Fishing Reports

With the odd fine day here and there the fishing has really been pretty good for those who were able to get out. The boys who fished the the Fishing.net.nz competition at Gt Barrier last weekend getting some excellent snapper and a good feed of small hapuka for those who went a bit deeper. Nice work to Bill Ryan and Kerren and the guys that put it all together - well done. Tune into the Fishing.net.nz forums for upcoming events.

In close the fishing has been really good, and when I say in close I mean real close, with good snapper being pulled from 10ft of water or less.
 
BILLY GOAT POINT TO GARDINER GAP
Excellent snapper fishing , with double figure fish common, fish very shallow in amongst the foul can be pulled out with lots of berley. A single hook rig would work best here, with a small bean sinker 1/4 oz should be more than ample weight, cast in to the foul, and allowed to sink slowly. Best bait seems to be 1/2 fresh pillies. the bite has been best in the afternoon , but with overcast days forecast for the next week the fishing should be good from dawn till dusk.
 
SCULLY REEF
This area has been producing great snapper action, agin in close to the rocky head, fish seem to be biting here when the current is slack so plenty of berley and big unweighted baits are producing good snapper.  

Fish a similar rig to that at Billy Goat but try with no lead at all, the fish have been taking the bait well off the bottom This is also a great spot for a john dory. JD's are best fished with a single hook live bait ledger rig, and a small jack as a livie, by fishing a fairly heavy dropper sinker on this rig you can have a rig in the water, while still straylining for snaps and not worry about tangles. John Dory... yum!
 
AHAAHA ROCKS
Has finally started to fire with some really good snapper coming from this group. Big kings have been patrolling this area as well, chasing the schools of blue kohuru that have been common around the rocks, so when fishing for snaps a livie under a balloon could be a good plan.

With the foul in this area though, a heavy 24kg out fit may be required to stop some of these kings. Richard taylor produced the best fish we have heard of, his fish weighing a healthy 24.3 kgs.

The snapper have been feeding well here, with big baits getting big fish, the best area seems to be on the SW edge of the foul where the sand meets the foul, big mussell kina berley on the anchor with XXXL baits drifted down the trail is producing some fantastic big reds for those who are fishing there.
 
A COUPLE OF TACKLE TIPS
The most common reason for broken rod tips is through winding the swivel or sinker into your rod tip Doing this at speed will eventually smash the insert from your rodtip or bend it and cause your line fray and break.

A good way to stop this is to grab a button off an old shirt, once the line is threaded through the guides thread your button on and your normal rig, the button will lay flat on the tip when your gear is retrieved , stopping the swivel/sinker smashing into your rodtip insert and cracking it
 
Most hooks if not all hooks used for snapper fishing these days are chemically sharpened, and are made of mild steel, with a rust-proof coating. This rust-proof coating however doesn't stop them from rusting in your tackle box after a period of time, salt moisture is the culprit and rust spots appear after only a short time.

There are 2 ways you can help prevent this..... first if you like keeping your hooks at the end of a days fishing, seperate them from the new ones. Having been in salt water, when laid beside new ones, the salt deposit will cause other hooks in the vicinity to rust. Second, add a bit of talcum powder to your box, I'm very superstitious about spraying my hooks with tackle guard etc (dont like the greasy feel of my hooks )....the talcum powder helps keep the moisture off your hooks and will help stop rusting.
 
Well thats all for this week, with the wet weather here at the moment the days can seem long , but the fishing is pretty dam good for this time of the year, so when the opportunity presents take it as there are some great fish to be caught.

Good luck, tight lines & bent rods
 
Terry King