Opportunity Knocks even with the ‘Flu’ A few crystal clear, relatively calm days recently and early mornings before the wind kicks in too much means heading out into the Hauraki Gulf has rewarded fisho’s with an eye on nature with some big mid winter pay-offs. The Snapper in the Gulf seem to be in smaller schools, but with some nice Big Reds in them. Maybe the recent Commercial fishing vessels take has thinned these Snapper out into these smaller packs or this is a result of the smaller bait schools? Either way there is some excellent sport fishing to be had, with outstanding culinary delight and the end of it all.
It also seems that the best cure for many peoples 24hr cough cough ‘flu’ is a day on the water? It’s amazing who you come across out on the water on a suddenly calm, cool clear winters day – just make sure it’s not your boss!
Bird Watching The eyes in the sky are a wonderful sign for a fisho. Gannets are like neon signs pointing us to fish, you just have to keep looking all around. This is where binoculars are an excellent piece of fishing equipment. The Gannets can be spread over large areas – waiting for the tell tale Dolphin splashing – then seemingly like magic, even more Gannets materialize and then it’s absolute bedlam! I’m convinced Gannets are made entirely of saltwater, they can materialize from nowhere and just as quickly, disappear!
The workups can small yet very, very intense with the birds smashing the water into a frothy frenzy with Dolphins happily jumping, feeding and decimating the small schools of baitfish. The workups can last just a few minutes. Keep your eye out for where there are Gannets just sitting and where they’re flying towards – I’ve found that such is the intense nature of the feeding that as soon as 2 or 3 birds are gaining height and circling – don’t wait, get there and be ready.
Dolphins in smaller groups The Snapper underneath the workups are excited into a ferocious feeding frenzy with the scales and bits of baitfish congregating underneath the remains of the bait schools. Fast and furious action, birds and Dolphins in a manic feeding rush. Heavier weight on the SB’s is needed to get them down fast and watch for strong takes on the drop, some of these 10 –14lb Snapper were half way up the water column. Interestingly, soon after the surface frenzy has finished, which can be within just minutes, the Snapper underneath can go back into winter mode i.e. slow to nil biting. With the Snapper schools being quite small, accuracy with drift, GPS and sounder all working together helps a lot. But once they’ve stopped feeding – keep an eye out for the next workup with your binoculars. The smaller packs of Dolphins can cover a great deal of ground very quickly in search of lunch on any given day.
Essentials Heavier than normal weights to get the SB’s down fast Binoculars Using the Soft Bait with stronger, aggressive twitching action even on the drop Color of Soft bait (observe the color of the baitschool – I saw silver and light blue scales in the aftermath of one workup – down went those colored SB’s and WOW!) Be prepared to just go bird watching if the weather permits Take note of probable bite times
…and if that 24hr ‘flu’ doesn’t want to budge (and the wind gets up) – inshore fishing can still clear the head!
Espresso
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