Fishing Reports

  The water has been a bit cool, and the weather unsettled but we have had some great snapper action in the bay over the last fortnight

 Best areas seem to be the top end of Mita's foul, the western end of Roberton Island, and the broken foul along the 30M line off Tapeka Point. Within this area there has been a lot of bird life and plenty of surface schools of bait fish, but the best fishing action has been from right on the bottom.

 Snapper up to 14lb have been common, with quite a few over 20lb. They seem to be moving around quite a lot, and are not yet schooling up, so some patience may be needed, and it may be necessary to anchor if the wind gets up to allow the baits to get to the bottom.

 Best baits are whole mackerel,  to reduce the unwanted attention of the large numbers of small fish. Pilchards, squid and bonito will all provide plenty of action for those willing to put up with the smaller fish.

Because most of the action is close to the ocean floor, the best results from soft baits continues to be close in to the rocks, though one boat load of visiting anglers has been having a ball in 40m at the top end of Mita's for the last week using 1oz jig heads in 7 inch Gulp Jerk Shads. The extra weight is getting them to the strike zone, and the big baits are creating far more interest than the 4 and 5 inch options. By casting well up the current ahead of the boat, their baits are in the strike zone once the drift brings the baits back to the boat. They tell me they are outfishing their natural  baits by 4 to 1.

 As the water warms, the fish are likely to school, and start moving up the water column, feeding on the schools of anchovies and pilchards. The fishing will certainly get even better, so it looks as though we are in for a great snapper season.

 There is still plenty of kingi action at Rocky Point, and some good, though not prolific action at 71M Reef.

 Reports from those who have been chasing hapuka are very mixed. An interesting addition to the mix this year has been an unusual number of very respectable blue cod, taking ledger rigs when fishing the deeper reefs around 50. We usually get a few, but they are normally small, but some of these cod are up to 40cm. Also in the ledger rig mix are a few juvenile hapuka pups, which move in to the close reefs at this time of year. They have usually gone by Xmas, either fished out, or moving out to the deep.

As always drop me an email at MAJOR.TOM@xtra.co.nz if you have any queries.