Parakai School's Fishing Academy 'big day out'

The Parakai School’s Fishing Academy graduates for 2011, from back left: Lazarus Herewini, Jahmaya Koni, Crystal Young and Latreece Hart; front five (L-R): Brandon Walker, Lucy Nisbet-Smith, Lucen Augustine-Beetham, Graeson Stead-Hill and Mason Sutton.

Lucen Augustine-Beetham is all concentration as he guts his catch.

This kahawai gave Latreece Hart a good run for her money.

This fine gurnard saw Crystal Young take the early lead in the biggest fish stakes.

Mason Sutton with his two best fish of the day, a kahawai for the smoker and a snapper for the pan.

Under the watchful eye of skipper John Freestone, Lucen Augustine-Beetham helms Serene on a course for home.

From left: Lucen Augustine-Beetham with the first catch of the day, a nice Kaipara gurnard. The early gurnard bite saw a number of good fish boated, including this one from Jahmaya Koni. Green line did not seem to put the fish off, as Brandon Walker will attest. Graeson Stead-Hill had a great deal of fun when this kahawai took his bait.

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The Parakai School's Fishing Academy graduates for 2011.

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“Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach him to fish and he will feed himself for life,” so goes the old Chinese proverb.

This was one of the philosophies behind the efforts of teacher Cameron Tamatahi-Davis, known to his students as ‘Mr T’, to establish a fishing academy at Parakai Primary School.

With the mighty Kaipara Harbour on their doorstep, it made sense for the students to learn how to access such a great resource safely, skilfully and with respect.

In establishing the academy, Mr T sought the advice of many, starting with a meeting with NZ Sport Fishing Council’s President, Richard Baker, this writer and Composite Development’s then Sales and Marketing Manager, Adam Johanson.

Armed with plenty of advice and promises of support, Mr T set about creating a programme that sees the students meeting once a week to cover a range of angling-related activities.

Composite Developments, through its Okuma brand, has assisted with rods and reels, and the magazine has also helped kit out the students. Mr T has also used people from within the local Parakai and Helensville communities to provide resources and share their knowledge, too.

There have been a couple of ‘drop-outs’, but a solid core of 10 students are set to graduate from the course in October.

Part of their efforts has seen the group fundraise for several field trips, which have included a surfcasting sojourn to Mosquito Bay, as well as two trips aboard the local charter vessel Serene. It was on the second of these that the writer was invited to join and check out the academy.

The students met at Shelley Beach Wharf for a 7.30am kick-off, heading towards the harbour entrance. First stop was to fish for gurnard, and it did not take long before these colourful and great tasting fish came aboard. At this time of the year gurnard are a staple catch on the Kaipara, as they are in other west coast harbours, and the students produced some great specimens. Krystal Young landed the best of them to take the lead in the informal competition for the longest ‘table’ fish caught – sharks, rays, barracouta and eels didn’t count!

Conditions were overcast with 10 knots of southwesterly blowing early on in the day. Regardless, the Serene was in the lee of the land with not much to bother her or the passengers.

The call was made to head out to a harbour-entrance spot known as ‘The Lighthouse’ (for obvious reasons).

It was here the constitutions of the pupils, and some of the parents, were to be tested. Dealing with mal de mer is part of going fishing, and the students were getting first-hand lessons.

Despite there being a good bite of small snapper, the crew’s efforts diminished with the onset of sea-sickness, with only a few hardy souls continuing to do the business. There was a good roll on beyond the bar, and this was spilling through the entrance to create less than stable conditions for the good ship Serene.

In the interests of everyone having a good day, the decision was made to move to more sheltered waters, which was met with a few smiles, especially from those struck by squirmy tums.

Serene had a pied-piper effect on the fish stocks, and the action continued for another hour – albeit a little slower, but in a far more acceptable sea state.

Eventually the anchor was raised and it was time to head for home.

A number of students enjoyed the opportunity to helm the boat under the watchful eye of skipper John Freestone, getting a feel for the wheel and receiving an introduction to chart-plotter and sounder use.

When the students disembarked, it had been close to an eleven-hour day. The catch had been shared around and it was great to see a number of the students cleaning their own fish – all part of the learning experience.

Despite the lengthy expedition, the students’ behaviour did their school proud, and it was great to see the co-operative efforts among the kids, Mr T and parents, sharing ideas, kit, snacks and helping each other with tangles, baiting up and the like.

The Fishing Academy’s future will have benefited from the experiences of its first year, and it is something Mr T hopes to continue into 2012, as well as seeing it introduced at the local college.

I wish they’d had a fishing academy at school when I was a pupil! 
 

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