Managing those mid-winter blues

The chance to catch a mid-winter noddie or two is well regarded by the snapper fishing community. For reasons that remain speculative for all those who have not yet learned to speak fish, over winter a few big reds tend to take up residence within the kelp strewn-fouls that caress our east coast. As best I can tell, this is not the case on the west coast. However, few of us are stupid enough to place life and limb at risk to test the theory properly. A wild and woolly winter Tasman protects its own.

One thing for sure, they take off during spring and generally don’t return ‘til late summer. And how do I know this you might wonder? Being a curious bugger, I once talked this through quite thoroughly with an old skipper of the glass-bottom yellow submarine that normally resides in Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island. If only a few of the residents at a local feeding point had been tagged we might have had the answer to another interesting question: do the same ones come back to the same place?

Rock fishing in the Bay of Islands and surrounds can be quite productive. The best for this scribe so far stretched the scales to 7kg with another of 6kg also on the books. This is not to say that these “kelpies” are lining up for the chance to take a look top-sides, but it is to say that these fish are about and can be landed with due diligence.

Spot “X” for this caper at this time would have to be the Rawhiti Peninsula. If you’ve got the stamina and the enthusiasm, the DOC cottage under the light-house at Cape Brett is likely to be well worthwhile. Just hope that you can get the catch home in good condition – which isn’t quite so hard in winter.

For those with less time and energy on their hands, climbing up from the road to Oke Bay and taking a leftie along the ridge at the top can get you into some pretty interesting possies. A few enquiries at the local shop may be wise to ensure that resident property rights can be respected. No matter your choices, a bit of walking and rock climbing goes with the territory with the best possies usually requiring the skills of a goat.

Just make sure you come well prepared – a rope, good shoes, a towel and a change, water and your favourite fish-catching paraphernalia. Beach rods are unnecessary and cumbersome off the rocks with a good 7 footer all that is usually required. A back pack on which you can strap your rod/s so that you can walk hands-free is highly recommended, as is a pair of gloves for those rock ledges and faces that you may have to scramble across.

Berley rather than bait is my recommendation with a low-tide harvest of kina and mussels likely to reap big rewards. You’ll require enough bait – even soft plastic will do - to land a few of the locals that can then be re-cycled either dead and diced or alive and limping. Both kingfish and big snapper love injured mackerel or even a blue maomao, sweep or kahawai. Even those eels can be recycled – the richer the gravy trail the better the prospects.

PS: lead free with re-curved hooks is the way to go - Less snags, more fish