Forty Years on the Boats with Uncle Tom
Retired commercial fisherman Tom Ngatai talks about four decades at sea, what has changed in the bay, and the one rule about taking fish he wants every weekend angler to keep.
Reading a Tide Table Like a Local
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Show notes
Reading a Tide Table Like a Local
Recorded on the Tauranga wharf before sunrise, this first episode starts with the thing most beginners skip: the tide table. Rawiri reads one out, explains what the numbers mean, and shares the pattern from fifteen years of his own tide diary.
- High, low, spring and neap, in plain words
- The two hours either side of the change and why they matter
- Slack tide, and why the show is named after a quiet moment
- Wind against tide: when to stay home
The trip report at the end is short, because he caught one small kahawai and let it go. A retired commercial fisherman joins next episode.
Transcript
Kia ora, and welcome to Slack Tide. I am Rawiri Henare, it is six in the morning on the Tauranga wharf, it is cold, and I have not caught anything yet, which is pretty much the whole show. This is a fishing podcast for people who mostly go home empty-handed and go back anyway. Today we start with the thing most beginners skip entirely, which is the tide table. I have one in my pocket and I am going to read it out and explain what every number means. We will talk about the two hours either side of the change, what slack tide actually is and why I named the show after a quiet moment, and when the wind tells you to stay home. Then a very short trip report, because honesty matters. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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