Saltwater Scene (early Spring): September is a wonderful month to head to the salt with a fly rod in hand. Kahawai are possibly at their very best at this time of year, while trevally and gurnard are also on the job. My best spots incorporate a little bit of rock, a little bit of sand, some tidal current, and an estuarine hint of green in the water. In places like this you can catch everything. Especially right now, while the whitebait are running. Smelt will follow later so expect the action to keep rolling on past Xmas. All standard smelt patterns put you in with a chance, and remember, for trevally and gurnard, keep the fly slow and deep. Far north hot spots to try include Mangonui Wharf (big kahawai),Taipa rivermouth (everything), Waitangi Bridge, Hokianga Harbour, Ngunguru River, and the numerous small estuaries and rivers between there and Auckland. And don't be shy about fishing upstream. Bridge holes well away from the open sea can hold a surprising array of fish, and they are very pleasant places to fly fish. For boat fishers the action is a little more scattered. There have been good work-ups of big kahawai out in the Bay of Islands with the fish feeding on small anchovies. They are hungry and eager to eat small flies. The schools are hard to spot however as only terns are with them. Gannet work-ups have been more visible but the fish are harder to get to. They're moving fast chasing big pilchards. A large floating fly cast in front of the feeding fish gets you connected, but you can burn a lot of petrol doing it. Work-ups in deeper water have barracouta too, so keep the wire handy. So far I haven't seen a kingfish in around the islands. No doubt, as the weather warms, they will start to head inshore. The appearance in Spring of big squid normally coincides with the first inshore movement of spawning snapper. Squid are a flyfishers curse and a treat. In the Bay of Islands there can be plagues of them some years. And they love flies. Tie a tiny treble to the fly in order to stay connected. Getting the squid out of the water will give you a greater chance of hooking fish (squid tend to dominate the fly). As fresh squid rings they are delicious. One of the great bonuses of flyfishing!! Freshwater Scene: The lakes of Northland have had a great winter. Good trout fishing is expected to carry on until November. Only Lake Taharoa has had poorer catch reports than last year. The Whau Vally Dam and Lake Manuwai have fished very well. Lake Manuwai produced a lot of fish around the 1.5kg mark with some going 2kg. Catches of five or six fish in a couple of hours have not been unheard of. The rivers are set to open soon and this will see lots of new trout fishers out on the riverbanks. Northland has a wealth of small streams with numerous trout in them. Try any of the feeder streams flowing into the Hikurangi swamp or any of the Bay of Islands rivers. The Kaihu river system at Dargaville also fishes well. The fish are not usually large but catching half a dozen 'pounders' on a sunny afternoon is a great way to spend a day. 'Til next time....

 

From Craig Worthington

Report type: Saltwater and Freshwater

Report date: 23 September 00

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