He Was Told It Was a “Dumb Question”… Now He Runs NZs Largest Fishing Platform
🎣 Get the Net – Tight Lines, Loose Lips! 🎙️Show Notes
Ben Chissell didn’t set out to build New Zealand’s biggest online fishing platform — he started it after getting absolutely slammed for asking what he thought was a simple fishing question. Instead of backing down, he decided there had to be a better way for Kiwi fishos to connect, learn, and share without being ridiculed. That moment sparked what would become the NZ Fishing Community, now the largest online fishing group in the country.
In this episode, Ben opens up about the early days — the criticism, the backlash, and the growing pains of running a fast-scaling Facebook group. We talk about moderation, online pile-ons, misinformation, and the responsibility that comes with leading a platform where thousands of anglers share reports and opinions daily. We also unpack some of Ben’s early boating mishaps and hard-earned lessons — the kind most fishos can relate to — and the journey from figuring it out the hard way to landing a world record gemfish.
We also dive into the One Ocean Protest, and how — much like starting the Facebook group — it came from frustration. Frustration with government decisions, frustration with how recreational fishers were being represented, and the decision to channel that energy into action instead of just noise. This episode is about resilience, community, learning publicly, and what can happen when you turn criticism into something constructive. ✅ Ben Chissell @chissellben (IG) ✅ https://www.facebook.com/groups/nzfishingcommunity ✅https://www.facebook.com/profile.phpid=61583108365415 (one ocean project)
🌟 Links & Socials - YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@getthenet_nz] - Apple Podcasts: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/🎣-get-the-net-–-tight-lines-loose-lips🎙️/id1824558692]
✅ Follow Us - Instagram: @getthenet_nz - TikTok: @getthenet_nz - Facebook @getthenet_nz 🎵 Music Used ✅ Proctor, Topher Mohr & Alex Elena ✅ Satellites, Swello ✅ Momentum, Zplit ✅ Source (YouTube Audio Library) 🎥 Production Notes ✅ Shot on: Sony A7iii + Sennheiser Mics ✅ Edited in: Adobe Premiere Pro ✅ Shot, Edited & Produced by Nick Hoyle
More from 🎣 Get the Net – Tight Lines, Loose Lips! 🎙️
In Japan, jig anglers have an unofficial benchmark. It isn’t a club with a membership card. It’s a bluefin tuna over 100 kilos, caught on the jig. You can’t plan for one or buy your way into it. You just keep dropping. Justin Corric had chased that fish for years. A little over four weeks ago, on the final morning of one of the toughest trips of his life, he finally got one.
Captain Rick Pollock grew up in Hollywood, the son of a doctor whose patients included movie stars, and had boated 100 billfish out of Baja Mexico by the time he was 18. He arrived in New Zealand in 1978 on what was meant to be a one-year contract skippering a charter boat out of Whakatane, fishing White Island — and never left. Rick sits down with Nick to share stories from nearly 50 years on the water, including White Island — his home away from home — plus the day his boat tied the All Tackle world record kingfish, and a career built almost entirely around the country's most obsessed-over sportfish.
Recorded on the Daiwa stand at the NZ Boat Fish Dive Expo. This Quick Cast is with Aaron Styles, founder of Just Another Fisherman.
Frank and Jane are the couple behind Beyond the Coast, a YouTube channel built around fishing, camping and exploring their own backyard. They've turned that into a lifestyle a lot of us would love to have.
A 5.8 metre trailer boat. A UFC heavyweight strapped into the harness. And a Pacific bluefin tuna that pulled the scales to 243kg bled, gutted and gilled.