What a blast: Bay of Plenty man and his bait cannon business

You'll hear only a few noises as the sun rises on Waiotahe Beach in Ōpōtiki.

Waves caressing the coastline is the relentless background audio. Seagulls and oystercatchers will call out if you get close enough.

And if it’s a long weekend, you may get a distant voice from another beach-goer making the most of the sparsely populated stretch of coastline.

Then there’s the cannon fire.

Compressed air jammed behind metal that bursts skyward, sending hooks and dead fish into the abyss — this is fishing with bait cannons.

Tamehana Moses is Bait Cannons NZ — the one-person factory manager, sales director and head of inventory behind the fishing tool business.

The Surf Smasher is his smaller, more mobile cannon, perfect for those looking for something they can pack in a campervan and carry long distances.

Holding it, you feel like the star of a 90s action film. Ramboesque. A series of white pipes and levels that work with your surf casting setup.

Then there’s the Big Bertha. At first glance, the 1.7m long cannon is a tad intimidating. Its folding metal stand and large size evocative of wartime mortars.

But this beast of an accessory can bait more than 300m into the ocean using nothing but air and elbow grease.

"Everybody goes, 'how long does it take to pump it up?' I just go, 'how is your fitness?'"

Moses is quick because he usually uses a mobile electric air pump to speed up the job.

Then you feed the custom sinker in (he makes those as well) and top it off with two hooks and some well-secured bait.

Then comes the fun part — cranking that lever and sending your bait through the air is truly exhilarating. Fishing has been all about the catch for too long, but this makes the release just as fun.

While some men might take up fishing to get away from the family, Moses did it to provide for his family.

"Me and the missus tried for 23 years to have a baby and a few years ago, our baby decided to bless us with their presence."

He decided to be the stay-at-home dad but still wanted to find a job that meant he could put food on the table.

"So I looked at what business I can do from home, and bait cannons just came up."

It’s hard to believe his tiny Te Teko shed is where his cannons begin their life before they’re shipped around the country.

Graeme Clarke’s family decided to get him a Big Bertha four years ago.

At 82, the keen fisherman began to realise his shoulders didn’t have the same power they used to.

"To still fish and catch good fish at my age and by myself. It enables you to keep doing what you love doing."

When the tides are right, you’ll find him parked at Waiotahi Beach in Ōpōtiki with his cannon as his only companion.

His feet are dry, and his stories of captured kingfish are ready for anyone who will listen. Three whoppers in one summer, if his fishy tales are to be believed.

Yet he’s never alone for long. People seem to gravitate to him for a yarn – possibly because he’s armed with a cannon declaring war on the coastline.

Moses admits it's been hard to promote his small enterprise — especially in a field where other high-tech options are available.

"Drones, you can’t fly them in certain areas, and there's like five grand worth of stuff right there."

Even torpedos, like Kontiki systems, can have that little quirk of not coming home.

"You're sending it out to sea. With [bait cannons], it just sits on the beach next to you, and you're only sending out like a $6 sinker.”

But the business has helped him become the salesman he is now. Before bait cannons, he’d bounced around jobs in the Bay of Plenty – finding what he could but always opting to stay out of the limelight.

"I was always the step back fulla," said Moses.

"But you have to be out there. You have to be in front of everybody. And I was nervous at first, but once I got through it, I was like, 'oh, I can do this'."

Now, he’s happy to traverse the country selling his cannons and talking to fellow fisherman about their benefits.

His sales pitch is impressive, as is his favourite tagline, "Put a blast in your cast", which is a surefire way to reel people in.