Fishing Reports

Well the  new season sure  sneaks up on you.  All of a sudden the waters warming up and you still have top shots to tie, the windows are a mess and only half the stuff is crossed off the boat” to do list”.

Things are definitely heating up on the West coast  with 20⁰ water from in close to out wide. But very few boats have been putting in the hours so an accurate assessment  is hard to gauge. From the few reports coming in though it’s worth getting the boat wet for an early chance at a Marlin.

Live baits are easy to come by with the Mackerel already thick in the 30-40m area so stop and fill up the bait tank before going any further. With gas fast approaching the $2.00/litre a quiet slow troll is just what the budget requires. With hook up rates much higher than on the lures live baiting is a great way to snag a big one.

Tuna have tuned up in good numbers with both Albies and Skippies not too hard to find. Albies have been caught from 45m right out to 550m. Skippies are not as common but have been caught around the 200m area, look for mid water bait and work the area they will often come up to you gear. Lure selection doesn’t  seem too important with pink and blue/whites working but sometimes they will just eat anything with quad hook ups occurring on even medium sized Marlin lures

The 40-50m area is holding the best bird action with a lot of mid water bait. Going on last season’s action this would be a great place to start you hunt for a Marlin. Makos are already around so be prepared to lose a bit of gear, but what’s the cost of some live bait traces if you hook up a Marlin

There are a lot of Dolphins on the Coast from in close to right out wide. This is a good indication of the amount of feed out there.

Now onto something else..... can I have a wee moan?. Those of you who use Little Huia will be aware of the growing congestion problem we have out there. Last season the ARC reserve paddock was opened up for boat parking. Many thanks to Ken Turner who graciously gave up his grazing. This however in not the answer to increasing pressure being put on this public area.

 Over the last couple of years interested parties have had endless meetings with both ARC and the local Council. Finally about 6 months ago we all thought there had been an agreement reached with work to widen the beach access, forming a large turning area adjacent to the beach,  better signage and wider gates into the paddock parking area approved. Then despite all promises this work would be completed before summer  the Council and ARC are now more interested in arguing about who owns a fence than getting anything done. It just boggles the mind, with no all tide ramps on the North side of the harbour  we are all facing another season with again no improvements and if it couldn’t get any worse these mega minds are also considering closing boat access to Cornwallis beach oh joy!

Well I will see you down there on Anniversary weekend when the road is blocked there are trailers all over the beach and the locals are pulling their hair out again.

Any way enough, I hope to catch you out on the water over the holiday break, all the signs are there for a great season. Get out on the water and give it a go. Don’t wait for someone else to catch the first Marlin why not be the hero yourself.

As always if you want to get hold of me Jeremy Millichamp Pescado ZMV3613 j.hmillichamp@orcon.net.nz