Never Too Old to Learn a New Trick

Still living and learning, never too old to learn a new trick – no old dog this scribe. Take the full moon for instance. Folk-lore has it that it might be best to fish after dark when the moon is full-ish. Theory being that the light is just enough for snapper in particular to feel safe enough to take a good look around. Not sure why they give the day a big miss though. Thing is, most folks are tucked up about this time of day – even showered and ready for bed – so they never know.
Have had the opportunity to test this theory on more than a few occasions over the years and the conclusion is pretty clear- It’s really true. Seems they like the moon to get a bit up – at least 25% up the sky before browsing begins. But by the time the moon reaches its zenith they have gotten into feasting with some gusto. True, you might observe, it’s not often that a full moon night happens on the weekend and the weather is fair. But for certain, if you’re ever going to give it a go, autumn is the season to do so.
And just for curiosity’s sake, I took the liberty of asking the NIWA ramp surveyor how the day fishing had been during the last full moon – during which time I had enjoyed a fruitful night off the edge of the Brampton. “Very poor,” was his reply. Need I say more? But just a word of warning: steer clear of the reefs lest you end up with a boat-load of moray and conger eels. These slimy beggars also feast with a gay abandon on full moon nights.
 

Best snapper fishing continues to be in close. Whilst this autumn pattern has been established earlier than usual, the presence of masses of pannies in estuarine territory is the fishing story of the moment. Generally these fish are in top nick with few needing to be returned along with an occasional fish or three in the 2-3kg region. And if experience teaches us anything, I’d say there just might have been some better snapper under the gannets diving as I cruised up the upper Veronica Channel today. Sadly, I wasn’t in a position to take advantage of the kilometer or more of a screen full of fish with a few individual blimps scattered along the base of the echo.
Locations of note might include the Brampton Reef, the channel markers of both Kerikeri and Veronica channels and the Black Rocks. If a big red is your target, either hang about some shallow fouls or reefs at dusk or try those deeper off-shore reefs around 50m. Big baits or actively presented soft baits are usually the way to go.
Water temperature has already started to fall. A week or two of cooler evenings has been enough to knock more than a degree off the top. Mullet are in top knick after feeding on the late spring to early summer oyster spawn. Scallops are in pretty fair condition when considering the dose of fresh water they took a coupla weeks back. And the mussels too are in average condition.