Fishing Reports

Fish Tails

What I’d really like to say is that there have been many days of Fisho’s enjoying sunny, calm and beautifully clear skies here in the wide open air of the South Pacific, blissfully fishing, hooking into some excellent fish and other tantalizing tidbits such as:

Big healthy Reds painting the town, well, red. All over the Gulf, whether shallow, deep, drifting, using soft plastics, bait, jigs, livies, flashers, flies, braid, mono, light, heavy, burley, and whether using graphite rods or $20 specials, the Snapper are biting hard. Sunshine and blues skies, no commitments to be home by a certain time for (a.k.a. inevitably having to leave just as the bite gets going), delicious sustenance on board – but with no time to savour, barely time to wolf such temptations  down ‘cos the fishing’s so hot. Novice Fisho friends aboard catching their personal best too. Classic, heart pumping, action packed and ego boosting fishing days...

...but in reality the days are typically winter i.e. pretty lean and mean, both in quantity of days to actually fish and quantity of desirable species around. These are ‘tough times’ globally and ‘tough times’ fishing, relatively speaking. Yes it’s winter, I can tell because even around Jafaland there’s been ice-white frosts recently. But just like economic cycles the good times of Spring fishing are within sight. The clouds of bright yellow sinus-clogging pollen descending on the newly cleaned car are a surefire indicator. No doubt there’ll be some more pain before the gain, both fishing and economics wise, but the good times are coming back. Lots of smaller Reds out there at the moment, irregularly interspersed with big Red fatties in that outstanding winter condition we are occasionally privileged to partake of. Close encounters is the word on the street, fish the areas normally overlooked 2 – 20m water depth is plenty, and anywhere you’d like to try lying off rocky areas like just around from many Auckland ramps, or as far as the Noises, Little Barrier, Whangaparaoa Peninsula,  just off the rocky reefy areas where many would blast past for deeper water. Burley and a little patience goes a long way to scoring good fish if anchored.

Bustin’ rhymes

I’d also like to say that Kingi’s have been bustin’ reel rhymes big time, smashing into jigs, lures, livies and softies, testing mental and physical strength, patience, tenacity, knots, drags, rods, leaders and accuracy of stories afterwards! Poundages? No, more like Kilogram…ages. Aching arms and that irresistible sound of your reel screaming line out under load, ah nothing quite like it.…but alas in reality the catching of such fish are about the same as the All Blacks being favourite to win a game right now, it’s a big call. Throw in trying to determine what the Kingies will bite at, and when during any given day is another big call. A few monsters have been dealt to around the place, but the signs have to be read well to be successful.

Fat Boy Slim

It’d be great to deliberate on the Dory galore, not because of their muscular prowess or dogged determination to avoid face to face contact with such an ugly faced biological unit as a Human!  No matter what your preferred style of eating, raw, crumbed, battered, fried, broiled, with herbs, BBQ’d, sautéed, spicey, creamy or grilled on a burger bun with coleslaw on a mid-winter party night, JD’s are simply superb. A true oceanic delicacy…however reality hits like a slap in the face from Johnnie to remind me, only a notable few JD’s are being caught, but when they are, they are huge. One such Dory caught on the drift with a Soft Plastic last week was easily enough to feed 4 adults. XXXL sizing.

Little Grunts

Funky little critters the Gurnard a.k.a ‘Gerbils’ are, brightly coloured, emitting their little grunts - well some actually not that little grunt wise. No great numbers unless you’re more of a Westside Story Fisho. Out east they’re around and when you cotton on to them, there are some big fat ones that’ll be well-welcomed at home on the dinner table. Some exceptionally sized Gerbils have been caught lately, not many, but certainly worth filleting. A slow, slow drift with a small Soft Plastic and a big hook gently blipping along the bottom – perfect to target a Gerbil or three, out over the ‘barren’ sandy middle Gulf area is holding ‘em.

Holy Mackerel

Well it’s been so windy and unpredictable lately, the kids were as land-crazy as I was, so we made our way out in the 25kt+ easterly and tucked into a great little cove where it was as forecast, 5kts! So with sunshine, eager kids, a stunning bay, the boat gently wafting around on the anchor, completely protected from the persistent easterly blow a great few hours of fishing fun was had making the best of the winter situation. A bag of burley over the side and in due course the Mackerel arrived ready to attack the Sabiki’s. Instant relegation to Deckie for me, handling the slippery Macks that came through in steady waves, as well as a KY or two on the 4lb braid (using  freshly caught straylined hunks of Mackerel of course). Classic and memorable times. And to top it off, the Macks were tried as entrées by the adventurous bounty hunters themselves. The verdict just a few hours later in the day was …YUM!

Room for Recovery

Even with only the faintest hints of economic recovery, I find winter can be a rewarding time, but mainly for Mr. Visa...as the endless days of unfishable waters, stiff whipped into perfectly peaked Pavlova take their toll on clear mental function, but the fun side soon kicks in and orders new stuff for the boat and tackle lineup, ready for a real summer of fishing fun.  Like a new and ‘essential’ reel just landed in my toy room, and while the knee recovers from its surgical upgrade, the winter chill still has grip, what better time to get fully primed with all safety gear and just a few more ‘essential’ purchases made ready for a summer of fishing. Sooner or later, look out fish here we come !