Fishing Reports

The season is in full swing and the northernGulf has been firing on the snapper fishing. Fishers on board DIVERSITY have been enjoying some great captures of snapper up to 10kg and a lot of the trips are returning limit bags of these popular eating fish.

Now I have to confess that I dont tend to eat a lot of fish these days,  other than the odd "special" fish we catch here and there like your john dory, big gurnard and of course the game fish when in season, but when a mate of mine, Derek the Chef, showed me a recipe in his  new book "The Backyard Gourmet" called "Steamed Snapper with Bacon and Mushrooms" and said it was a goodie I could hadly resisit now could I?

Mixing meat with fish doesn't really sound right but iIcan tell you it transformed an already tasty 3kg snapper into a devine meal that fed the family and the bonus was that it was so easy to create...talk about brownie points!

Anywhoo, if you want a copy of the book it is in all good book stores or give me a bell and Derek or myself will get a copy out to you. A signed copy would make a good gift eh!

Speaking of celebreties both Myself and Matt Watson are teaming up once again to do something very special for some rather ill children from the "Make A Wish" foundation. We both thought this was a great cause and being believers in putting something back into the community, got on board with MAW, NZ Fishing News and The Fishing Show to give these special kids and their wondeful carers a day out as part of their "wish". No doubt you will read about it and possible see the some of the footage but either way its our way of helping out.

Right ...onto the fishing and in short its red hot out there at the moment! The snapper have all been a good size and there have been plenty...well where we have bben fishing anyway. They haven't pushed right inshore yet so those fishing right in close are not having as much success as those fishing out deeper where the bigger schools are. Here's where they are or at least have been...

North of Tiri:

Head about 4 miles north or north east of the island and keep your eyes open for kahawai on the surface, birds working or sign on the sounder. I swear the other day in here they were lying on their sides hard on the bottom...not a mark on the sounder but gut instinct said to stop and within an hour there were 50 fat snapper over 3kg each lying snuggley in an ice slurry. Every single one of them caught on a pillie.

A bit east of here and over the Telecom cable area in 50m has been good too but they seem a bit more spread out through here but the size is good and the ones we got were all under some bait schools we marked as we looked around. Hungry snapper shadowing the bait schools.

Anchorite

has produce a few small kingfish as is typical of this time of  year. 6-10kg rats that are a bit of fun on lighter jig setups but put em back as they wouldn't even have bred yet. The snapper seem to be south of the reef more than on it and the area out to the east that tends to hold fish has been OK but the last time I fished the shelf here I got more blue cod and a few terahiki rather than snapper. It can change diaiy out here and its a place that over the years has had a hiding so fish it after heavy weather when no-ones been on it and a food source has been exposed.

The Colville Channel:

Tto be honest we havent had to venture that far for a while as the fish are in closer but I have had some reports from a few mates that fish it alot and the straylining at the chnage of light has been good. A few kingies have busted off right in close too so take a some heavier gear if your heading that way.

Great Barrier:

What a great place to fish but as the holiday seasons starts it may pay to forget fishing over that way for a month or so unless you want to jig kingies. Typically the snapper fishing goeas a bit quiet from Xmas to mid Jan...might be the hundreds of boats around but I have had some memorable days kingi jigging the Neddles, Miners, Green Rock and along the coast on the many pins and reefs. Workups out wider too have been good to us over the summer with big kingfish...well... big for the area. Puka will still around too if you head out a bit deeper and found a good patch of foul.

Heading back inshore, Kawau, and the Omaha Bay area will be worth a shot too with good numbers of school fishing moving in to spawn and feed on the worms and reef tucker. The change of light may be best if there is a lot of traffic around.

Whangaparaoa has been pretty good especially around Motuora and then south towards Rakino and the Noises. Fish out in the open where the schools are. it will be a bit quieter in close but if you get out on the sand, away from the land you should do OK.

I have been getting the game gear ready and we have a few trips to do up north again this year and we are will go wide of the Barrier, Mercs and Aldies again in Jan for a look as we have some unfinished business out there and Mrs Charter Connection (Rachel) has a debt to settle with a large blue.

Rachel and Santas little helpers have asked me to remind you that if you want to give the gift of fishing this Christams, that we still have gift vouchers available for all our trips and over the years these have proven to be very popular. They only take a day or 2 to get to you but please dont leave it till the last minute.

Have a look at our website. We have loaded some fishing videos from DIVERSITY on there, the list of dates for "casuals" (individuals or small groups) are updated regularly and all the info you need is there should you want to get out fishing for a 1/2 day, full day or evening trip. Extended trips  for Great Barrier etc will be advertised early in 2010.

Our day trips are $120pp for a full days fishing and evenings are only $70pp. Compare that with others.

Choose your charter operator carefully. Check that they will drift fish so you can use the modern fishing methods like soft baiting, slow jigging, deep jigging. Check how long you will be out on the the water and are you getting value for money...are you paying a day rate and only getting a 1/2 day? Do they have an  up to date online report you can check on as you trip gets closer? Do they take individuals and what do they provide as part of your charter. Like anything...it pays to shop around.

I'll endeavour to get another report out prior to the holidays and we will be fishing all the way through as usual so become part of it and get out there and enjoy it. Check the website for individuals date or flick us an email for any other dates or queries - deepsea@clear.net.nz

Damian (Damo) Clayton

www.charterconnection.co.nz - Where Fishing is catching!