Fishing Reports

Big news this month is our second boat has been launched. It's brand new and super shiny, with a hot new graphics on the hull to match her twin sister. We have been busy this week getting her into survey and we will be ready to go late September. More good news being we have a new skipper in the team. His name is Grant Bittle, and this man breathes snapper, is a softbait fanatic and has caught thousands of snapper on lures around Auckland. He has also spent hundreds of days in the Hauraki Gulf sniffing out work ups. Grants passion is contagious and you will feel the excitement he has for fishing when you meet him.


August is traditionally one of the slowest months for fishing in the Hauraki Gulf, which means some days have been tough going. We experienced good and bad fishing throughout August with catch results ranging from limit bags to a handful of fish being caught. The bite times can be short and the fish can be finicky, which gives the thinking anglers good opportunities to hone their skills with rod technique and selecting the right lure for the job. Small changes to your technique, switching to a different lure, adding a smear of Secret Sauce and going down in line and leader size can all make a huge difference when the fishing is tough. We use 8lb braid and 15lb fluorocarbon on our Jerk Shading rods, which is light but also very strong; I would suggest you check your line sizes and go light, it can be key to getting fussy fish to bite.

You can also go down in lure size and jig head weight to get more of a fluttering action on the drop. Be aware it will take longer to get do! wn and you will need to be patient getting your lure to the sea floor. Once it is down there you don’t want to be winding up to check if your softbait is in one piece, the best tip I can give for this technique is to use strong and durable softbaits.

We have been using ZMans new lure called the PaddlerZ which is a 5”bait with a slim line paddle on the tail, this gives the lure added action and also creates a bit more drag on the drop giving this lure more hang time on the way to the seafloor, it has been deadly on tough days and has truly raised the bar in softbait design. We use ZMan Softbaits onboard Wavedancer Charters and have found them ideal for this style of light tackle fishing. Other lures that are ideal for light line fishing are Inchiku jigs (Bottom Ships, Pirates and Prowlers) up to 60 g and smaller slow jigs(Lucanus) up to 60 g.

Speaking of Inchiku jigs we have been testing and tweaking our own Inchiku Jig onboard Wavedancer with good results. We have ! tested the hooks to make sure they don’t bend and break, and of course refined them so they catch our local fish. They are super high quality Inchiku Jigs designed by Paul Senior and tested on Wave Dancer are called Ocean Angler Jitterbugs .

We have been spending more time closer to Auckland fishing in 15-20M as this seems to be where the fish are holding , I have experienced good fishing as close in as the worm beds between the Noises and Tiri with gannets, dolphins and snapper in attendance. The middle ground (40-50m) has been quiet for fishing, and out real wide by Coromandel being hot or cold.

Spring is just round the corner, last year the spring run began at the end of September and the fishing was spectacular with massive work ups and big fish. The big males are the first to show their presence over the next few weeks. You may be lucky enough to find a school of big hungry males feeding up on a work up. When this happens its bent rods and peeling reels and big smiles all round. Spring is the best time to catch big fish in work ups. We specialize in this type of fishing; our rods and tackle are designed for these types of situations. We also have the right boats to chase the work ups: fast with a top speed of 40 knots and now with two boats to search the Gulf for action, our chances of finding work ups has doubled.

Make a booking for spring fishing and take advantage of the fish feeding up for the spawning season. A good tip is to look for a good fishing day on the Wave Dancer calendar and make a booking to coincide with one of these days.

If you want to blast around the gulf at high speed, chase work ups with good Captains and catch big fish on high quality tackle, visit www.wavedancer.co.nz or call Laetitia on 021 880 464 to make a booking

Paul and John