Fishing Reports
Good fishing continues.
Well it has been an exciting month. Our son, Noah was born without a hitch and settled into the organised chaos of home quickly, allowing me back to sea. After a week of bad weather and undesirable conditions we got back into them on the deeper foul around Tiri and Kawau.
So what’s been happening. There is good fishing to be had around Tiri if you can get 3 things in your favour.
1. Wind and tide running in the same direction.
2. Good burley trail that gets down to the reef or area you are fishing. It is no good having a burley trail that draws fish away from you rather than to you.
3. Be in an area that holds fish.
All that said there is heaps of places to try. Shearers Rock and the other foul along the back of the island is holding fish but not in great numbers. Just when you think it is going to fire it dies and the Maomao and other reef fish take over. Angler patience normally wanes about now but if I can I would rather sit it out rather than waste time moving to another spot and having to start over. I have been finding it worth while sticking around often picking up a few bigger fish by doing so. The Tiri Channel has been slow on the whole and with the rough weather and often wind against tide it can be a nasty stretch of water. However there is a few fish to be had on the edges of the channel and on some of the foul in the middle. Again, a good burley will help. The islands south of Kawau Island are also holding a few fish. There is heaps of fishy looking ground around Motuketekete and Motuora Islands to fish and it is well worth a visit to some of the shallow kelp beds and points around here, especially at the change of light. Too much boat noise will put them off so try to find a time and place that is not too busy - hard to do an a fine weekend. Because the fishing has been as I have describe above we have been camped out (when we can get there) around Flat Rock and up towards Takatu. It has been awesome fishing with anglers often going home with limit bags of good “pannies” and Snapper up to 6kg. Yesterday we pulled 50 Snapper in the first hour! The tide needs to be starting and I prefer the outgoing myself in some locations up this way. The wind needs to be calm enough too, as quite often bites are missed when the boat is leaping around too much. Sometimes, the bite is very soft and recurve hooks on dropper rigs or one of the various flasher rigs can work well when other tackle options are not. The depth of water (40+ metres) doesn’t help either, as the line tends to stretch a wee bit in the deeper water. This in turn means you have to strike harder or use a strike and wind or wind and strike technique to help take the stretch out of the line. We have tried various rigs but because of the current and the depth we are finding the above mentioned rigs best along with our Flat Rock Special using VMC hooks – deadly! The bird life and baitfish action is hotting up north of Whangaparaoa . Acres of Anchovies, Dolphins and even Whales are a common sighting. We have tried a few drifts through some of this action but with no real luck. There are fish following these schools of feed around and both the Barracouda we landed yesterday were chocka full of Anchovies. The other thing that is following all this feed around is the trawlers. I won’t say anymore about that. Needless to say that if you are using small Pilchards or Anchovies for bait at the moment in this area, you have a head start. Although quite soft, they are the bait of choice at the moment. Try a couple of wraps of bait cotton around them to help stave off the “pickers”. Squid is still fishing well along with Bonito and strips of Mullet when straylining the shallows or areas not ravaged by the current. It is pretty important to take a few different choices of bait out with you, as the Snapper can be a bit picky this time of year. The water is getting colder and the fishes metabolism slows down which means they don’t need to feed as often. A good burley and a selection of baits can often bring them on the bite when they would normally be quite happy to sit and wait in the reef. We have heaps of fishing options available now with the 4 boats.
TEREHU - (30ft 8knots) Day trips and Island stayaways
MATANGI - (40ft 8knots) Day trips and Island stayaways.
FREMAR – (38ft 10 knots) Day trips and extended trips.
THOMCAT – (48ft Powercat 20 knots) Fast Day trips to Flat Rock, Coromandel, Little Barrier, Horn Rock and Great Barrier. She can sleep about 10 anglers for extended trips also. If you need any more information then give us a call on 09 4240607 or 025 2446346. You can also email your enquirey to us at deepsea@clear.net.nz. While you’re here reading the reports why not check out the Photo Gallery and Discussion Groups. The tightest of lines. Damian
2. Good burley trail that gets down to the reef or area you are fishing. It is no good having a burley trail that draws fish away from you rather than to you.
3. Be in an area that holds fish.
All that said there is heaps of places to try. Shearers Rock and the other foul along the back of the island is holding fish but not in great numbers. Just when you think it is going to fire it dies and the Maomao and other reef fish take over. Angler patience normally wanes about now but if I can I would rather sit it out rather than waste time moving to another spot and having to start over. I have been finding it worth while sticking around often picking up a few bigger fish by doing so. The Tiri Channel has been slow on the whole and with the rough weather and often wind against tide it can be a nasty stretch of water. However there is a few fish to be had on the edges of the channel and on some of the foul in the middle. Again, a good burley will help. The islands south of Kawau Island are also holding a few fish. There is heaps of fishy looking ground around Motuketekete and Motuora Islands to fish and it is well worth a visit to some of the shallow kelp beds and points around here, especially at the change of light. Too much boat noise will put them off so try to find a time and place that is not too busy - hard to do an a fine weekend. Because the fishing has been as I have describe above we have been camped out (when we can get there) around Flat Rock and up towards Takatu. It has been awesome fishing with anglers often going home with limit bags of good “pannies” and Snapper up to 6kg. Yesterday we pulled 50 Snapper in the first hour! The tide needs to be starting and I prefer the outgoing myself in some locations up this way. The wind needs to be calm enough too, as quite often bites are missed when the boat is leaping around too much. Sometimes, the bite is very soft and recurve hooks on dropper rigs or one of the various flasher rigs can work well when other tackle options are not. The depth of water (40+ metres) doesn’t help either, as the line tends to stretch a wee bit in the deeper water. This in turn means you have to strike harder or use a strike and wind or wind and strike technique to help take the stretch out of the line. We have tried various rigs but because of the current and the depth we are finding the above mentioned rigs best along with our Flat Rock Special using VMC hooks – deadly! The bird life and baitfish action is hotting up north of Whangaparaoa . Acres of Anchovies, Dolphins and even Whales are a common sighting. We have tried a few drifts through some of this action but with no real luck. There are fish following these schools of feed around and both the Barracouda we landed yesterday were chocka full of Anchovies. The other thing that is following all this feed around is the trawlers. I won’t say anymore about that. Needless to say that if you are using small Pilchards or Anchovies for bait at the moment in this area, you have a head start. Although quite soft, they are the bait of choice at the moment. Try a couple of wraps of bait cotton around them to help stave off the “pickers”. Squid is still fishing well along with Bonito and strips of Mullet when straylining the shallows or areas not ravaged by the current. It is pretty important to take a few different choices of bait out with you, as the Snapper can be a bit picky this time of year. The water is getting colder and the fishes metabolism slows down which means they don’t need to feed as often. A good burley and a selection of baits can often bring them on the bite when they would normally be quite happy to sit and wait in the reef. We have heaps of fishing options available now with the 4 boats.
TEREHU - (30ft 8knots) Day trips and Island stayaways
MATANGI - (40ft 8knots) Day trips and Island stayaways.
FREMAR – (38ft 10 knots) Day trips and extended trips.
THOMCAT – (48ft Powercat 20 knots) Fast Day trips to Flat Rock, Coromandel, Little Barrier, Horn Rock and Great Barrier. She can sleep about 10 anglers for extended trips also. If you need any more information then give us a call on 09 4240607 or 025 2446346. You can also email your enquirey to us at deepsea@clear.net.nz. While you’re here reading the reports why not check out the Photo Gallery and Discussion Groups. The tightest of lines. Damian
A Charter Connection...Report type: Saltwater
Report date: 10 July 03
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