Fishing Reports

Well that was an awesome week. Sunny days, calm seas and out on the water most days. Mixed results but encouraging to pick up a few large Snapper as the first of the “spring jacks” move in. These bigger male fish move in first, quickly followed by the large schools that move in to “feed ‘n’ breed”.

Using fresh baits like Mullet, good quality NZ Pilchards and Mackerels, straylined down a constant burley trail is the key. In deeper water, where these fish were caught, we use ledger rigs or flasher rigs with good success. Often in high current the ledger rig and flasher rigs work well too as the baits get into the strike zone quickly and are not attacked by smaller fish on the way down as a lightly weighted bait can be.

Location is the key though and you won’t catch fish when there is none there. I (logically) am not going to spill the beans on where I am getting these better fish from as other operators (mostly the part timers) will benefit from all our hard work and time on the water. Not trying to be hero or anything like that, just looking after the investment.

I can however tell you that the fish are slowly making their way into the Gulf for the annual “feed ‘n’ breed” and the northerly breeze is only helping to get the water temperature up. Stay tuned.

Recent reports suggest there is still fish hanging on the shallow foul around Whangaparaoa especially the southern side of the Peninsula. The northern side is getting buffeted by the northerly at the moment and will be worth a shot when the wind backs to the south. The Tiri Channel has a lot of fish on the foul and most of them are small. The best chance in here would be too drift across the deeper spots or get right in close and burley up. Try adding a few chunks of Pilchard to the burley trail every now and then. Fresh mullet has been good bait this week especially on the longline. We use the longline this time of year to help us locate patches of incoming fish and to prove or disprove the odd theory we come up with. A handy tool.

Straylining smaller baits seems to be the way to go at the moment. I have had recent successes using a lightly weighted, half Pillie. The Snapper are feeding very tentatively at the moment and a great deal of concentration can be required to even feel the bite. It is as if they are only sucking on the baits. Circle hooks can come into their own when the fish are in this lackadaisical mood and are worth trying. Some of the flasher rigs come with circle hooks and these have proved to successful out in the Gulf in deeper water. I have been playing around with some of the Mac Flasher rigs and been getting results out deep. We will be running a Mac Flasher Big Day Out when the fish are around in better numbers and a bit closer in. Keep your eyes peeled for that one!

Tiri is fishing as well as anywhere if you get the timing right and choose your spot carefully. The back of the island has a heap of different reefs and offers a variety of locations. The shallow foul would be my pick for the next week with burley being the key. Some of the deeper areas are holding John Dory and these delicious fish can be targeted using jigs around the edges of the foul or out in the deeper water amongst the bait schools that are everywhere at the moment. One tip – When using livebaits to target the JDs make sure you use the landing net to land your JD. Often it is only the spines on the livie that are caught in the JDs throat and these can “slip the grip” and you lose your catch.

I haven’t bothered heading south towards The Noises, Rakino or the Ahaahas but would expect there to be some fish, showing up around the fringes fairly shortly. No doubt the Scallops have had a thrashing down that way too.

Kawau – What can I tell you. It has not fished at all well these past few weeks and we look forward to some of the structure filling up with fish over spring and summer. Flat Rock has been pretty patchy and I am favouring the inshore foul over the deeper stuff when up that way. Maori Rock has produced a few and now would be the time to hit for an evening fish or an evening drift in the deeper water to the east. Same deal for out off Takatu Pt. Evenings and a good burely trail. Chunk up a few Pillies too.

Little Barrier I am leaving alone. From what I’ve seen come back from out there it will be a wee while before there is good fish back in around the island and the offshore foul around it. Like wise for Horn Rock and a few other deeper spots out there.

Great Barrier produced some nice Snapper for our landbased trip a few weeks ago. We put a group of 9 onto various ledges for 2 days rock hopping. Some of the guys fished the deeper drop-offs while we put others into fish in the shallows. Our best Snapper came in at 9.4kg. Well done to James Clement (a Fishing.net forum member) who spotted the fish swimming in the shallows, amoung the kelp. Onya Fella! We found the boat fishing very hard and this was backed up recently by a colleague who spent 2 days around the island for little success. Reports that the Scallops are all good though.

We run landbased fishing trips all year with our next big one being a 2 day trip to the top of Coromandel. Give us a bell if your keen on setting up a trip or joining one we have going. There are heaps of options all year round in the Hauraki Gulf for landbased anglers but the best action comes from the places that are hard to get to on foot, as they have less fishing pressure on them.

As I mentioned in our last report and previously in this one, the best baits are by far fresh baits. Good quality NZ Pilchards, fresh Mullet and Mackerel will be all good when this wind eases and we can get back out there. Couple good baits with good quality, well tied tackle, set your self up with the burley going the right way and be prepared to sit it out.

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The fish are coming. Stay tuned!

Damian – The Charter Connection     Where fishing is catching

Ps. To the person/s who removed a longline from us last week. You must be pretty stoopid. You were watched and followed. We know your boat and where you launched. Please return it – the phone number is on the buoys.