Fishing Reports

Global Warming

Just when you think it’s safe to go outside, it snows…in Auckland! Then faster than a couta’ bite-off it’s shorts and T-shirts (at least for a little while) even slap on the sunscreen. Spring epitomized.

Lots of lambs and more aquatic examples like this new brood in tow paddling off towards Rangitoto means it’s all on, coming ready or not! Oh yeah and I kid you not, snapper have roe already!

With water temps just starting to rise a degree or so and some very good bait schools all around the gulf prospects for this spring & summer fishing are shaping up big-time.

The best thing about now is that its spring, enjoying those perfectly calm days with big healthy fish on the bite. The worst thing about now is that its spring, exasperating days of wind with fish mouths shut tight. We’re certainly in for the roller coaster ride of spring weather. Bring it on, there’s always a silver lining.

Workups

The first of the spring workups are all on with many whales, lots of dolphins and gannets in scary numbers at times smashing the bait to smithereens, pummeling the sea surface from a deep dark blue to an aerated light green.

Truly inspiring sights and sounds - from the huge spouts of air from the whales to the fluttering of the air from the gannets wing-tip feathers as they dive, again right beside the boat.

The snapper underneath (not so during the Claytons workups, more about these later) are generally good solid fish around the 10-12lb mark, some excellent juvenile kingfish right in amongst the action too.

Binfuls like this are getting more and more regular although it has been more of a 50:50 call over the past couple of months.

The odds of having a 115L fish bin overflowing with big fat snapper like this within an hour or two are getting better by the day.

Inner Waitemata harbour channels can still produce the goods particularly with very lightly weighted soft baits (1/4 to 1/2oz) from tiny tinnies just driftin’ on through the sides when the tide is running well, judging by the inner city fishermen in the Fishing Website forums.

Smaller grub-tailed and wriggly legged SBs are doing the trick, some areas can be fished successfully even while the wind is howling, tucked in to the sheltered lee, places like the Motuhie channel for instance.

I’m sure the famed snapper migration is nicely coinciding with the proceedings of the Rugby World Cup, here’s a Waiheke snapper lofted by Julien Bonnair of the French Rugby Team aboard Wavedancer, a great way to recover from the rigors of rugby on a blustery morning.

Speaking of Wavedancer I’m fortunately now one of the 4 Captains taking out the fast and luxurious fish hunting charters of Wavedancer one (Taranui) and Wavedancer two (Tara-iti), both are identical Rayglass 2800’s. Fantastic boats for quickly hunting down workups and much more, using soft plastics only, dedicated to high performance action fishing.

Close encounters with Orca, dozens of Brydes whales, Dolphins both common and bottle nose on a calm day it can be a right natural aquatic playground out in our very own Hauraki Gulf. It’s a delight to be aboard such a clean fast boat hunting down the fish, and with Wavedancer II launched this week, well you can imagine the blast it is catching snapper right throughout the gulf (www.wavedancer.co.nz).

Other Species

Lots of gurnard are around, most not particularly big but always colourful and always a tasty treat…great to target when the snapper aren’t playing the game, worth a try while slowly drifting anywhere in the gulf really, open sandy areas, either drag a heavy deep water rig well out back of the boat with a little Gulp grubtail or small Catch anchovy or small brown Z-man lure.

And if you put down the sabiki rigs whether fishing inner or outer areas, put a live mackerel back down – they’re working well and like Forrest Gump ‘life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get’. Delicious John Dory also caught on the little soft plastic Catch Anchovy looking like a live-bait “matching the hatch” in perfect spring weather just last week.

In short the snapper have just turned their heads towards the local volcano, the outer gulf is on fire most days and the snapper are swimming ever closer to the inner harbor areas.

The winter residents (snapper) are already sparking up on occasion first thing in the morning lately. As yet the inner channels are O.K. in terms of success but the best is yet to come.

Patience grasshopper, not long now…