On a beautiful Thursday morning last week, the wind was forecast to be a 15 knot Easterly - perfect conditions for kite fishing on the West Coast.

A few time unlimited clients had been wanting to go kite fishing so I called them and all agreed to a 5am start the following morning.

As usual, I was as excited as they were and I couldn't wait to get out onto our beautiful coastline the next day. We drove to Whatipu at the north entrance to the Manukau Harbour and arrived at the car park while it was still dark.

Pic Above : Sunrise just north of the ninepin at Whatipu Beach

We started fishing this notoriously difficult stretch of coastline with its huge tides, strong currents, snags and rips (and fish!!) just as the sun rose in the East - an amazing sight!

Pic Above : Whatipu offers the experienced kitefisher many opportunities, big sharks abound, kingfish are common from November to May, trevally, snapper, blue moki, spotted dogfish and kahawai are available year round. Neil has the specialist knowledge required to fish in the bay above which lies between Paratutai Island and the Ninepin Rock.

The first set with our big dropper rig was difficult to punch through the surf - the wind was nowhere near the predicted 15 knots - but with the help of the Skyhook and second kite further back down the line we easily managed.

Pic Above : Extensive reef amid fast water on the channel edge make the Ninepin an ideal landbased fishing spot for kingfish, trevally and snapper.

We left the hooks out for about 20 minutes and pulled in the line with several beautiful snapper, all between 35cm and 50cm long. What a great start!

Pic Above : Just north of the Ninepin a deep hole on clear bottom is ideal for catching big snapper on a kite rig.

Between the second and third sets the wind picked up, these sets also produced some nice fish including a huge kahawai and some more snapper. We also broke a few traces, probably due to sharks.

We used the kahawai as a live bait but this time there were no hungry kingies about.

We had caught more than enough for all our dinners and everyone was well pleased with the day out.

This group, who were from Switzerland, were completely amazed that using a kite could actually yield such a great catch of fish.

They, too, are now "hooked" on kite fishing.

The only problem for them is the lack of an ocean in a country that currently holds The Americas Cup, sailing's most coveted prize!

Pic Right : A happy client with a top conditioned snapper taken at Whatipu

More information regarding guided fishing trips and kite fishing demonstrations with Neill Sperath from Time Unlimited

Visit Neill's website