Hauraki Gulf Fishing report - Diversity - 280116

  • General Saltwater, Auckland and The Hauraki Gulf

The Milty Way!

We have been mostly bait fishing on the anchor as of late. The reason being that the vast snapper schools that are furiously spawning at the moment seem to prefer nibbling on the baits rather than the usual aggressive jig and lure smashing we all love so much.

There has been some epic 'snappering' in these schools with plenty of big fish caught (and many released too) and limit bags are common.

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Bait

Throughout this period we have been using NZ Pilchards from Fishing Direct in Silverdale. The reason...they are caught in Whangapararaoa Bay and in the Bream Bay area too. Match the hatch to better your catch. These "pillies" far out fish all the imported pilchards and if you are keen bait fisherman you will notice this in your results. The pillies are IQF (individual quick frozen) meaning they are in a very fresh condition and come free flow in the box. When defrosted and cut they actually bleed unlike the imported rubbish that just turns to mush. Look for the Salty Dog brand.

We have also been using the Lolago squid too. This is imported (Cali and Mexico) and is also IQF and food grade. I haven't eaten it (true...)  but there is nutritional information on the box and its a great size and conditioned bait. A lot of our NZ caught squid is not that well looked after and is orange to look at. Squid in their natural environment are not orange and sure a hungry fish will eat it but when the snapper are spawning and thinking about other things you might just find that the fresh, natural option will entice a bite.

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Lures

On the odd occasion (usually prospecting on the drift) that we have gone to lure fishing it has been the orange Slider from Ocean Angler that has been our go to lure. Recently we have also had great success using the pink Slider and Father Xmas Jitterbug.

We have dropped down in leader weight to make these even more effective and if you are doing this it is critical you check the leader after every fish due to the abrasion. Micro jigs too will need the connection knot and leader checked also as often due to the jigs small size a bigger fish will scoff the whole lure and this can rough up your leader pretty badly.

Locations

Unlike in previous years the snapper schools although big in size are very localised and not as wide spread throughout the Gulf. Certain areas seem to be holding fish in better numbers than others Whangapararaoa Bay:

We have been fishing this general area for a month now. Varying depths from 18-50m but recently in 32m  Northeast of the Noises in about 42-46m. Have a good look around with the sounder or watch the surface and sky for birds.

Keep an eye out for Kings too - heaps in the Gulf at the moment!

Noises to Durville and down towards Gannet Rock.

We had a few good sessions in here but the size was not as good as the previous two locations I mentioned. Also I think quite a bit of the bait that was there may have moved in towards Rangi and into the Firth. The Motuhie area is starting to show more promise with better reports coming from the area around the green marker. Home Bay should have fish feeding in the current too but I haven't been down there yet and may not. The inner harbour has had its moments of brilliance but from what I hear it is still pretty patchy. Get on the right spot and you'll do well though.

The Firth

The Firth has also dished up a few good loads of snapper and it seems the further down into the Firth you go the more fish are around. Large bait schools are also present which is encouraging. West of Channel Island: Ahh the old stomping ground. I've fished out here so much I have to drive the opposite way from time to time just for a change of scenery! It can be like finding a needle in a haystack out here if you solely rely on your sounder so I prefer long drifts or anchor up on some sign or in the current and get into it from there.

The long drifts have been out bread and butter out here with some great catches when the bite is on. in the spring you get the odd pup "puka and in the summer there can be skippys and we have even had albacore and seen a small marlin tailing here too.

Tactics

Bait fishing is all about sight and smell bringing the fish on the bite. Here's how we have been doing it. Find a good school of snapper. On my sounder I use a low gain (3.5/10) so I am only seeing the good stuff and not getting side tracked too much. I'm easily side tracked. I have had this sounder for 10 years and it doesn't tell any lies. I look for "nike" shapes and beehive shaped marks near the bottom or in mid-water so long as there is bait close or at least nearby.

I also mark the bait with a GPS event marker or simply just keep and eye on my trail plotter so I can easily find it again during my look around. We anchor up current from the school and ride back on the anchor until the boat is directly over it. This is when I shut the sounder off. 1/2 pillies are deployed to the bottom on ledger rigs or our Flat Rock Special (a version of a ledger rig) and then it's just a matter of sitting it out.

The small ones normally come in first as the school starts to feed and these are carefully released using a wet towel and careful handling. We keep nothing under 33cm. As the fishing continues and we get the odd small kahawai or mackerel, we fillet these down and chop up the frame and head into chunks and burley them up.

We cut the fillets into strips and use them in the bait mix. The livebait tank aslo gets stocked. We hardly ever use a burely bomb except around the full moon when the fishing can be a little slower. The kingfish normally show up after a while in these schools and it is then that we deploy a live bait down to the bottom on a single hook ledger rig with a circle hook.

I use the circle hooks as the majority of the kingfish in the Gulf are small and it makes for an easy release. In most cases we don't even touch the kingfish as we use a rubber Rusler net which keeps the fish safe and just whip out the circle hook by pliers or hand. A safe release. We have caught a lot of kingfish using this simple method and introduced plenty of new anglers to the Gulfs kingfish. I have been finding the last 2-3 hours of the outgoing tide to be the best bet at the moment and a recent trip backed this up.

On this day we had about 10 fish by 2pm and as the outgoing tide reached its midpoint I returned to where I had marked a large snapper school that we unsuccessfully fished earlier in the day. We filled the bins up with an hour or so. Spawning snapper are serial spawners. They will just keep going so long as the conditions remain right.

They love the calm conditions and big moon or moon lit nights. It's so romantic for them as they swim around in trails of milt, nudging and nipping each other. Water temperature is a critical element here and until the temp drops or some other magical factor triggers a change in behaviour the spawn will go on.

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When change happens though it will be a season of feasting as they hurry to put on condition and a layer of fat for the cooler months. What's coming up The cooling waters will see the return of the annual anchovie run and work up fishing will follow. In past years the north facing coasts of the Gulf have seen large numbers of anchovies.

Rangi, and Waiheke coasts, Whangapararaoa and in the bays south of Kawau Island

Down in the firth and in late March and April, Little barrier and Great Barrier can really fire up as the bait builds up and the fish feast. You'll be able to see in the snapper you catch how the condition of the fish changes.

At the moment much of the Gulfs snapper is skinny and spent. Bruising around the belly, nipped fins and bite marks indicate the spawning but you will see these signs slowly disappear and the fish recover and fatten. The full moon is waning and the fishing will improve this week.

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