Posted 14th November 2022

Meet The Crew: Frank Watkins

Bio/Background?

I’m just a small town boy that was fortunate enough to grow up on the east coast of the coromandel. My mum was and still is a landbased weapon and my stepdad a straylining wizard, they taught me a lot of what I know about fishing. Our house was literally a stone throw from the estuary and the local beach was a 30 second walk from our door. The options were endless! If I wasn’t out in the boat or on the rocks I was setting nets, up the harbour in my tinny or floundering the shallows at night. I’m now 32 years old and I’m still doing the same stuff in the same places and I wouldn’t have any other way.

Fishing area of speciality/favourite type of fishing?

My main passion would definitely be fishing off the rocks for big snapper. The bigger the walk in, the heavier the pack, the crazier the conditions - the more excited I get.

Most Memorable Catch?

My most memorable catch would definitely be my biggest snapper to date which I caught locally off the rocks. After doing a 9 year stint in Australia I moved back to my home town with one goal in mind, to catch a 20lb snapper. This particular morning (3 months after I moved back) started off slow with only a few panniers caught, actually it was so slow I had my bait in the water and my rod propped up in the rocks which I never do. After a couple of nibbles I picked my rod up out of the rocks and WACK, the line was screaming! after a good 5 minute scrap scrabbling across the rocks with my heart beating out of my chest I landed a 24lb snapper. A quick photo then I jumped in the water to swim the fish until it regained the strength to swim off.