Fishing Reports

Well team the water is still pretty warm and there are still heaps of sharks around.  I was gleening some good oil and swapping stories with one of the long liners the other night and he is too afraid to run the gear in close at the moment for the fear he may end up with end floats only. Places like Whangaparaoa Bay, Kawau Bay, Omaha and Pakiri are holding big sharks that can reek havoc with commercial long lines. 

Recreational anglers too can experience similar frustration losing rigs and gear to these hounds of the sea.

In saying that it hasn't effected the snapper fishing at all and the above mentioned areas are holding good numbers of snapper. The white bait are also running in between Tiri and Rakino (and in other areas too) with some large kahawai schools chasing them around.  The snapper too are in on the action although are more widely spread with the vast majority of the fish either holding inshore or further out in the 45 -50m areas of the gulf.

Here is a round up of what has been happening around the traps starting right inshore.

The Channels around Auckland

The Auckland channels and up the Waitemata harbour have been fishing as consistently as ever and places like off the navy wharves, Rangi channel, Motuihe channel and down the Tamaki strait have all had their magical moments and should hold fish for a wee while yet.  Along the northern coast of Waiheke there have sporadic bird workups between D'urville and Gannet rocks.  Mostly kahawai generated with fleeting moments of brilliance from the snapper underneath most of which are good solid white bait filled pannies.  A few also spat out some worms upon capture which begged another prosperous drift through the area.

Firth of Thames

I haven't heard a lot from down in the Firth but I would expect that to be fishing pretty well too and it also being home too to some rather large sharks the northern end of the Firth between Gannet and the Happy Jacks went off this time last year but with good fishing in so close at the moment we haven't had to venture that far from our base at Gulf Harbour, infact some of the small boats have been fishing within sight of the marina and have been pulling snapper to 10lb. 

Tiri and Whangaporoa

East of Tiri and avoiding the Telecom cable area has been pretty consistent and a vast majority of our time has been spent along a line from here to Great Barrier. The snapper schools are wide spread and a little shy on the bite but when they come on it's all on for young and old with fish to 6 or 7kg on a good day.

Our kingfish trips have been pretty popular again with livebaits outfishing the jigs and securing the bigger fish.  Flat Rock, Takatu, Five Mile, Anchorite and Channel Island have been the haunts for these reef fish and we have even been so lucky to pick up the odd one amongst the few bait schools out in the middle of the gulf.  Typically gulf kingfish are not big kingfish and if you manage to nab one at 20-25kg from this area you have done pretty darn well.

The change of light has been pretty good too as it normally is but with day light saving ending at Easter so will our evening trips.  It is around Easter that we switch the boat over from summer mode to winter mode and we start spending alot more time in the deeper water of the gulf around Little Barrier, Great Barrier and some of the deeper reefs.  Some of these trips are stayaways giving you the chance of an overnight adventure and the rest are day trips which typically start a little earlier and end a little later giving you a pretty decent shot at some of the action the gulf has to offer all year round.

Individuals wanting a trip with us would do well by checking our website where we have a list of dates for individuals and small groups.

Take care out there

The Charter Connection

Where fishing is catching!©