OUR VISION

That Recreational fishing and casting are highly visible and valued sports.
The New Zealand Angling & Casting Association became an Entity in 1955.
It was formed to:
Encourage and develop the sports of angling and casting.
Encourage the formation of Fishing Clubs and to foster comradeship amongst amateur fishers.
To promote the conservation of fish and their habitat.

In 1958 there was a split in the Association that led to the formation of what is now the New Zealand Sports Fishing Council. Whilst these two groups have developed an identity particular to each Organisation they remain supportive of each other in the original three objectives.

The Association has recently returned to representing its twenty four member clubs in negotiations with the Government via the Ministry of Primary Industries via the Fisheries Ministry. A close liaison is held with the IGFA and our members are eligible to apply for World Records for qualifying catches. Along with this the NZACA administers official NZ Records for a great number of species that are not the generally recognised Game fish species. The NZACA is also the administrator of the NZ Casting records.

Since 1979 the Association has held a National Championship. This incorporates both Casting and Fishing. While the Casting has had recent changes to the rules, it does cater for those wishing to use their own fishing gear (except for Braid) and also those who wish to cast under recognised international regulations. Casting falls into three events. Postal, which is entered via a Club event, Regional, of which there is three and finally the Nationals.

The fishing involves a good amount of time which allows fishers to target the variety of fish available to be caught. During this event, the Association also holds its AGM. This is done so as to allow the membership to take advantage of all gathering at one venue.

The NZ Angling & Casting Association encourages all fishers to join a club and particularly one affiliated to the Association.

2024 Nationals

Posted on by January 31, 2024

Hi everyone. Did you know that the NZACA is offering a Trip for two, including Accommodation, to Fiji as a

Spot Prize at this years Nationals??? There is also a lucky Draw of $250 for the first 100 entrants amonst many other Spot Prizes.

The Nationals overall Champion will join the Okuma Fishing Team for a twelve month term.

Just some of the great offers for the NZACA 2024 Nationals. Get your entries in ASAP.

Fisheries Management Bill

Posted on by July 10, 2022
I’m back home after another quality Fisheries Management meeting in the metropolis of Auckland.
I need to stress this and I urge every Recreational fisher to be clear.
The Ministry of Fisheries (FNZ) are attacking your rights with the Fisheries Amendment Bill. All of you, not just the Boaties, the Charter fishers etc, all of you. Those that hurl and hope with their $70 surf set from The Warehouse, K Mart or Rebel Sport down to those that dangle a line off the local wharf. ALL OF YOU.
It takes you all out of the equation. It takes the Minister out of the equation and allows FNZ to decide who gets what. The very same Ministry who is responsible for failing Tarakihi, John Dory, Hapuku, Crayfish, Scallops etc. An endless list almost.
Time to dig the heads out of the dunes and stand up. How??? work it out. This is not a post about joining a club but that is a start. One with a voice via the appropriate National Body preferably but I urge you all to take some time to support submissions on this or write to your local MP. Better still, get in their face.
While I am at it, to all of our South Island fishers, “Fish Mainland” is not your friend. They support the Bill. They are all about Mandatory Reporting, Licensing and ultimately “Proportional Allocation”
Currently “The Minister must firstly consider Customary then Recreational before allocating TACC”. The Minister will be gone if this attempt at your rights goes through.
Also to all our Maori rec fishers, the “Tirity o Waitangi” does not exclude you from this. There is a difference between Customary take and Recreationally caught fish. You need to show your indifference to this BS. Do not expect others to do it for you.
There are parts of the FMB that we should be supportive of but the veiled attempt to undermine that which is just and remove our voice on OUR fisheries, along with that of our elected representative, is the type of action we see too often by this Ministry. It must be stopped!!!!!

2022 Nationals

Posted on by January 25, 2022

Tonight, 25th January 2022, the Executive met. The 2022 Nationals were discussed at length.

It was decided that, in our current Code Red environment due to the outbreak of the Omricon variant of Covid 19 and the belief that it will take several months to run its course with March expected to be the core, that the 2022 Nationals will be postponed to the 30th March – 1st April 2023. They will be held in Hawkes Bay.

2024 Nationals will be hosted by Palliser Bay, Feilding and South Wairarapa Surfcasting clubs with the Waimiha Camping Ground as the base.

A notice for the 2022 AGM will be circulated very soon. We ask all clubs to provide a Delegate/s that will be able to attend via “Zoom”

Newsletter

Posted on by August 25, 2021

OKUMA Inspired Fishing

 

NZACA NEWSLETTER                                          

 

Hi everyone,

What!!! You ask, who is this guy that we haven’t heard from in a long while?

I am going to pass on apologies as they would be long winded and boring. What I can tell you all is we haven’t been idle and ignoring our valuable membership. So here goes in bringing you all up to date with what has been happening in the big world of fisheries, achievements and Nationals.

OKUMA NATIONALS:

Held during May and hosted by the New Plymouth Surfcasting Club, these Okuma Nationals were in place of the 2020 event that we cancelled because of Covid.

