Fishing Reports

Where does one start during such a great season and in season that looks like it could well be one of the best? Here’s what we’ve been up to.

Water temperatures continue to rise with reports of 22C water in behind the Mokes and a few stories about about gamefish being seen and landed from the area and off the top of the Barrier too. There is blue water in behind Kawau as well which we haven’t seen this early in the season for a few years. Further north, where I managed to sneak away to for a few days with the family recently, is buzzing with reports of marlin and tuna and weigh masters are being kept busy at the gantry. I believe the Mercury Bay area is also fishing well.  

Back down here in the Gulf there is good fishing to be had especially around Little Barrier and on some of the deeper reefs. Closer in it seems that the change of light is the best, partly due to the bright day time conditions we’ve had.

Little Barrier is holding a schools of Snapper pretty much all round the island and in most depths. 35-40 metres seems to be best and if you can get the tide running with the breeze and get a good burley trial going you should do OK in the area. Drift fishing over some of the deeper foul has been pretty good too. Keep your eyes open for working birds as the Kingfish up here round up schools of pilchards and then proceed to crash through them fulfilling their dietary needs. Speed jigging on the drift normally gets their attention. Don’t be afraid to use a big jig either such as a Zest 300gr or bigger. Most colours work when the Kingis are in this sort of feeding mood but it is hard to go past a red/orange or pilchard imitation. Drop the jig to the bottom (if it makes it that far!) and give it a couple of healthy bounces then wind like mad to the surface. Another method is to stop/start the jig all the way through the water column to get the fish’s attention then wind like mad to the surface.

Most takes are near the surface. The visibility was so good up there the other day we were watching the fish chase the jig down till it was just out of sight and stopping it before retrieving it at speed and watching the huge schools follow it up and gobble it!

Most of the kingfish are only small (less than a metre) and although they provide good sport and some are “legal” it is best to carefully net them and release them to breed. The bigger fish are up to around 25kg or so and provide a lot of meat so take it easy on them and only keep what you really need.

There are Terahiki and other reef fish to be found on the deeper reefs too and anchoring and burleying seems to be the best way of getting a few of these in the bin. The ends of the tides work well for Terahiki and don’t be surprised if the odd small Hapuka shows up.

Great Barrier is normally a little quiet on the fishing front around this time although a good time to visit the island. Try the deeper, offshore reefs for best results or get in close in the evenings. Around the Needles should be pretty good for the Kingis and drifting or very slowly towing livebaits along some of the faces can produce excellent fishing.  Get in some current for best results on the Snapper and use fresh baits if you can get them. Piper and Jack Mackerel are good. The John Dory like a live bait too so if the fish are bit slow or you are waiting for the tide to run, slip one on a 1 hook ledger rig and put it on or just above the reef.

Kawau has it share of traffic over the holidays too but is still fishing quite well. Flat Rock has schools of Kingfish lurking around and live baits drifted around the reefs should, at some stage of the tide, get some attention. Another method is to surface burley near the rock itself and live bait, but you may have to get in the queue to get a park. It sure gets busy over the holidays! Maori Rock or in fact most structure with tide running past or over it, is another good option for Kingfish and Snapper.

Kawau Bay and the Takatu coastline are best fished at the change of light for Snapper and Trevally using a strayline rig with the sinker (if needed) directly above the hooks. This helps with bite detection as it lets you keep in touch with bait. This rig can also be used on the drift but I find it is less successful with a large amount of lead eg. a 6oz ball sinker, so I try to use a few smaller weights instead of 1 big one.

Tiri has slowed down dramatically now and we wait for the fish to move back out. There are still fish in the Channel but the bites are very soft and baits are coming back with only a small “nip” taken out of them. Try a ledger rig with recurve or circle hooks and let the fish pick away at the bait. When the bite becomes more vigorous give the rod a long lift and if the weight comes on wind quickly to help set the hook. This is the way recurve and circle hooks work and you’ll find most fish are lip hooked or hooked in the corner of the mouth – old news I know, but we still get anglers trying to strike fish using circle hooks when in fact all they are doing is quickly pulling the bait away from the fish. Circle hooks are also great as a live bait hook as it prevents a Kingfish from gut hooking itself and makes for an easy and successful release of the smaller fish.

Try around Shearers Rock and the Black Buoy behind Tiri at the change of light for Snapper, Trevally and John Dory and during the day for Kingfish.

The Matiatia area and the channels around Auckland are fishing a bit better now but it is still the evenings that produce the best. Out on the worm beds there are still schools of Snapper around and drift fishing the area can get a result. You may experience major thumb burn and a rapid loss of line out here too, as there a few big Bronzies around. I haven’t seen any Threshers yet but I’m sure they will make their presence felt soon enough.

An area to try on those bright, flat calm days when the fish just don’t want to feed is out behind Tiri and north east of Tiri in about 50m or more. Be careful not to anchor in the Telecom cable area (or as we call it, the Telecom marine reserve) and get a good burley trail going about a metre or 3 above the bottom. We have had results out here but it takes patience as the burley spreads the word. Good pannies, huge Gurnard (50cm+), John Dory and a few others will slowly move in. It can be a long wait though – the other day it was over an hour with out a single bite but they came on in the end. Wind with tide helps too of course.

Up on my soap box for a minute now – The Kahawai Legal Challenge represented by The NZ Recreational Fishing Council and the NZ Big Game Fishing Council are set to seek a High Court decision to better define the rights of you, I and every other recreational and amateur fisher in the country. This is set to happen mid 2006 and they need our help especially now as the commercial fishing industry represented by Sanford, and the Sealord Group, together with a holding company for other commercial fishing interests, Pelagic and Tuna Limited, have this month issued a counterclaim against the Minister of Fisheries recent decisions for the 2005/2006 fishing year.

 Sanford's are the largest industry player and operate a purse seine fleet which targets Kahawai! These fishing companies are catching your Kahawai and exporting it to Australia for crayfish bait and processed pellets for fish food!

Log onto http://www.kahawai.co.nz/ to find out more and how you can help.

Give us a bell for your next trip out on 094240607 or the boats on 021 2446346.

Email us at deepsea@clear.net.nz

Damian (Damo)

The Charter Connection – Where fishing is catching!