THE HEN SNAPPER COME TO TOWN

Regular readers may recall a recent column in which I discussed the arrival of male scouts as a precursor to the annual spring snapper spawning cycle. And for those with the inclination, these scouts have generally been holed up in shallow waters with access from the rocks a recommended strategy.

So successful has this strategy been for some good blokes that by way of example, Steve from the Kerikeri Bait Barn managed to pick up an 18lber mid-day off the rocks near Wharau Bay very recently. And of course, ahem, this modest scribe managed to collect a few pink freight - trains himself on recent trips after dark and in close.

Again, for those good keen men [and women too] who await the spring snapper reproductive frenzy with great anticipation, the second stage of the cycle is now under way. During this stage, the hens arrive, loaded and more or less ready to fire. And if the trio I picked up in mid water Sunday afternoon are anything to go by, they’re not only in great condition, but considering the relatively low water temps out there, the hens I cleaned up tonight are surprisingly ripe and ready. Indeed, in the larger of the trio, weighing in at just under 6kg, my judgement would suggest that if that hen could find some warm a water and a few willing and able bucks, then she’d be laying eggs like an aerial topdressing spreading urea.

Speaking of water temperatures, with the upper layer now nudging at 15°C, the so-called trigger temperature for snapper spawning of 18° is still some time off. However, with the temperature now 2C warmer than it was a mere month ago, it can be surprising just how quickly a warm northerly blow can warm things up.

As an aside, readers may be interested to note that while fishing whole baits with pilchards and squid, all the snapper landed showed an exclusive preference for the latter. And when skinned, by increasing the resistance to my knife, the rich layer of fat typically found inside spawning snapper skins made the skinning more difficult than usual, assuming of course that my knife was indeed as sharp as a razor.

On another matter entirely, the Bay of Islands Yacht Club held a delightful champagne brunch on Sunday to celebrate the opening of a flash new toilet block. For readers unfamiliar with the Club, it has its clubrooms just adjacent to the Copthorne Hotel at the South East corner of the Waitangi peninsula. Providing a schedule of yacht races for the youth of the region, the club also services both the launch and local yachting community through the provision of a hardstand with haul out facilities and also pile moorings either side of the Waitiangi Bridge.

Finally, a bouquet to the Far North District Council for the provision of security lighting at the Waitangi boat-ramp. Well done! All we need now is fresh water and a toilet.