The AGM saw some changes to the Constitution. These will be distributed with the Minutes once our re-registration is sorted.  Also the Committee has a good number and is representative of the whole of the north Island. I am looking for some representation from the South Island still.  A huge thank you to Carey Johns, Allan Simons and the members of the New Plymouth SCC for a great effort in the smooth running and simplicity of this event. Also I cannot speak highly enough of the Sponsors and especially our Major Sponsor “OKUMA” for their solid and ongoing support.

We had 50 participants from across and the top and bottom of the country. It was also great to have 5 members of the South Wairarapa SCC join in the comp. Casting was a challenge as the court was set up in accordance of the wise Allan Simons who was sure the prevailing wind would come from the south. Sure as eggs, when casting was about to begin, the wind gusted a nice 20 knots BUT!!!! From the north East. This made the Accuracy rather tricky and Distances were well down.

In the face of a dreadful weather forecast and sea conditions we all headed to our specific and well planned fishing spots. This turned out to be the complete opposite of the Casting. We were met with great weather and impressive seas. The fish were biting and nearly everyone caught. One of the best stories was that of Craig Boyes from the Wellington Club who had some Snapper and Gurnard but needed some Kahawai so was sent to the Motu river mouth, renowned as the Kahawai mecca. Craig returned with 6 rather nice Snapper.

Congratulations to :

Gary Whitaker- Casting Champion

Alan Simmons- Fishing Champion and Champion Surfcaster

New Plymouth SCC Top Club

Our 2022 Nationals are to be held in Hawkes Bay, during the second week in May. Details to follow.

 

FISHERIES:

There is much happening within our fisheries. The NZ Angling & Casting Assoc has worked directly with our peers, the NZ Sport Fishing Council, in placing our submissions.

Snapper 8 which runs almost the entire west coast of the North Island has been a fairy story with a great ending except that ending is being challenged by Commercial Industry. This fishery has gone from a sad very low biomass some fifteen years ago to and accepted 53% biomass today.

Because of this the Minister has been challenged to raise the TACC. All Clubs around NZ have been given the opportunity to speak to this. I hope you have taken the chance, especially those of you on the east coast. Stepping up for your fellow fisher. I must commend the New Plymouth Boating Club for drawing all fishing clubs on the west coast, both boating and surfcasting, together in fighting this issue. The next challenge will be the appalling biomass of Snapper within the Bay of Empty (Plenty). At the moment sitting at approx. 6-8% Biomass. A sad indictment of those who manage (or not) our resources.

Tarakihi has been in the limelight for almost two years now. Ever since Fisheries NZ (MPI) actually realised the demise of this fish stock. There has been many meetings NZ wide and several that I have attended on your behalf. Having been involved in many discussions involving Minister Nash (at the time)  I have to say I am not surprised that he failed to deliver and has since been held to account through the Courts by Fish & Game. You simply cannot ignore the law no matter who you are. I actually emailed Minister Nash and advised him that sometimes you need to look beyond the hurt. The NZACA have placed a submission along with the NZSFC.

The next issue that we are working on is the demise of the Hapuku/Bass stock. Believe it or not this species was once a shore caught fish. Back in the early 1950’s to be exact. Now, what is left of them are only found in deep water in amongst the foul.

AWARDS AND RECORDS:

Amazingly I have signed off on twelve NZ Record Certificates to date this year and they are from all around the country. Remember too, that the NZACA is now recognising Length Records.

It is official. Our Patron, Life Member and long  time member of the Association, Gordon Jones finally caught that elusive fish, a Kingfish over 8kgs of all things, that gained him his Masters Award. At 84 years of age, what a Legend. Huge congratulations Gordy, this is well deserved and testament to your tenacity and longevity.

I want to see more attempts at Fishing Records, applications for National Awards/Trophies and attempts at achieving a Masters Award. All relevant details are on the Website. www.nzaca.co.nz (Records)

AAA:

The Australian Angling Association (AAA) Nationals Competition. I would love to have representation at this competition. I will be presenting the requirements once I have the details of the next event. I make no bones about the fact that it involves two weeks away, accommodation, food and fishing costs. The Association will cover entry fees only at this point. I will be looking for some Sponsorship to assist.

CASTING:

We finally managed to get a casting weekend done and dusted at the Rotorua Racecourse this month. Another good turnout and it was also nice to have 5 new people come along for some tuition and to test their abilities. No Records this time but certainly some great distances were posted. Several beyond the 220m. There was a definite drop off in effort as fatigue set in late on Saturday afternoon and Sunday saw many wayward casts and break offs.  Our next event will be in October. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for details.

Welcome back to the Gisborne Surfcasting Club. This long serving member of the Association has been in limbo since the loss of Karla Tardieu in 2016. I had the pleasure of speaking to them at their first AGM since then and it was great to get a unanimous vote from them to rejoin the NZACA. Look out for them as they have some very formidable fishers in their ranks.

 

Well as we head into the next round of Club Comps and those luring Surfcasting Competitions get those rods and reels out of the cupboard. Check all those guides out, respool reels, replace your hooks and get prepared for another great season. Good luck, tight lines, stay safe.

Jim Yeoman

President NZACA