Fishing Reports

Hey All!

ACTION GALORE It finally feels like spring out on the water. There seems to be life everywhere you look, over the last week we've had whales, gannets galore, kingfish crashing schools of anchovies on the surface, and plenty of great fishing.

The weekend just been gave us a chance to have a good look around, with little wind and calm seas. We covered lots of ground while the conditions were good to find where the action is. KINGI'S The pins out wide are slowing down, and with water temps starting to increase between the Aldies and Shoe/Slipper the kingfish are starting to move in. Along with them are millions of rat kings, we are talking everything from very small kings up to legal kings that are great for first time anglers.

This is the perfect time to have some fun on Salt Water Fly or light spinning gear, but remember to use single hooks rather than trebles on any spinning lures to make it easy to release fish without harming them. Head NE of Shoe and you will find acres of kingi's splashing on the surface, and there is the odd good sized fish underneath. Interesting one of the kingi's we caught over the weekend had two squid and a demoiselle inside him, but still pounced on a lumo jig that wizzed past him.

SNAPPER ON SOFTIES: Yesterday I heard lots of boats up Whitianga way talking about slow fishing but we had a ball on snapper in close around Shoe and Slipper. All were caught on GULP softbait, with the bigger fish caught on the POGY shape, and mango colour working best. The kingi's are also loving the softbaits, and anything with a good tail on it and a creamy or white colour seems to work a treat.

DIVING: The vis is pretty ordinary in close, better around Slipper and still great out at the Aldies. Crays are around in reasonable numbers and quite a few good sized packies around.

OUTLOOK: We're coming up to our busy season and looking forward to plenty of ggod fishing in close. The game reels are in getting some TLC, - the tuna won't be far away!

All the best,

Carl
www.epicadventures.co.nz