Fishing Reports

It seems as if there are fish everywhere at the moment. The only negative news is that there seems to be less Yellow Fin Tuna around this year. Marlin are being caught in all the usual places and the recent contests in the Far North have had great attendance and results. The Snapper fishing at this time of year is also pretty darn good too!

We are having excellent results fishing the middle of the Gulf and bag limits of good size Snapper to about 6-7kg are common. Big Gurnard, John Dory, Kahawai and Shark make up the “other species” list out here. When we fish the reefs there are usually a few small Kingfish about along with the usual Bastard Cod and other reef fish which all go back over the side.

Soft plastics are fishing well as would be expected when there are so many fish around. In the deeper water we are finding the Lumo Worms to be the go along with the “Sand Worm” softies too. These 6 inch worms are being scoffed either on a VMC 4/0 hook with a small ball sinker on top and straylined or on a ledger rig. The soft plastic crabs have been ok too but for some reason they don’t get the attention the worms do.

It may be the way we are fishing them or where we are fishing. To illustrate the point, we set up a few rigs with baits and a few with soft plastics. The Lumo worm out fished all other softies and baits both in numbers and in size of fish caught. It wasn’t until I cut a crab in half and put it on a ledger rig did it catch any fish. I would have thought that the crabs would have been the pick of them especially for the Gurnard. I have had reports of Trevally going them really hard even after the little Snapper have nibbled the legs off them.

We did a few drifts through some bait schools being molested around Simpsons Rock a week or so ago using long jigs, soft plastics and some new flasher rigs we have developed and just about everything got nailed! The only baits that didn’t get a hammering were the 2 large Kahawai livies we were running while we drifted through. Quite surprising really considering the surface action.

A quick stop at Little Barrier on the way home filled the boot with Snapper, but there have been mixed reports from the area and I haven’t had the need to go too much further than a few miles behind Tiri to get the same fish.

The Snapper are being found in mid water around the deeper reefs out in the Gulf and it often pays to have a good look around the edges of the reefs and out on the sand and rubble that surrounds them. We had a haul of Snapper from out here a while back that were spitting out whelks, periwinkles and shellfish that you would find around the edges and sure enough that’s where we found the better fish too.

Drifting (when the weather allows) is the best option especially if there is a lot of mid water “sign”: on the sounder. Baits and jigs will often get the hits on the drop in this situation so keep your thumb on the spool and get ready for the burn!

Closer in and back to where are spending most of our time, there is heaps of bird life, whales and dolphins feeding on the schools of bait and this sort of action is the sound of the restaurant door being opened for the snapper. Find the feed and you’ll find the Snapper. Keep a look out for diving gannets, whales venting and dolphins working a particular area.

You wont have to go far as the worm beds between Tiri and the Noisies is fishing well under all the activity. Some days you wont see much bird life so a good sounder is essential for locating the feed. We have even stopped on no sign at all, apart from a few mid water marks, to find the snapper feeding hard on the bottom.

The Tiri Channel has been a bit patchy but there are fish along the edges and around some of the structure. The area under the firing range produced a few nice fish in the weather the other day but generally around the reefs off Army Bay and the reefs behind Tiri are fishing better. Big Tides in here at the moment so a bit of lead is needed.

Around the back of Kawau is fishing alright too and some of the deeper spots out here have been home to good Snappper, Trevally, Terahiki, Kingfish and  Blue Cod. The Blue Cod seem to be on just about any reef or structure and we have caught some good ones to over 50cm. They take baits set for Snapper so there is no real special rig to catch them.

Flat Rock should be worth a look soon too as the water cools and the fish move back onto the reefs. Dawn and dusk shots up here can be epic and some big Snapper and Kingies mooch around this extensive reef system during autumn.

That’s about it from me for this month. It’s a real Snapper fest going on out there at the moment and you should get out there and into the action!

We have a few dates set aside for individual anglers on both MAJURO and TYPEE over the next few months and a special offer on TYPEE for both groups and individuals. Flick us through an email (deepsea@clear.net.nz) to get the offers, info and dates sent back to you. Corporates should take advantage of the kind season too and enjoy the action that other groups are enjoying. We do great BBQ lunches and have catering packages etc to make the day an easy no hassle affair.

Call us on 021 2446346 or 09 4240607. You may have to leave a message on the land line as we are often out there doing it!

Being hooked up – the most fun  you can have with your clothes on!

Cheers

Damian (Damo)

The Charter Connection – where fishing is catching!