Fishing Reports

The calm conditions and smallish tides have seen us headed over to Channel Island and the deep foul in the Colville area. You can get away without too much weight if you fish out of the current along the edges of the channel and recent successes have seen us return time and time again. This area is about the only place that has been producing consistent results without being plagued by the “coutas. Sharks are around but not in the numbers that the “couta are at places like Little Barrier and some of the reefs out in the gulf.

Terahiki have been a feature, typically when the tide’s not running hard out. The best of these seem to come from the areas of foul in over 40 m of water and they are taking snapper baits like squid and pilchard on ledger rigs. Quite often a ledger rig with the weight on the bottom will pick up more fish and a wider range of species due to the fact it gets down to the bottom quicker, therefore fishing longer, and the hooks being above the reef a little don’t tend to get snagged as often. The fish will often, especially in high current, snatch a cube bait, rather than chew away on a larger straylined bait. Another advantage is that there is less line twist in the current as you don’t have a big bait swinging around wildly in the current.

As I mentioned there are mixed results coming from the other side of the Gulf with reports of ‘couta taking over some of the reefs around Little Barrier and further out. There are a few fish to be had in close which is 1 way to keep away from the ‘coutas. Trevally and snapper are pretty much all around Little Barriers’ inshore reefs and a bit of patience and a good quality burley trail will help. Fresh baits like mackerel and koheru or even fresh squid if you can get it will do the job.

Closer in around Tiri, there is also mixed results. It is definitely the change of light that is the pick of the times and I prefer the dawn session as it will keep getting lighter rather than at dusk when it will only get darker and typically the fishing slows down or even stops. The reefs out behind the island have been quite good this winter with regular catches of “pannies”, a few dory and if straying out onto the mud and sand, a few gurnard have been caught.

Wellington Reef and the foul around it is one place worth a shot if you’re up this way. It always seems to have a few fish around it over the winter and not surprisingly as it is quite a large bit of foul. A drift around the deeper edges is worth a try and as yet the ‘coutas haven’t been too much of a problem in here.

The back of Kawau should still be holding a few fish in close along the weedline and on the deeper reefs like Flat Rock and the like. There was a few coutas up there the last time we fished the place but they weren’t in plague proportions. The bigger tides seem to work best up here but the smaller tides favour places like Maori Rock and the foul along the Takatu coast.

The scallops are fattening up nicely and there seems to be plenty around. They will get better as the season moves on and the water warms. It is a chilly 12C around the coast at the moment and can slow the fishing down making the scallops a worthwhile bonus to what can be slow fishing in close.

Check out www.charterconnection.co.nz to find out more about our trips. You can join our “casuals list” by sending us an email to deepsea@clear.net.nz and be kept in the loop about upcoming trips and events.  Keep an eye out for dive flags in close especially if towing a dredge!

Cheers

Damian(Damo)Clayton