Fishing Reports

 

Finally the weather looks like it may improve a little. Recent northerly blows have forced us to fish in locations we would rather not have fished and consequently, haven’t done as well as we would have in preferred locations. However, we have had a few good breaks in the weather and managed to get out a bit wider and did very well. Kawau has been kind to us and on an early morning shot east of Motuora Island, we latched onto a few really good schools of snapper. Our crew had a limit bag of snapper by 12:30pm and opted to target a few john dory on a productive patch of foul on the way back in. An hour later we had 3 dory in the slurry and a bunch of happy anglers. This area is now home to the longliners who are setting their gear south of Kawau. One of these bigger line boats can set 10,000 hooks a day! Yes that is not a misprint, 10 thousand hooks! If only 25% of these hooks catch fish, that is still 2,500 fish. With the average size of the fish around at the moment, it would take about 12- 15 snapper to fill a bin and about 80 bins is a tonne. So you do the maths. One boat does 2 shots of 10,000 hooks and catches 2,500 snapper off each shot. 5,000 snapper right. 5,000 divided by 15 fish per bin = 333 bins, divided by 80 bins per tonne = 4.16 tonnes! Now that is just one large longliner over 2 days. Lets not forget about the smaller boats that only do sets of 1500 –2000 hooks a day. Scary I know, but these guys have to make a living too and I struggle to see how they actually do, as the price they receive for the fish is so low at the moment. It was mentioned on board the other day that the commercial activity in the Gulf could be “shutting the gate” on us. We have really noticed a difference since the boats have been working north of Tiri and even in the Tiri Passage! One boat, who quite legally was entitled to be there, did a shot right through the middle on a busy weekend day, much to the horror of all those on board. Probably did quite well as we had a ripper that day. I will get off my soap box now that I’ve had a vent! It looks as if much of the spawning may have taken place now as most of the snapper are looking a bit thinner and are not feeding as aggressively as they were. The Passage still has its moment but we are starting to head out wider now that things have slowed down a bit. The banks on the edges of the passage are still holding fish but a good burley may be required to stimulate the action. South of the passage is still fishing quite well and we managed to get a few nice table fish from this area yesterday. Further south and down towards Rangitoto, there is a patch of ground known as the worm beds. It can really fire and did so earlier on in the season, but has slowed down considerably now. The schools are smaller and more spread out, so a good look around is required. Try a drift, as we often do if it’s calm enough. Drifting is great as you cover a fair bit of ground and we find that fish will often react to the bait moving along the bottom more aggressively than in an anchored fishing situation. Firmer bait may be required such as, wait for it, LOLAGO SQUID! Yes it still doing the damage and we are finding it to out fish everything else in most fishing situations. We wouldn’t use it in a work up situation, when the snapper are feeding on pilchards, but I’m sure it would still fish well. See the guys at the Bait Station about it. The evening fishing hasn’t been good to us. I’d say partly due to the weather as we haven’t been able to fish where we would have liked. Recent trips have produced nice snapper up to 10lb, but not in great numbers like a month or so ago. We will be heading out in the open and onto the deeper foul for the next few trips rather than on the shell and sand areas. We are finding that as soon as it gets dark or even before, the snapper tend to go off the bite. You will still get the little ones but once it’s dark on the bottom it’s just about all over. The Lolago squid is good for this late fishing as it has awesome colour and even a bit of sparkle to it. Jam a half pilchard up one for a bit of extra scent and you could be in! Kingis are around in good numbers now and we have landed a few over this past week or so. The Rapala CD18 in mackerel colours is what we are finding to be the best as far as lures go. Trolled at about 6 knots or cast out after sighting the fish and retrieved as fast as possible will get them going. As far as livebaiting goes, try a koheru (yellowtail) or small kahawai under a balloon on a trace of about 15ft. Choose a good livebait hook suitable to the size of bait you are using and hold on! One of my favourite forms of fishing is slow trolling livies just off the bottom for big kingis. We spend a bit of time around Christmas and over the next few months targeting these green and yellow torpedoes. Unfortunately we have a bit of difficulty sharing this with a boat load of anglers, as not everyone can get involved. Having 10 livebaits being trolled around reefs would end up in tears and someone throwing the toys out of the cot if you catch my drift. We can however, take a smaller group and troll, live bait and jig without too much fuss. Try around the buoys and deeper reefs this time of year. Any structure that breaks up the current is a good place to look and a large reef such as Flat Rock and others like it can be home to hoards of Kingis. We landed a heap of them one day last season. A regular angler, Chris P, has one over 27kg to his name. Remember the legal size is only 65cm and this is pretty small, so why not opt for a larger size limit. It is good to see these awesome fish back in town and we are looking forward to those stinking hot, windless days on our favorite reefs, targeting them. Will keep you posted. We have also seen another predator in the Tiri area lately. This one has a few rows of nasty looking teeth and has been responsible for a few heart stopping moments. A Mako Shark that we’ve hooked and seen but not yet landed, has been parading its talents in the channel and out behind the island lately. He looks to be about 5-6 ft and is not the shy quiet type. We have lost fish off the hooks on the way up, especially blue mackerels and kahawai. He is not alone either, as on one occasion his partner in crime circled him under the boat as we tried to get him within gaffing distance. There have also been reports and sightings of the bronze whalers that normally turn up this time of year. That will explain a story I was told the other day about 300m of line disappearing towards Auckland from a small boat fishing in close to Tiri. Not exactly great table fare those bronzies, but they can scrap with the best of them. With Christmas almost upon us, now is good time to buy someone a day out on the water. We have trip vouchers for day trips, both weekdays ($45) and for weekends ($55), so if you’re interested send us your postal address and the persons name to appear on the voucher. We will send you a voucher and activate it when we receive your payment. We have sold a heap already this year and they are great gifts for the angler in your life. We still have a few dates open between now and Christmas and we will be fishing all the way through the holidays. The only day we will not be fishing is Christmas Day (but I could be tempted into a 4-5 hour dawn raid for the right price!) Take care out there. We will try to put in a report before Santa knocks the soot off the inside of the stack, and if you don’t have a copy of the summer newsletter yet, give us a bell on (09)4260604 or (025)2446346. Email us at deepsea@clear.net.nz

 

From A Charter Connection...

Report type: Saltwater

Report date: 13 December 01