Fishing Reports

 

Since our last report we have been flat out like a lizard drinking. A few day trips, a few evening trips, an overnighter to Kawau Island and a 3 day trip to Great Barrier. The Great barrier trip was the highlight of the lot so I’ll start the report here. Fishing in close was not as successful as we would have hoped and we spent the first night wondering where we went wrong. Fishing the deeper foul off Wellington head produced some excellent snapper to 5kg, heaps of tarakihi and a few of the usual reef species that frequent the area. The only down side to that session was the occasional barracouda shredding away at the tackle. The next morning was a bit slower, until we moved out to the deeper part of the reef and again were into good fish. It was a totally contradictory forecast for the day as the 15 knots of south west was easily gusting 30 or more, leaving us with few options for the day. Needless to say we got a kicking coming home and didn't get to stop on some of the excellent looking marks around Horn rock and another reef not far from it. On the local front, Tiri in the evening has been good to us, especially on the deeper foul at the top of the island. The inside, on the edges of the channel has also had its moments over the last few weeks, but on the whole it’s pretty patchy still. This will all be forgotten in a wee while, when the channel will be teeming with schools of snapper. Most of our fish from the back of Kawau and the Barrier had a thin roe in them so the season is not far away now. The Tiri Chanel will hold huge numbers of fish for most of the warmer months but they also congregate regularly on certain areas of foul and low broken areas of rubble. Out on the sand, in about 40m off the back of Tiri and a little down towards the Noisies, we got a really good result on a day trip for 6 lucky lads. 40 snapper in about 3 hours, all but a few taken on squid heads on what we call the Flat Rock Special, a cunning variation of a ledger rig. I can’t say any more than that. You’ll just have to do a trip to see this rig in action. The out going tide and gentle southwest wind made conditions ideal for a drift and when we picked up a few snapper in the same area after 2 drifts I anchored just up current from the sign on the bottom and the games began. It was a great day and the clients booked me for the next day hoping to do it again. The next day was as rough as guts and we only managed to scrape together about a dozen snapper for the 6 of them in close to Whangaparaoa. You have to take the good with the bad and I haven’t managed to get back out there due to having other trips on the go. Might give it a shot this week if you’re interested or possibly on Sunday, which is looking like it’s going to be a casual’s day. The Kawau area is fishing very slowly. We only managed a few small fish during a day in close behind the island, and a couple of bigger specimens from the Takatu Passage and around Maori Rock. Flat Rock has been a waste of time as far as I’m concerned and I’ve been favouring the other sunken rocks and foul in the area. It will get better any time now and when it does, I’ll be there. The foul around the southern end of the island and the islands to the south are holding fish and you can do really well if you have the patience. A good berley trail is essential and only use fresh bait, not something that’s been in the freezer since last summer. Fresh is best and bait caught on the day often produce the biggest fish. The john dory are still around in good numbers and are pretty easy to target if you’re in the right location. Try around any reef where there is bait fish congregating and you should be into them. A local ledge near Stanmore Bay that is popular with land based anglers is famous for being able to see them, sometimes 4-5 at a time, swimming along the ledge or milling around in a berley trail. If you don’t mind crowds, it’s dead easy to find and get to. We have some excellent specials on at the moment for group bookings and will run these through till November. I’m finding that a lot of people think you have to have a group to go fishing when in fact you don't. We have a large list of casual anglers ready to go pretty much at the drop of a hat, on just about any day. So if you would like to join in on a group or come along with just a few mates, give us a call and I’ll put you on the list or negotiate a price for a smaller group. Phone (09)4260604 or (025) 2446346 You can also check us out in the charters section of this site in the Auckland region and if you would like a copy of our newsletter or a brochure just give us bell or email us at: deepsea@kiwinet.net.nz Stay hooked Damian Clayton THE CHARTER CONNECTION LTD

 

From A Charter Connection...

Report type: Saltwater

Report date: 25 September 01