Articles

Skipper Lance recently was delighted to welcome aboard New Zealand born actor turned international star Karl Urban aboard MV Mantaray in January.  A very unexpected bonus for the other people aboard that day who couldn't quite believe their eyes!  One gentleman was overheard to phone his wife to check on the possibility it really was him - to have it confirmed that yes, he was in fact in town!  Karl was here to introduce the new love of his life, fellow actress Katee Sackhoff, to his family and friends in Auckland.  Karl originally found fame in locally produced TV series Shortland Street, and went on to make his name in Hollywood with roles in Startrek Into Darkness, Dredd,The Bourne Supremacy, Riddick, The Chronicles, Lord of the Rings, Ghost Ship - to name but a few. Karl chose to go out fishing with Katee to show off the beautiful Waitemata Harbour and try their hand at Snapper Fishing. When you book a trip with New Zealand Fishing Safaris you just never know who you may be rubb ...

With the upcoming Dick Smith NRL Auckland Rugby League Nines games being hosted by Auckland in 2015, Air New Zealand along with Tourism Auckland are keen to promote and encourage visitors to the beautiful City of Sails. With all 16 NRL Clubs and 288 star players competing to win over $2.6 million dollars over the one weekend this is quite an event for Auckland.  Dates being 31st January and 1st February. Air New Zealand are running a competition in which the prize winner receives complimentary tickets from Australia to Auckland for 9 friends, who will also receive prime seats at Eden Park and 9 options of experiencing Auckland Attractions and Activities during their stay. The Fishing Charter option is being offered promoting New Zealand Fishing Safaris' - a Snapper Fishing Trip for the group of 9 for a day's fishing charter aboard MV MANTARAY.   NZ Fishing Safaris will take the group on a day fishing trip from Westhaven Marina to check out the snapper fishing in the Auckland Harbour and Inn ...

More exciting fun with a difference this week!!  Tracker II was the Spectator Boat for the VIP crew of supporters from Vodafone and Samsung in their latest promotion.

Team Captain Jimmy Spithill of Oracle, winning boat in the America's World Cup, flew in to Auckland to take part in the recent Vodafone promotion.

The prize winner of the competition won the chance to take part in a demonstration match race with the famous skipper - remotely controlling the Vodafone yacht via Samsung cellphone from a helicopter!!

Earlier in the week the course was checking out for the 4gig coverage needed to ensure the sucess of the operation, of which Mantaray played an integral part ensuring boat to helicopter coverage.

The crew aboard Tracker were able to have great views of the competition having great viewing areas and photo opportunities.

Having recently taken out South Africa's superstar Cricketer, Jonty Rhodes, this time we were involved in a Media Promotion for the New Zealand Cricket Team. TV1's Breakfast Show featured New Zealand Cricket Stars Chris Harris and Kyle Mills, along with ex legend Mark Greatbach - playing cricket with local children from Waiheke Island out in the beautiful Hauraki Gulf. A stunning day for the shoot - clear blue skies - showing off Waiheke Wharf and surrounding views of the Island. Tracker II with crew Ray, Lance and Sue, collected Kyle from the Pier after having the honour of the stunning World Cup Trophy itself on the boat (the "minder" keeping a very close eye!!).  The fishing was great - Kyle is a keen fisherman, having fished for many years from his home beach of Bucklands Beach in East Auckland.  Some great shots of Tracker II departing Waiheke Island from the camera crew on the boat and a drone following the boat.  Some great footage of the fishing which will be used to p ...

The ever-popular Auckland Fishing Charter Boat MV Mantaray, with Skipper Lance at the helm, was once again a feature of a worldwide promotion showcasing Z Pier, Westhaven Marina in Auckland City, as a top destination for Snapper Fishing Trips to our overseas tourists. New Zealand is becoming an ever increasingly popular choice for sporting events.  In conjunction with Tourism New Zealand, this latest production was aimed at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 target audience. For airing on South African TV's "Hooked on Cricket", the South African Film Crew accompanied SA Cricketing Legend Jonty (Jonathon) Rhodes, who first of all was introduced to our own New Zealand Cricket Team before embarking on a promotional ski-ing trip in the South Island, taking in Christchurch and Queenstown.  The choice of Auckland activity was a saltwater Snapper Fishing Trip on the Auckland Harbour and Inner Hauraki Gulf.  Despite increment weather conditions during the week, the Auckland weather typically changed ...

Queens Birthday weekend 31st May/1st June 2014 saw the Tracker II Fishing Team once again take out the top honours in the Annual Warkworth Gamefish Club 10kg competition. The same team as last year....

New Zealand Fishing Safaris has featured again on an overseas television show.  This time on "Love Is In The Air" - a reality show putting...

At the inaugral Z Pier Fishing Classic held at Westhaven Marina, Auckland, on 11th May 2014, top place for largest fish caught (and also the only Kingfish!!) went to Faye Lees.  Young 10 year old Alex Oudenhoven also...

A fun day for the Crew (Ray Phillips and Lance Paniora) aboard MANTARAY on 18th March filming a Photo Shoot for the Press Release of Cadbury's Chocolate latest promotion in conjuction with...

The Annual Warkworth Gamefish Club's 2013 10kg Line Competition was an awesome weekend with great results for the team of four anglers aboard Tracker II, Ray Phillips, Tony Gale, Trevor Williams and Sue Trent, taking out top honours. The Snapper Section went to 15 places again this year, and it is a feature of this competition that will endure because even 15th place is usually in excess of 5kg and this is a good fish on a 10kg or less line.  Tracker II Team took out 1st place (Tony), 2nd Place (Ray) 4th Place (Trevor) and 13th Place (Sue).  Sue took out 1st Place in the Ladies Section. Super prizes on offer - the Tracker Team also took out the Earlybird Draw and each won a raffle prize and came home armed with $1,000 cash, fishing rod, chilly bin, bottles of wine, Marine LED light set - awesome sponsorship for this event. Sincere thanks to the Warkworth Gamefish Club for their hospitality and awesome organisation, the sponsors - and last but not least to Grahame, the Sandspit Harbourmaster, ...