Fishing Reports

 A lengthy and continuing spell of calm weather has seen plenty of fishing activity in the Bay over the last two weeks.

  Water temps have risen a little , and plenty of big snapper are congregating for the spawning season, with huge schools of pilchards, anchovies and jack mackerel in attendance, ready for the easy feed.

  Catching is still a bit sporadic, but plenty of reports of 20lb plus fish are coming to hand, with most of the results from the triangle bounded by Tapeka point, The Black Rocks, and Mita's Foul. My own preferred fishing time is the outgoing tide, but stiff afternoon seas breezes have dictated the calm early morning period when on the drift.

Anchoring on the upcarrent edge of one of the many light foul areas is productive once the wind rises, but straylines need to be baited with whole , or half jack mackerel, as plenty of mao mao are in attendance to destroy frozen pilchards. If using ledger rigs, try turning the tables on the mao mao and cubing a couple of fillets for bait. Big snapper love them, and it will certainly extend the bait supply. As always, drop a live bait close to the bottom when on anchoer., as the big bait schools have also attracted John Dory and kingfish into the action zone.

 The best kingfishing has been at 71M Reef, with good fish up to 20kg falling prey to both live baits and jigs, but many fish are being lost in the rocks. Try using break away sinkers and short traces to reduce the chances of unneccesary mortality of these escapees. If using light tackle , back off the drag as soon as the fish hooks up, and shift the boat to make more angle on the fish. With reduced pressure the kingfish will reduce the angle of it's dive and give more chance of avoiding the reef structures. Steve Butler reports that Hansens Reef is holding fish, but is fishing erratically.

 Hapuka remain hit and miss. and may take some finding, but make sure you tow some small lures while on the prowl, as some good schools of skippies are operating around the 200M contour.

 A trip out wide last Saturday was very relaxing  - too relaxing!!!. The water was murky out to around 500M, and although it became a pretty blue from there, we couldn't detect much life in it. Water Temp rose above 17C at about 600M, but only lifted above 18C in the heat of the afternoon sun.

As alway drop me an email at MAJOR.TOM@xtra.co.nz if you have any queries