Fishing Reports

"Whats all this stinky stuff with scales on it and is that blood..real blood..like from a bleeding fish..and what's that smell?!

"Yip...it's bait mate" was the reply as the soft bait fisho looked down at his untouched baits that were after each getting a good soaking were not working. He'd even tried the scented ones but on this drift the fish wanted to chew and taste or so it seemed as another graced the decks and met with its' icey end after bowling over a whole squid.

It's that time of year the again team...take bait too. Don't take me wrong, you will still catch fish during the winter on soft baits....it happens all the time. It's just that some days, after drifting and drifting and working the structures, the school fish on the sounder and around the piles of bait fish that are still out there...you may need to use the good stuff.

The main difference is the burely trail..yes? When your anchored up with the tide flowing onto or in some of the places we fish (like "backtofronts" a 30m deep reef) the wrong way round and away from the structure that the burely trail may encourage the fish to break from the holding pattern and slip out for a nosh on a nice bleeding bait. You can burely on the drift too, either by dragging it along weighted or dumping it in a wobble pot and sending it to the bottom (make sure you buoy it off too eh) and do your drifts past it and down current from it. This works quite well..see..here's my mate Koozer with a mixed bag.

If you are going to be soft baiting then try to figure out a way of keeping those damn barracouta at bay...well not at bay really, just away from your gear. It sure can be pricey getting nipped off on the drop time and time again. If the fish are biting then it is not a problem using a short length of wire in your rig or add extra weight to get you down nice and quick...sort of a sneak it under the 'couta radar sort of style. Scented baits are best.

The top of Coromandel has been patchy but then again it has been a windy start and then we had these big tides so it makes it almost unfishable. As the weather clears and these tides drop I will spend a bit more time out there but recently we have been giving Little Barrier a good go with mixed results like most places at this time of year. The Coral Patch was pretty good for the mixed bag stuff and along from the Rangers Hut area was holding fish but then it blew (did you notice?!) and I couldnt get back on it. Nothing huge but we did OK from about 10 long drifts.

Horn Rock was loaded with the snakes too and we gave up on that after about 2 hours of some pretty frustrating fishing..you know ..cast a bait out, it sinks, it gets smashed by a 'couta and you retie again...not my cup of tea!  A few drifts in the deep out over the sand were not that flash either with 'couta and a few small snapper to show for our efforts.

Closer in and in the (forecasted, but totally wrong again) breeze we tried some shallow water tactics and found a heap of small fish around Waiwera, Kawau and Takatu. They may have shot through from in here now but it was great getting back to that sitting it out for a whole tide run and burleying up a storm.

Tiri is very quiet but there have been a few fish from out off Stanmore bay, Army Bay and along that coast. Great for the small boats with easy launching and great shelter. Its a good option for those of you wanting to give the "tinnie" a run. The Kayakers are probably getting a few in close too. Stick your flag up fellas! You're hard to see especially if its choppy.

Check the website for upcoming dates. Prices have gone up because of the "fuel" issue but not much..$110 for an individual for the day. Get into it!

Cheers

Damo

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