Meet The Crew | Ben Brown
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This month we feature Ben Brown, one of our lead brand ambassadors & content creators. For those that don’t know Ben, his background was NZ’s first Red Bull sponsored athlete, Kayaking and throwing himself of some of the worlds most notorious waterfall. The kayaking videos are definitely worth a watch. Now that the bones are a bit older Ben has hung up the paddle and dived headfirst back into his other passion, fishing.
The love for fishing combined with his exceptional talent at capturing fishing action on film, has made him one of the best content creators in the country & we are super stoked to have Ben fishing with our gear.
Background / Bio
Former professional Kayaker and lifelong fisherman. I spent 18 years travelling the globe exploring some of the worlds wildest and most remote rivers.
Travelling to these wild and wonderful places fuelled a passion for documenting the adventures and a passion for cinematography was born. Whilst whitewater was initially the main focus for my film-making I really enjoyed diversifying and documenting all sorts of different things - when it came time to hang up my paddle I turned my attention to filming my other great passion in life - fishing.
As a result ‘Built to Fish TV’ was born and the rest, as they say, is history. I love sharing my fishing adventures with a wider audience and the thrill I get from fishing is rivalled only by getting that perfect shot!
Fishing area of speciality/favourite type of fishing
I would hesitate to claim a fishing specialty, every time I pick up a rod I’m learning something new and fish seem to have an uncanny knack of finding new and improved ways to humble me. Having said that I really love game fishing, particularly chasing Marlin.
Their speed and power is incredible, the spectacular bites and fights, and the challenge they present to both find at catch is very addictive! I also really love shallow water soft-baiting, particularly in amongst the wash, real tiger country! That element of actively hunting fish, exploring sections of coastline, and hooking big hard fighting Snapper in shallows is awesome!
Most memorable catch
That’s a real tricky one, I’ve been fortunate enough to tick a few fish off the list and amongst them is some real memorable ones. My first Marlin we caught 9 years ago is right up there - me and a great mate were off Kawhia with a couple of old game lures, a few frosty Double Browns, and very little clue of what we were doing. We drove aimlessly around the ocean all day long before snagging the dumbest (or unluckiest) Marlin in the ocean, in the process proving that sometimes even the blind squirrel gets the nut. I do however have a lot to thank that fish for - it set me down a path that has bought much learning, awesome adventures, great new mates, and untold amounts of happiness.
More recently I was soft-baiting in the far North in terrible conditions - 25 knot winds, rough seas, thoroughly unpleasant fishing conditions. In attempt to grab a live-bait to take back into the shelter of the harbour I cast my 7 inch Baby Bass Bait Junkie into a school of surface feeding Kahawai. With no takers on my first cast I quickly retrieved my lure to fire it back out but in the process hooked up. Initially assuming it was a Kahawai I didn’t get too excited but after a blistering run I figured it was something a little bigger - my guess a rat kingie. After a serious battle in 6 meters of water, and some tell tale head nods, up popped a 28lb beast of a Snapper! That’s certainly one I’ll remember for a long time.
Daiwa essentials
7 inch Bait Junkies in Baby Bass and my favourite Certate 4000Lt and TD Commander combo. Also the new Saltiga 60LD, I love that reel - I’ve caught Puka, Kingfish, Marlin and Bluefin Tuna on it so far, it goes great!
Spotfinder Spot
It’s coming up to the best time to catch massive West Coast Snapper. Grab your favourite ledger rig combo (mine is the Saltist 20H and TD Black Moocha combo) and head out here, you won’t miss I promise!
Former professional Kayaker and lifelong fisherman. I spent 18 years travelling the globe exploring some of the worlds wildest and most remote rivers.
Travelling to these wild and wonderful places fuelled a passion for documenting the adventures and a passion for cinematography was born. Whilst whitewater was initially the main focus for my film-making I really enjoyed diversifying and documenting all sorts of different things - when it came time to hang up my paddle I turned my attention to filming my other great passion in life - fishing.
As a result ‘Built to Fish TV’ was born and the rest, as they say, is history. I love sharing my fishing adventures with a wider audience and the thrill I get from fishing is rivalled only by getting that perfect shot!
Fishing area of speciality/favourite type of fishing
I would hesitate to claim a fishing specialty, every time I pick up a rod I’m learning something new and fish seem to have an uncanny knack of finding new and improved ways to humble me. Having said that I really love game fishing, particularly chasing Marlin.
Their speed and power is incredible, the spectacular bites and fights, and the challenge they present to both find at catch is very addictive! I also really love shallow water soft-baiting, particularly in amongst the wash, real tiger country! That element of actively hunting fish, exploring sections of coastline, and hooking big hard fighting Snapper in shallows is awesome!
Most memorable catch
That’s a real tricky one, I’ve been fortunate enough to tick a few fish off the list and amongst them is some real memorable ones. My first Marlin we caught 9 years ago is right up there - me and a great mate were off Kawhia with a couple of old game lures, a few frosty Double Browns, and very little clue of what we were doing. We drove aimlessly around the ocean all day long before snagging the dumbest (or unluckiest) Marlin in the ocean, in the process proving that sometimes even the blind squirrel gets the nut. I do however have a lot to thank that fish for - it set me down a path that has bought much learning, awesome adventures, great new mates, and untold amounts of happiness.
More recently I was soft-baiting in the far North in terrible conditions - 25 knot winds, rough seas, thoroughly unpleasant fishing conditions. In attempt to grab a live-bait to take back into the shelter of the harbour I cast my 7 inch Baby Bass Bait Junkie into a school of surface feeding Kahawai. With no takers on my first cast I quickly retrieved my lure to fire it back out but in the process hooked up. Initially assuming it was a Kahawai I didn’t get too excited but after a blistering run I figured it was something a little bigger - my guess a rat kingie. After a serious battle in 6 meters of water, and some tell tale head nods, up popped a 28lb beast of a Snapper! That’s certainly one I’ll remember for a long time.
Daiwa essentials
7 inch Bait Junkies in Baby Bass and my favourite Certate 4000Lt and TD Commander combo. Also the new Saltiga 60LD, I love that reel - I’ve caught Puka, Kingfish, Marlin and Bluefin Tuna on it so far, it goes great!
Spotfinder Spot
It’s coming up to the best time to catch massive West Coast Snapper. Grab your favourite ledger rig combo (mine is the Saltist 20H and TD Black Moocha combo) and head out here, you won’t miss I promise!
