VECTIS harvesting contractor Ron Hounsell visited Eden on the New South Wales south coast for a fishing trip in April.

Hounsell, who turns 68 tomorrow, was also visiting his son Darren who owns the Blue Marlin Resort and Motor Inn and runs fishing trips in Eden's Twofold Bay.

Hounsell said his son had told him the fishing was `unbelievable' but he wasn't so sure.

"I thought he was talking it up a bit. But then we started fishing and it was like nothing I have seen before," Hounsell said.

Hounsell caught a mix of bluefin tuna, king fish and mako shark.

He said what amazed him most was the quality of the fishing only kilometres off shore.

"If you go to any other places you can spend half a day going out to the best spot," Hounsell said.

"But in Eden we were only about two kilometres off shore and still getting lots of bites.

"Why would you waste your time going out further?"

Hounsell said they had a scare early on one trip when Darren took him out on his boat with some other fishermen.

"About 45 minutes into the trip one of the guys got a big pull on his line," Hounsell said.

"He fought it hard and as he got it to the surface we saw it was a 12-foot shark.

"So he quickly cut the line."

Hounsell said he had caught some of the smaller mako sharks.

"They are great eating, those sharks," Hounsell said.

Hounsell said the fishing was a lot of fun.

"They really put up a good fight," he said.

"If they don't catch the bait on their first try they will get it on their second."

Hounsell said Darren regularly took people out fishing.

"He has his boat in front of the motel so people who stay there ask him to take them out," Hounsell said.

"It is a tough job but someone has to do it."

On Hounsell's second day in Eden the water was too rough to go out so he fished from the beach.