Wildside - Small Boats

Nothing like messing about in a small boat

 

© Zane Mirfin, Wildside Column, Nothing like messing about in a small boat, Nelson Mail, 14 March 2009

Braving the Storm: Goose hunters Scott and Stuart Mirfin hunker down behind the tinnie.

Some days when I’m out on the river guiding, I start fantasising about days fishing and hunting with family and friends in my small aluminium boat. Boats have always been a part of my life and my father always had a small boat to take his boys out fishing in.

I now own a number of small craft myself, including a 3.7-metre aluminium dingy with 15 horsepower motor, small tractor tube PVC boat and even a 4.3m pontoon raft.

When you start looking around, there are small boats of all shapes and sizes out there, which is hardly surprising when you consider that New Zealand is a maritime nation surrounded by coastline, harbours and estuaries. More than 90 per cent of the Kiwi population live within 40km of the coast, so it’s only natural that New Zealand would be a nation of boat owners.

When you factor in all the lakes, ponds, streams and rivers flowing into the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean, there are
huge numbers of places to have fun fishing and hunting in small boats.

Small craft come in many types of construction: Wood, aluminium, fibreglass, plastic – even inflatable boats with rigid alloy keels like my brother’s, which he uses to deadly effect on the local snapper population. All have their uses and the craft you own is likely to reflect the type of outdoor activities you undertake, and the places you commonly go.

Driving around the district lately, I have noticed many larger boats for sale and I’m guessing that there will be some
very good buys on larger craft in the next year or so in these challenging economic times.

Small boats have many advantages over large craft, in that they are less expensive to buy, are easily stored, easily towed and easily handled into difficult locations. They use less fuel, and allow access to places far from concrete boat ramps. Sure, they aren’t as seaworthy as larger craft, but with intelligent use they are, in my opinion, every bit as safe.

We often launch off any of Nelson’s beaches bordering Tasman Bay in my small aluminium boat. If the weather cuts up, we can be within 300m of safety.

The other advantage of a smaller craft is the huge saving on fuel in these energy-efficient times. For example, my brother Scott and friends caught 150 snapper last summer over a number of trips on less than a 20-litre tank of gas.

We have found that smaller boats outfish larger boats because they are quieter, cast less shadow, and suffer less from wave slap on the hull.

Just the other day, I was out fishing with my German mate Stefan in Tasman Bay where we had good success. The fishing had started slowly because we had got out on the water too late. By 8am (normally the time I’m heading for home) there were boats everywhere. One guy in a big boat was roaring around among the anchored burleying boats, looking for the perfect reef to fish.

‘‘Big boat, big penis,’’ my mate muttered as the unthinking boat owner did his best to scare every snapper deeper into the bay.

Fortunately, the fishing picked up as everyone decided to go elsewhere, and I was quietly chuffed when Stefan later admired the 60-litre cooler full of prime pink snapper.

I’ve had a great run with my little tinnie craft, having used it for hunting ducks on tidal estuaries, deer on alpine lakes, geese in the high country, goats and whitebait in Westhaven Inlet in Golden Bay.

I’ve also taken it fishing for brown and rainbow trout all over the South Island, red fin perch at Lake Mahinapua near Hokitika, set netting for flounder, and blue cod fishing in the Marlborough Sounds.

Some of the more memorable trips include 10 days fishing the lakes of South Westland where I had to navigate tricky waters into the pristine Lake Ellery. Another time I brought the boat loaded with possum traps and pelts down a raging Lake Rotoiti.

There have been deerstalking trips when the boat was overloaded with deer carcasses, and the time when a snapper got lost up under the seat and the boat became a seething mass of maggots.

One time we even shot a chamois buck from the boat. Cutting the motor, we glided on to the curious beast while mate Brian readied himself over the bow.

Retrieving the trophy buck from the water, Brian, who was in his 50s, said: ‘‘I never thought I’d ever get to shoot a chamois buck but the hardest thing about getting this one is keeping my feet dry while I pull it out of the lake.’’

One of the most frightening trips in the tinnie was on a Canada goose shoot in the Marlborough high country with my father Stuart and brother Scott. Fully loaded with guns and decoys, we were three-quarters across Lake Tennyson when dark ominous clouds and a huge squall hit us.

We only just made it ashore in fearsome waves, and pulled the boat high on to the land, and used it as the only shelter in a landscape devoid of any cover.

The following snowstorm was awesome and something the three of us have never forgotten, as it left us covered in thick snow during the whiteout conditions.

Most of the time, though, the sun shines and the outdoor experiences are very pleasant and enjoyable.

My kids now love to go out in the boat, especially to a sandspit they call Treasure Island in the Waimea Estuary.

I’m looking forward to many more great adventures together with our small boat in the years ahead.

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