Fishing Reports

With a heavy swell pushing around the coast and weed and foam forming long scum lines between Rangitoto and Whangaparaoa we were off for a fish on the edge of the brown water, which was now between the Noises and Tiri. With not much showing on the bottom, we drifted through some good looking mid water marks, jigging and straylining with the least amount of weight we could. First bait to get down was nailed by a 6ft School Shark followed by a few small, lost looking Snapper. I say lost because they were the only ones we saw that morning. After losing patience with the Sharks it was in close for a berley up and a strayline around one of the points on Tiri. Foam was pouring off the rocks and it looked really fishy but perhaps the huge amount of fresh water had some thing to do with the small amount of fish that came aboard. Nothing really of mention, only ½ a dozen Snapper to about 3 kg all of which were full of Crab claws and shellfish.

It seems that we are getting 4-5 days of unpleasant weather and then a day of the good stuff. On that horrible Saturday last week there was wind of over 60 knots (120kmh) out at Tiri and a swell threatening to get to 5-6 metres. Makes for hard fishing even if you could get out. With a bit of luck that could all be behind us now and we look forward to our normal Autumn weather.

On the days we have managed to get out and about we have been making a bee line for Rakino and the back of Waiheke. The fishing has been awesome through here lately and bag limits are not uncommon. Yesterday we had 90 Snapper by 11am and managed to be home before the wind kicked in. There has been a lot of fish through the Motuihe Channel, Rangitoto Channel, Sergeant Channel and right up the harbour. Bit of a channel theme going on there with a huge amount of fish having easy pickings on the all the tucker being exposed by the current that ravages these channels. Yesterdays’ fish were again full of shellfish and small Crab bits.

I haven’t bothered doing much around the Tiri area when it has been fishing so well in the above mentioned places, so am not really in a position to comment but can say that the general word around the traps is not encouraging. The commercial boats (long liners and seiners) are working a few miles off the back of the island and I suspect there could well be a fair bit of fish out here but conditions have not allowed a decent look around or shot at them. I’ll let you know as I am due for a change of scenery. Same goes for the Kawau area and I hope it improves for the guys doing the Furuno this year. I am giving it a miss this year as we a few other comps to do later on but I do have a boat available if anyone has left it to the last minute. Better be quick though!

Mullet bait seems to be working really well in the channels especially small cubes on a ledger rig. I tend to favour a ledger rig over the long trace running rig with groups of 6 or more on board but will often use the running rig or a weighted strayline rig with smaller groups. We are using 5/0 hooks on the ledger rigs and 6/0-7/0 when we can use the other rigs. The Black Magic Snapper Snatcher in 5/0 has been deadly and I don't know why but it catches more fish than any other flasher rig we have seen! (No we are not sponsored) I do find that the amount of trace they leave on the sinker end of the rig is overly long and in most cases I tend to cut it shorter so as to get the rig closer to the bottom when fishing in the current. It would make sense to leave it a bit longer if fishing "sticky foul", so as to avoid the loss of gear in the weed or reef.

Speaking of reef fishing we have a few Barrier trips penciled for later in the year . FREMAR (Pelin Ranger –12knots) will be taking groups of 6 for extended trips on the following weekends. April 30^th - May 2^nd, May 21^st – May 23^rd, June 18^th – June 20^th. Trips cost $300pp (bait incl) for 3 days fishing. These dates are ones we have penciled but we can check out other dates if these don’t suit. FREMAR is also available for overnighters. THOMCAT will be back from the up north after the Houhora Contest and be available for corporate trips in early April.

It has been an interesting month on the Game fishing front with a lot of Tuna and Marlin being caught in close earlier on. There has even been a Yellowfin and Black Marlin caught at Anchorite Rock in the Hauraki Gulf. The big northerly blow may even push a few more our way as just prior to it blowing there were Marlin sightings a wee bit north of Little Barrier. Not too uncommon but encouraging for local anglers.

MATANGI and TEREHU are pretty busy at the moment but we do have some spaces available for day trips. These start at only $50pp so get on the phone or send us an email to find out more. If you haven’t already, why not join our "casuals list" and get sent emails with dates and specials when they are available. Phone the boat on 025 244 6346, office on 09 4240607 or email us at >deepsea@clear.net.nz.

Age is something that doesn’t really matter unless you are a cheese.

Cheers

Damian – THE CHARTER CONNECTION – where fishing is catching!