He Lost His Gaff to a Yellowfin… Then It Came Back | William Lomas | GTN Quick Cast

William Lomas is back. Willy is the first guest ever to come on Get The Net twice. We recorded this Daiwa Quick Cast live at the NZ Boat Fish Dive Expo.

Willy grew up fishing the Manukau and the Waikato River. His family had a bach down the river, and his childhood was whitebaiting, mullet netting and duck shooting, plus winning a few fishing comps as a grommet.

About 12 years ago he moved to the Far North, and that’s when the fishing really took off. He worked on game boats after school and then started an electrician apprenticeship, which fell over when Covid hit. Out of work, he gave YouTube a crack, and people loved it.

These days Wild North Addiction is his full-time job, and brands like Daiwa, Hunting & Fishing, Honda and Garmin are on board. He still drives a 1995 Land Cruiser and keeps it simple.

In this one we get into:

🎣 Wash fishing without a trolling motor. Willy sets up a drift in 10–15 knots of wind, turns the outboard off and steers the leg to weave around the rocks. It’s quiet, it covers ground and you don’t need a sea anchor.

🎣 Big snapper in skinny water. He runs quarter and 3/8 jig heads in 2–6m of water, and 50lb braid that’s the same diameter as 30lb. He explains why you should never drive toward a hooked fish, and why so many snapper eat right on the surface.

🎣 Going deeper. In 16–30m he switches to a 5/8 or half-ounce jig head, casts ahead of the drift and lets it fall on slack line so it’s taken on the drop.

🎣 Getting outfished by his mate. On a murky day Tane landed three snapper over 75cm on a 5-inch shiny minnow while Willy couldn’t buy a bite. Willy’s colour strategy is to not have one: if you haven’t had a bite in an hour, change your soft bait.

🎣 Kings on the chew. This winter has been full of 25–30kg kings, and a 35kg king turned up as bycatch while they were dropping for Puka.

🎣 The yellowfin that stole the gaff. Willy was on his own when a 45–50kg yellowfin took off with his brand-new gaff. It came back up 45 minutes later with the gaff still in it.

🎣 Advice for young creators. Stockpile content, be consistent, do cool stuff, laugh at your own bust-ups and don’t chase followers.

Willy also runs through the Daiwa gear he relies on. The Ninja combos are exclusive to Hunting & Fishing and cost about $299 for a rod and reel ready to fish, which he reckons is a great way to get started. For serious work he picks up the Certate and Saltist, and he’s stopped some seriously big fish on a 4000.

Looking ahead to summer, he plans to spend more time chasing marlin solo, go after bigger fish, and head south for a couple of weeks of topwater yellowfin. He doesn’t plan any of it weeks out. When the weather lines up he jumps in the truck, drives through the night from the top of the country and fishes the next morning. As he says, there’s no substitute for time on the water.

We also cover releasing big snapper (and using the SnapCatch app to enter them in monthly comps), plus his favourite fish and how he likes to eat it.

Follow Willy: Wild North Addiction on YouTube | William the Fisherman on Instagram & Facebook

Tight Lines, Loose Lips.