Despite taking his bait cannon to the beach every chance he gets, camper van enthusiast John Cunningham has caught just one fish in 12 months.

The retired auto electrician is philosophical, saying fishing is the best way to provide a focus for life on the road.

“I have two daughters in Dunedin and one in Wellington – they’re my base. I have driven 15,000km to 16,000km since beginning this great adventure in June last year.

“The ritual of going fishing provides me with a focus in retirement, as now every day feels like Saturday.”

Mr Cuningham was watching over two surf casting rods near Island View Holiday Park on Tuesday evening.

His bait cannon, a copy of one he saw while visiting his brother-in-law in Whangarei, was working well.

It was easy to build and highly efficient, he said, launching his lines out at least 80 metres – but even with this aid he had been unable to break his fishing hoodoo.

His single catch in 12 months was a kahawai, one about 350mm long pulled out of the surf at Blacks Beach, Wairoa, about three weeks ago.

Mr Cunningham did not seem worried. “Just look at White Island out there and this lovely marine environment all around us. You can’t tell me that it’s really necessary to catch a fish to make it all worthwhile.

“If you reeled in 25 hooks and they all had a fish on them, what would you do with that lot?  Anyway, if we always caught fish, it would be called ‘catching’, not ‘fishing’.”