Fishing Reports

Winter in Mercury Bay

As we get in august we are now seeing the previous abundance of good sized snapper in the 5-30m depth range starting to thin out as a lot of the fish move out thru the 30's and 40 m area, and beyond.Some good fish are still being landed in close, particularly on change of light, as some choose not to move out, staying resident in the shallows right through.

Terakihi - that fantastic eating fish that often plays second fiddle to snapper in many peoples minds, is now staring to show well, particularly in the areas around 20- 50m , on low broken foul surrounded with large sand area.They are also on the deep foul out to 200m in places, and abundant around 90-120m, if you like the long grind up, the Hapuka are out there as well, but you'll only get one or the other , unless you gear up properly. Use Black Magic Terakihi 1/0 rigs anywhere you are targeting Terakihi - they are worth the money. A recent trip out where one client insisted in using NON Blk magic 5/0 snapper flashers vs another angler on the boat using 5/0 Blk Magic flashers vs another using Blk Magic 1/0 Terakihi flashers- 1 hours fishing- RESULT- 1st guy - Zero Terakihi, 2nd guy 4 terakihi, and 3rd guy 11 Terakihi- Case Closed !!! Drop burley on heavy weight down to 1- 2 metres off the bottom, so that when they find you, you'll hold them.

For those that still want a big snapper - the eastern side of Red Merc, Whale Island, Danger Rks, or Ohinau, out on the heavy foul in 30-50 metres, catching them on their way out to the deep mud for the next few months.

Hapuka - nows the time to get your winch out and grind these guys up from the deep-100 metres or more for better ones- and put a terakihi flasher on the top with a tiny bait to ping a bonus terakihi while you're at it !!!.

Great scallop fishing too at present, quantity wise, but poor condition, having just spawned.

Weather has been largely unsettled of late, but looks to be going into a more settled phase again now -I hope !!

Tight Lines - From Andy on Stingray Charters, Whitianga

From

Stingray Charters