b'Tope grow large at the Chathams as writer Brent soon found out when fishing off a local wharf.the action is savage and immediate.white, youre going to look likeSome of these beasts arent small Catching a behemoth blue cod onlunch! The Chathams have awith 1213ft seven gill sharks with a light fly rod is a kind of savagehealthy population of large sharks.chainsaw rows of teeth. These are ballet, feathered fly dangling likeThey love fresh bait. So, I packedancient predators, with volcanic an invitation, the abrupt, angryheavy gear, nabbed some juicyeyes like something spawned from strike, the surge of a fish that feelskahawai heads, and went on athe deep, and they fight like hell. twice its weight. The coastline givesmission to the local jetties. Growing up mucking about in the and takes, you respect it or like aSharks locate fresh bait fast,Manukau Harbour with bragging greedy cod it will chew you up. real fast. You let the spool runrights over a 2kg kahawai, I still on a casting reel, point the rodremember the jolt of taking a SHARKS EVER PRESENT at the water, and wait. The firstfull-sized shark off a Chatham wharf. I met Kaai Silbery, a local beepull is eerieall I heard in myThe jetty-rat in me was blown away.whisperer behind Tarahina Honey,head was that cello from the JawsThose eyes are primal, blood red who asked if I planned to takemovie. It tugs, stops, tugs again,with an orange fleck like molten the kayak out that day. When Ithen goes berserk. You tighten,lava, they stare back and shrink said yes, she grinned and warned,strike a Hail Mary, and youreyou. Standing nose-to-nose with Are your kids old enough to lookin. I used Black Magic Tacklea species millions of years old after themselves? To the great100lb traces and shark rigs. makes you feel very small. /FISHINGINGODZONE23'