Spin Fishing

At Hunting & Fishing New Zealand we offer the highest quality most sought after brands at price points our competitors sell the no-name brands at. For 2009, we are pleased to introduce up-spec'd graphite rods from Shimano. Remember, our product selection committee comprises some of the keenest trout anglers in the country. Because of our 28 store buying capacity, we get first choice of the deals on offer. What this means to you our customers, is simply the best equipment at the best prices, no matter what the budget.

Our Eel Lure Testfire raised a Storm. We spotted him in an overseas lure catalogue, a 'soft plastic' style eel lure. We’ve often caught trout with tiny elver eels in their gut. We figured we'd be onto something special if we could offer these lures in NZ. We negotiated with the agents, and this winter our initial delivery of 1000 Storm Eel Lures in 'Natural' colouration duly arrived. Of course we wouldn't go recommending something new without testing it, dirty work but someone has to do it ... bla bla bla, and Craig Taylor of our Dunedin store was given the job. With workmates Grant Ashton and Ryan Dunbar, Craig headed off to the Clutha mouth in search of sea-run browns. But alas the wee eel chap failed miserably to get our 'you beauty' unconditional seal of approval. Firstly he was prone to tangle in the line when cast, and secondly when in current or retrieved at any speed he just went into a barrel roll. Seems the Storm Eel was designed for a style of fishing we don't really do a lot of in New Zealand, possibly even for short casts and slow retrieves on very still water, like when coarse fishing. In fact the coarse fishing theory was substantiated when Craig did land the only fish of the testfire, a very respectable perch of 3 ½ lb.

So don't get us wrong, there is a place for the Storm Eel. However if you want to add one to the tackle box be quick because this is a one-off opportunity - once the 1000 already here have sold through, it is doubtful that we will have back up stock in the future. If you enjoy experimenting with new 'secret weapons', by all means invest the $9.99 and add one to the arsenal for slow water trout or when perch is a target species.