West Coast of Westport and Greymouth. On Boxing day, 1989, I found a southern blue fin tuna washed up on the beach at Birdlings Flat. It was still fresh and would have weighed around 7 kg.

Any discussion on the availability of different species of game fish in the area would be incomplete without mentioning, that magnificent light tackle game fish,

the kahawai. This species abounds in our southern waters. Many specimens being of more than ample size to interest the light tackle exponent in search of a record.

Canterbury Sport Fishing Club member David Tattle with an enormous 70 lb kingfish taken near French Pass, D'Urville Island.	This big kahawai was caught by a member of the Canterbury Sport Fishing Club during a club run kahawai only fishing contest.
Above: Two views of a hard fighting and dangerous mako shark taken off the Canterbury coast by a member of the Canterbury Sport Fishing Club.	John Butler, an early member of the Canterbury Game Fishing Club, with a yellowtail kingfish caught at French Pass, at the northern tip of the South Island.

Game fish aside, there are also big groper. Perhaps not in the numbers there once were - I have seen old photos of groper actually caught from Canterbury beaches - but they are there. Pegasus Bay and the Canterbury Bight are also inhabited by a number of huge bottom dwelling sevengill sharks. Although not a game fish, they often give a good account of themselves. Several hundred kilograms of powerful, razor toothed sevengill on the line is no picnic.

Intrepid members of the Canterbury Game Fishing Club have always been prepared to travel and regard their home-waters as encompassing virtually all of the South Island.

One of the great attractions of fishing is that there are few certainties. Now that there are more anglers out chasing the big ones, it may be only a matter of time before a member of the Canterbury Game Fishing Club returns to Lyttelton with a locally caught billfish, even if the water is a little on the chilly side.

See also: Canterbury Yellowtail Kingfish. More information on blue sharks and mako sharks.

Big Game Fishing in New Zealand