Posted 11th August 2022

Meet The Crew: Aaron Styles

Bio/Background?

I am born & bred in the Bay of Plenty and got introduced to fishing through my dad and his good mate Vaughan Craven, spent many holidays at the wharf and tagging along with Dad and Vaughn surfcasting down Matata Straight and Papamoa. Still have vivid memories of bouncing around in the back of Vaughan’s Hilux with his Jack Russel as we headed to some of our favourite holes.

In my early twenties I moved to Auckland and started to get into kayak fishing and game fishing with my father in-law, this obsession was real. I had studied graphic design and worked in the clothing industry for six to eight years before I started a Fishing inspired clothing brand JUST ANOTHER FISHERMAN. J.A.F is now over 10 years old and I have been very lucky to combine my passion for fishing with my job.

Fishing Area Of Speciality/Favourite Type Of Fishing?

Guess my brand states who I am and the styles of fishing I like, I just want to be fishing. One weekend its chasing Marlin, next will be searching for a likely looking hole of the west coast for an evening Surfcasting. I also have massive passion for soft baiting the shallows and stick baiting for kingfish. I just want to catch fish, spend time with mates and have make sure I have a good work life balance with good mental health.

Most Memorable Catch?

I have so many memorable catches and memories, but if I were to choose one it would have to be a 145cm Kingfish I recently caught stick-baiting with my very good mate Mark Collins. I caught it down in the Bay of Plenty on my light PE5 set with an earlier model Saltiga 5000 in only 25m of water. The bite was ok that morning but after we announced last drift a big pack of hungry kings piled on my stick-bait, the fish was quickly in the bottom but with some slick boat work we stayed on top of the fish and tired it out. When boat side the fish charged us but popped out the other side and Mark had a carefully aimed gaff shot though the mouth so we could bring her onboard, When onboard the noticed just how big it was but also noticed the hanging treble had gone through my shorts which pulled me to the fishes head and pinned me in the hand. After some quick surgery we had the deck wash over the gills and got a few pics and measured in on the Moocher matt which it clocked.

Mark has seen plenty Kingfish over 40kg working on Pursuit and estimated this fish around 42kg, a PB for me and first on topwater to clock the Moocher Mat!

What Are Your Daiwa Essentials?:

1. Certate (G) LT 4000D, This reel is a must for shallow water soft bating, The Drag is smooth and it has the power to stop big snapper in the shallows.

2. J-Thread Fluro, From Chasing Squid in winter, Harbour fishing in high Summer or like baiting for kings I love the J-thread Fluro range. Tough and abrasion resistant, it also has low memory which is great for Fluro when casting or naturally presenting a bait.

3. BaitJunkie Soft baits – With a full range of sizes and colours I always have a big selection on hand, but if I was to choose colours and profiles I can’t go past the Iwashi and banana in 5 and 7 inch Jerkshad.

4. Sensor Surf Rods, Spending decent time up north and west coast surfcasting I have fallen in love with the Sensor Surf rod for casting, the low profile fuji guides keep the line tight when casting giving you more distance, accuracy and less change of wind knots when using braid.

Spotfinder Spot?

Spot: Rangiputa Harbour
General Area: Far North, NZ
Coordinates:
How to best fish this spot: Depends on what you are targeting, But outgoing tide is best for fishing this Harbour, Up the deep channels, Flats or the structure found in the first part of the Harbour you will find unbelievable fishing. Best times March, April & May. You will also find great surfcasting in this harbour.

Fishing Playlist: