Fishing Reports

Lock n' Load
Skipjack Tuna have been caught in the Gulf at long last, a month or three later than last year and the numbers are well down. The lack of these fantastic fish is a big disappointment in my books, they are incredible to watch in their environment, fast sleek, chrome and iridescent blue bullets, great light tackle game and while they are one of the best Snapper baits, they can also make a very tasty dish or three to eat! Yes it’s true, made some myself so it can't be hard, care is needed right from capture but done right, delicious smoked. Trolling for them with small feathered lures has been the just the ticket (6 knot troll speed is about right) of course with the number of surface feeding Kahawai out there right now, don’t be too surprised to have some jump onto your lures and give their best effort to empty line fast, and then shake the hook free with some great aerials. Northern and Eastern Tiri as running hot with monster sized KY right now.

Corporate Anarchy
Yes, Sir! To the grey suited fish over the summer, Shark numbers seemed to have increased a little, big ones small ones and middle sized ones. Lots of variety in Shark species out there, mostly they are not interested in humans as a food source…well that’s what I told myself while jumping in to film a rather large Hammer Head gliding past after he had appeared to finish feeding just north of Waiheke. There are still lots of Sharks around and a lot around the inner channels, tiny to small ones, but certainly tackle destroying types, especially destructive to flasher rigs with their relentless twisting. Me - I don’t particularly like suits, and the man in the grey suit is one to be wary of. Move on Mr Shark nothing to see here, move along.

Kindergarten
So many small Snapper abound in the harbours and right out into the middle Gulf. Small everything actually, check out the size of this little Mackerel.

All the fish are  feeding up large to become bigger boys n’ girls right now. These small fish of all species are the ones that zoom in on burley, scent, strayline and flasher rigs, nibbling off your bait with barely a hint. When burleying and baitfishing they are almost unavoidable, it’s a bit more like a sheer numbers game…keep catching and the bigger Snapper should turn up. Cut Pilchards on flashers are working very well. Generally speaking the further you get (within reason) away from the burley smell/source itself, the bigger fish lurk for their chance at the baitfish feeding.

Burley must be like the fish equivalent of advertising. Try using scent to your advantage at anchor and present live bait (use Sabikis to grab the baitfish at your feet, keeps  small and big kids happy-as catching them) and re-rig as livies or freshly cut strip bait..a quick return to whence they came, out the back away from the feeding tiddlers if possible…or drift fish livies wherever you're keen to fish has its rewards.

With  a handful of Mackerel on board, try drifting them along the bottom (these ones were aided with a  3oz Jolly Roger luminous deep water rig to get them to stay down deep) this can produce some excellent Pannies and eliminate those pesky small Snapper – i.e. catch the ones you want to keep and serve up some perfectly presentable and  deliciously sized fillets without harming or killing undersized fish, the ones we want to catch once they've grown up in a few short years time.

And if the livies aren't playing the game, hey why not try something different…like a Chocolate fish over Easter? Here’s a Snapper with a sweet tooth, Choc. Fish with a Jolly Roger – fish on!

There are lots of inner channel workups, generally tiny baitfish being chased by KY, a few Gannets in attendance, but more often than not recently no Snapper following suit.

It’s worth a stop and drop on the edges of channel holes right now, better sized Snapper and more of them are hanging around these areas.
 

Kingfish
On the edges of the massive Mackerel, Pilchard and some Squid schools all around the inner and middle Gulf e.g. northern Waiheke, the Kingi's are still keen.. .up to 50m’s or more away from a baitfish school you might see on the sounder, there are the Kingi’s hunting for a feed.

 A few biggies, but lots of smaller fish of just up to legal length (75cm). They can provide a massive amount of fun, a huge reel screaming surprise, and culinary delight afterwards. This one landed after a 20 minute fight using a Catch Glow Squid and Jolly Roger 2oz, with 4lb line.

The Glow Squid wafted down behind a baitschool that the boat drifted past, a trailing lagging Squid all lit up in panic…nailed! The Kingfish was outstanding smoked, eaten on a summers evening, having a few rehydrating refreshments with some mates. Superb.

Whales
A number of Brydes Whales (4 yesterday!) are making good use of the bait that’s in the Gulf now to.

It’s such a wondrous sight to behold, these majestically large creatures spouting, breathing in long and deep for an extended food sourcing dive.

If you see them, my advice would be to turn off your fish finder and simply watch them, naturally with your choice of Snapper, Kingfish or Gurnard catching devices you have dropped over the side. If the Whales are around, there is feed, and the food chain will be rattled  loudly sooner or later.

Some smaller and stunningly patterned  black and white Orca are also using the large quantity of bait around to their advantage, they’ve been hanging around the northern Noises ‘snacking’ over the past few days.

The condition of Snapper is good, reflecting the fact that feeding, and not breeding, is sparking thought in Snapper brains. Less love bites, slightly fatter fillets further down towards the tail, all good really. Now since the season is-a-changin’ a large number of Snapper seem to move out of the Hauraki Gulf over winter, a lot stay thankfully. So Autumn must be a very good time to target Snapper, they’re predisposed to feeding up, being where they are when their feeding switch goes on sure makes a fish bin laden. And the variety available to us all, is all good.

Autumn - a great time to go fishing!

Cheers

Espresso

P.S. The Catch Patch
No real surprises but the Catch Pilchard SPs have been catching a lot of the better sized fish lately – funny that as the Pillies are being hammered out there as the Autumn feeding is now in full flight!

Feeding before the winter slow down of metabolism, fish leaving for their winter holidays means the likes of the Purple, Bleeding, and even the bright Screaming Pilchard…are all working like magic. Some bigger Reds are now showing up through Colville and northern Coromandel, in the deeper channels, maybe they are on their way to deeper water? And the Eastside Gurnard are upsizing out there right now...this heavyweight stunner caught on a Catch Bleeding Pilchard with a 1oz Glowing Torpedo.

YUM 

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