Having such a fun evening the night before we made the call to hit it again in the morning before I headed back home - we decided to come in on his FC500 seaside through the little passage this time, it was going to be interesting to see if these fish would stay around once the sun was up. We launched just on light and decided drifting down the little channel on the way in soft baiting right through into the lagoon, we got... a few hits on the way through which defiantly felt like Snapper and for a first Darren even hooked up to a Stingray on his little soft-bait. Although it was a lot of fun we needed to stick to the plan and anchor up as we only got a 50mtr drift soft baiting, we didn't want to make to much noise so headed off to our quiet little spot in the estuary.
Setting up we dropped the pick to drift our baits back in to the main part of the bay, we dropped the burly in and once it kicked in the fish pretty much came on the bite instantly - it was about 7.30 and the daylight didn't seem to worry them even in 3mtrs of clear water, each bait got hit while the current pushed our burly into the bay. Lobbing back little cubes of pillie they were quickly devoured, being on our light gear to this kind of fishing was so enjoyable. We didn't want to take to much from the area so they would keep coming back, so after getting a couple nice fish from 35 - 50cm we quietly moved off.
Most times we say the fish have gone from the shallows once the sun is up but this is not the case always, it depends where you are and if you know your spots. Some places they stay a little later and I recon some places they don't even leave or don't move to far away, these places are like the one we are in - quiet with no boat noise and very rarely fished. This and abundant food source is why these fish are here and all over the North Island with the above scenario you will always find fish in these places and talking to Darren he said it wouldn't surprise him come summer and later months in summer the place held 20lb fish and I totally agree.
If you were to talk to us standing on the shore where we were you would probably laugh and think it's just those usual fishing tails fisherman like to spin but with some nice 50cm fish in the bin from 3mtrs of crystal clear water you may think twice, and with the right conditions bigger fish must come in to gorge themselves on the smorgesboard these places hold.
Tight lines
REEL KIWI Fishing Fish Whisperer #lovemyfishing
Te Namu wrote: I used to hear stories of guys filling bins with 10lb snapper from the upper reaches of Whangarei Harbour in the 70's and 80's. I was only a kid then so I never had the means to have a go, but would like to have a crack this summer. Places like Limestone Island and some the creeks lined with mangroves running off there apparently held snapper in mid to late summer. |
Tasman and Golden Bay snapper still running hot We are not far away from daylight... Read More >
Variety is the spice of life On one recent trip, the plan was to spend a... Read More >
Fish where the fish are! Catching fish or just going fishing? I tackle this issue... Read More >
Thoughtful tactics required for better fish Over the course of each year the fishing varies,... Read More >