Fishing Reports

Like the title suggests the water and weather in general is cooling down and I rate this time of year for some of the best fishing. Similar to the early season snapper rampage, the fish now are hard on the bite and feeing up large as they put on the chubba for winter. In fact as I type this Matt Watson from the ITM Fishing Show is onboard Diversity for the first of 3 trips during the next month. Today we (and Matt) are hosting some lucky prize winners from a Lion promotion and although the forecast is not exactly calm and clear, the fish are biting. Chris was headed for the mid ground before the wind came away from the west.

Over the next few months you can expect the channels to quieten down a little and the middle ground to fire up. The last few weeks have seen us out a bit deeper away from the smaller inshore fish and getting amoung the better snapper out in the middle of the Gulf.

When they feed aggressively out here you can catch them on just about anything so its great to be able to try out the new jigs, soft plastics and tackle. We've been finding the Gulp Lizards to be pretty popular and the Shimano slow jigs too. The tiny hooks need taking off and a sturdier hook put on. I use a small owner livebait hook. Small and strong for the jaws of the hard munching snapper.

The average size of the fish is slowly getting better too and it wont be long and we will see more work up action and bigger fish. The work ups out in the middle have been few and far between but when you get into a good one its all on as youd expect. Plenty of kingfish in amoungst it too. We caught and released over 20 the other day. We don't tend to keep that many.

Snapper have been loving the NZ pilchards from Salty Dog. These guys have a consistient supply and these pillies are way better than the imported rubbish some of the other bait suppliers are trying to flick off. I was pretty disgusted to see the state of some from our local takle shop. They were freezer burnt, didnt bleed when defrosted and in fact some were so dry when we threw them in they floated! Needless to say we found another supplier pretty quick and the quality of the NZ caught pillies from Salty Dog is great....and they catch fish.

Anchorite has been home to schools of kingfish as has most other reefs around the Gulf but the last trip we were plauged by rats. The odd better popped up but generally they were all under 1m but this didnt stop them from jumping on some large jigs. 5 mile reef has been much the same.

Closer in there has been some kingfish as well. Rob Alsopp and I were hand feeding a few small ones right at the back of the boat recently when were parked up not far from Rakino. As the small ones came in and took the 1/2 and whole pillies we were dishing out we noticed a few bigger fish lurking under them. As time went by they got closer and closer and eventually joined in, muscling the small ones out of the way to get to a pilchard. It became too much for us and we decided to nab one.....on a handline - just to make it fair sport. We basically dropped a rigged pillie into one of the bigger fishes mouth as it came up to the surface..."Here Rob...hold this for a sec mate" Hahahaha - what a battle! To and fro across the back of the boat while I near wet myself in laughter until after some time we had the fish subdued and nestled in the ice for an upcoming BBQ.

Some of the groups over the past month have had a ball especially with the calm conditions. Its an easy ride out for an hour or so to the middle ground on a nice day and often we are the only ones there.

Out here on the drift, which is what we do pretty much all the time as it gives us more options, you need to make sure you are getting to the the bottom. If its windy and the drift is fast we may use up to 10oz to hold where the fish are...it may seem a little heavy but it works well and keeps the gear in the zone longer. When we fish jigs, SPs and slow jigs the same applies. Make sure you are getting down. I dont mind an angler loading up with a large jig head or 4oz lead on top of a worm hook to make sure it gets down quick. The other advantage is the fact that a fast moving SP or Jig on the drop may get the attention of a good fish enticing it to bite on the drop...like these squid.

Ian Cameron hosted a group of Ozzies for a couple of days fishing with us. One trip was rough as guts and we fished in close in the calmer conditions filling the boat with nice eating size fish. The next day it had calmed off and Chris took them out to the middle ground. Ians no stranger to fishing DIVERSITY style nor to snapper fishing in the Gulf and Im sure he got a kick out of seeing the Ozzies hooking nice snapper. Evidently they were wrapped and will be back.

Sign of the Times recently had a 2 boat contest which DIVERSITY won for them. They had a ball out in the Gulf on a mint day catching snapper and huge kahawai. The kahawai can become a bit of a pain when you are trying to get a bait down to the waiting snapper but its good to see them making a come back. A few pics from that trip...

Its a busy few months of fishing still left in the season yet before we switch over to "Winter Ops" Get a trip going with your staff, mates or family. We make sure you have a good day out! When it cools down and the inshore fishing slows down we follow the fish out deeper and will be fishing the Mokes, Great Barrier, Little Barrier, Colville, The northern Rodney Coast and doing our "Big Day Out" trip again this winter. Stay-away trips too.

The webpage is updated regularly and its here where we post dates dates for individuals trips. These trips are from only $130pp per day. Groups that want boat bookings should contact us at - deepsea@clear.net.nz or as we are at sea a fair bit call/ flick a text through to 021 2446346 or the office at 09 4240607.

Get into it!

Cheers

Damian(Damo)Clayton

The Charter Connection - Where fishing is catching!©