Fishing Reports

The recent north-easterlies have pushed some warm water down the coast, into the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty. The snapper are into spawning mode with caught fish "squirting" milt as they come aboard and the roes fat and firm in the female fish. The bite can be a bit patchy as these fish have other things on their minds but when they do come on the bite it's all on.

The evenings and early mornings are the go at the moment with good reports coming from the Rangi area, especially the channel and around the back of the island out off Gardiner Gap in 14-18m. The Rakino Channel has also been fishing well in the low light conditions and in fact just about everywhere is fishing pretty well.

We have been fishing...when its not blowing hard out!...mostly further out. The fish are bigger, there is more of them, there is less traffic, more work ups...etc.  The work up fishing has been awesome with good numbers of dolphins rounding up schools of anchovies and forcing them to the surface where the kahawai and gannets get stuck right in with the dolphins smashing the schools apart from below. The snapper are never far away feeding on the wounded and the scraps. Some trips, it is if the snapper are just metres below the boat with really aggressive mid water takes and steaming runs.

The baits are getting wallopped especially NZ pilchards and fresh slimey macks. Both straylined down into the action or cubed and put on ledger rigs and flasher rigs. Something about colours to note out here too. Earlier in the season on soft baits and flasher rigs, the colours they were taking were the red/orange combos eg Black Magic Snapper snatchers and in soft baits the Gulp nuke chickens and lime tigers. As the water has warmed the fish seem to be right into the chartrusse or yellow/green combos.

A number of "other" methods are working well out here too. Jigging, especially close to the work ups is going off! 150gr to 250 gr jigs are getting hit on the drop when right next to the work up as you would expect but as the work up slows or fizzles out then they are getting taken on or near the bottom too. The Zest jigs in pink and lumo have been the standouts along with the blue/white combos. The chrome and silver/blue have alos been pretty good but the odd stray 'couta alos takes abit of a liking to them...this explains the mid water falter and then nothing eh!

Kingfish are showing up now as well and with the revivial of deepwater and high speed jigging taking place there are going to be alot more note worthy captures this year and next. It is really easy to get into especailly the speed jigging. The Gulf has numerous reefs and structures that hold good numbers of kingfish and places like the Needles at Great Barrier, Horn Rock and Channel Island are famous for the bigger specimens up to 30kg. You'd have to hit White island for the 100lbers though but there are some good kings to be had closer to home. 

To get into it you will need a quality reel with a high retrieve ratio and a decent jig rod. There are many available and the Jigging Master, Kojaks, Terminators and PowerSpell rods have got what it takes. Some of these rods can lift 20kg staight off the deck. Matching the reel to such a strong and powerful rod is vital. Shimano Trinidad 40Ns, Ocea Jiggers or if you budget wont stretch then a Torium 20 will handle it. Mechanical jigging the jig off the bottom or head down - butt up speed winding the jig up will get you the hits.

There is a huge range of jigs available and we use the Zests mainly because they come rigged with good hooks and components, have great colours and are a quality jig that doesn't bend easily. Some of the Japanese jigs are wicked too but you may need a second mortage to fill your tackle box with these gems.

We will be offering both day trips and overnighters in the New Year for these kingfish missions so keep an eye on the website (www.charterconnection.co.nz ) for more info or let us know you're keen by flicking through an email to deepsea@clear.net.nz

The soft bait craze is firing with new brands popping up all over the place. We have tried all but a few and are finding that most will get a result. There are non scented baits that will great over summer when the fish are plentiful but they may ned to be fished like a lure not a bait. What I mean is you will have to keep it moving even if only slightly for the fish to snap at it or eat it like a wounded bait fish. The scented baits can be fished just like a bait as we have demonstrated many times by attaching 2 worm hooks to a ledger rig and firing it down to the bottom. It gets eaten.

The wormbeds north-east of Rangi will be fishing well now as will Whangaparaoa Bay and up towards Kawau. This area holds a heap of fish and if you get the bite time right you should do well. Kawau and the coast along the eastern side of the island is also fishing well ans the fish finish spawning will become home to some bigger snapper especailly around the Flat Rock reefs.

Little Barrier is a little patchy at the moment probably due to the fact there is a lot of fish on the sand schooling, not in closer to the island. Try some deep water drifts off the top of the island or around the channels either side of the island. 

Great Barrier has been a great to place to fish this year with us doing heaps of stay away trips with good results. We hope to have a few days over there during Christmas jigging the Kingis and trying out some new gear. It may go a little quiet as the boat traffic increases so find your self a less visisted spot and get into some of the great fishing the place offers. The crays are in closer too..mmmmm

Check out some of our recent missions over this way and keep it mind for you autumn and mid winter fishing fix...you may even get a laugh......

http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=24876

http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=24486

Anyway..the wind has eased...the gear has been serviced and we are ready to roll again. Check out the dates for casual anglers on the website..(see above and book early to avoid missing out) Might pay to book that winter mission now too. 

We'll try to get another report in before the holidays for you so stay tuned...

Cheers

Damo

Charter Connection - Where fishing is catching! ©