Fishing Reports

The winter weather patterns seem to be as fierce as they ever were and the series of fronts coming out of the southern ocean sure do have some “bite” in them. Unusual to see the odd depression drop in from the north Tasman too, adding to the frequent north easterly gales and bitterly cold south west change that typically follows. Sure can slow the fishing down!

The Auckland channels are pretty barren now and I shan't dwell on this area for long except to say that your best chance would be to get in close to some reef system and burley up at the change of light.

Tiri has also slowed down considerably now and the fish we were getting off the reefs behind the island seem to be fished out or moved on leaving only a few resident fish which can be caught by burleying up and again fishing the change of light.

Dusk seems to be best at the moment and whole and ½ Pilchards straylined back down the trail should get you into some fish. It is pretty important to get the wind and tide together when fishing like this.

Kawau and the deeper reefs on the seaward side are still holding fish and again the change of light can work well if you get the wind and tide together. Flat Rock has been its “Doctor Jeckle and Mr Hyde” self again with good fish being caught on 1 day but a disappointing showing the next. The trick can be adopt a change of plan and drift the edges of the foul especially the eastern side where the pinnacles drop 20 odd metres onto the sand. The Snapper can often be found along these edges and on some of the low foul near the main reef.

In close to Kawau has been producing some nice Snapper and Trevally especially from the shallows. Lightly weighted baits or livebaits have been working well, but you will have to exercise some patience to get a result. A lot of the bigger fish came from in close in the recent 10KG Classic Tournament up here.

Anchorite was chocka with snapper a week or so ago, as this area of foul is one of the “stop off points” for the Snapper as they leave the inner Gulf area. There was a heap of fish coming from the area including a few large Snapper and alot of fish around the 3-4lb size. Bound to be a few left if you can get out there and get the wind and tide working together.

Little Barrier has been firing! We have pulled Snapper to 9kg out of the shallows and off the deeper reefs. Large Mackerel, Pilchard and Squid baits have been best using a good burley trail. Tope have been a bit of a problem, coming into the scene and nailing baits in mid-water and off the bottom.

I didn’t want to mention it, but, the “Couta” have turned up as well. Try some ‘Couta strips as bait. The Snapper love it, but so do the ‘couta! If they become plague like where you’re fishing, it can often be best to move on and try to get something better happening elsewhere. I have had days out here where it doesn’t matter where you go, they are just everywhere! Very frustrating and I get splinters in my fingers from scratching my head!

Horn Rock and the large area of foul around it, is still fishing quite well and if you have the time, it is very worth your while to have a good look around rather than just chucking the anchor in somewhere near the rock. There are lots of humps and bumps, some only a metre or 2 high, that can hold big Snapper and lots of them. Drift fishing can also work well in the area and it is always worth live baiting, even on the drift, as there can be some very large Kingfish in residence over the cooler months.

Great Barrier – home of the Fishing.net.nz Smokehouse Bay Challenge, was on fire last weekend! Not physically burning down of course, but producing large Snapper, Kingfish and Hapuka for the contestants. A great time was had, in very fishable conditions, with some large Snapper up to 10.5kg being weighed. Our 2 teams had a blast and collected nearly half the prizes with 20lb Snapper and others close to it, Kingfish and Hapuka.

Most of the ‘Pukas were “pups’ to around 10kg and are excellent eating. A few other species were caught including Terahiki, Goldies and Frost fish. The winning fish came from the Mokes, with the vast majority of others coming from the Needles area. Big baits were catching big fish, as is often the case.

Live Squid were our “not so secret” weapon and were responsible for our 2 heaviest fish. It was amazing to see the Kingfish ripping into a few terrified Squid that were squirting ink a foot or so into the air, in a desperate and not so successful attempt to get away. Moments later we were hooked up to solid fish on our Squid livies. YEAH!!

 Big thanks to the guys that put tournaments like this together. As one was heard to say “They don’t happen by accident” and I’d like to personally thank the organisers and competitors from Fishing.net.nz for making it such a great event. Big ups fellas!

Don’t forget to get yourself on our casuals list if you wish to join with other like minded anglers and get out there. Keep in mind too, that it is July already and it won’t be long before the fish do a big “about face” and head back in. Book your summer events now to avoid missing out later. Call the boats on 021 2446346, office on 09 4240607 or email us at deepsea@clear.net.nz