Fishing Reports

 

For the next six weeks, any reasonably persistent, half skilled snapper fisho has a great chance to get close to a mega red. As I write, schools of large pelagic snapper are moving about the inner Bay of Islands. Typical fishos include Derek Geretson and Janine Grant of Haruru Falls who landed a couple of fish over 9kg last Tuesday. They hired a boat from the Charter Pier in Paihia. North side of Roberton Island was the spot, sanmar the bait, and middle of the rising tide was the time. Tristian Carlyon and friends, also from Haruru Falls, have caught great noddies on a number of recent trips. Close to the Black Rocks has been one of the better spots with pilchards and squid doing the damage. Not to be outdone, Brett Te Nana and Steve from the Tides Restaurant have been striking gold on their regular morning excursions on the Bay. A recent trip produced three snapper around 8kg, one of 10kg and heaps between 3-6kg. The smaller fish are being released. And that was before Labour Weekend. And what a weekend it was! The annual stoush between the Homestead Fishing Club and the Kerikeri Club was postponed until this coming weekend (Sept 27-28th). Weather reports for the weekend were so dire that a postponement seemed the appropriate decision. However, as things panned out, the weather was pretty fair except for Friday night. Friday night was something else: horizontal rain, ripped sails, and at least two metres of angry sea in the open. At the other extreme, sea conditions on Sunday morning were oily calm. On Sunday, the inner Bay was crowded with boats. It’s a long time since I’ve seen so many boats on the water. From dinghies to classic gin palaces, most seemed intent on fishing. A favourite area seemed to be a mile or so out from Tapeka between Robbies and the Black Rocks. Sometimes called the middle ground. If reports to hand are anything to go on, a few mega reds found themselves iced Sunday morning on the rising tide. An ideal strategy is to sit in a known big snapper haunt. Read this column and they are mentioned most weeks. Fish through a few changes of tide. The first quarter of the rising tide seems to be performing presently. Try dawn and dusk with big floating baits and big sharp hooks. If you can manage it, a live but injured jack mackerel spells doom to any adjacent big snapper. Learn patience. Take me for instance: four previous trips, Thirty hours plus with a line in the water for very modest results. Sunday changed all that. After Sunday morning, my sister and brother in law returned to Auckland with mega reds to smoke. Most snapper being caught are males. Larger fish are in quite poor condition. Some may even be spent. But they’re real hungry and fight like hell! Tight lines!

 

From Steven Radich

Report type: Saltwater

Report date: 29 October 01