Fishing Reports

 

Happy New year everyone. We hope you managed to survive the festivities relatively unscathed. The week around Christmas and New Years was not a great one for the fishing and although we did manage to secure table fare, for all concerned the results were far from impressive. In order to combat the plague of small snapper that infested the reefs and low foul, we spent the good weather days in another location that has been exceptionally productive. It is great to fish away from the crowds and all the associated lunacy that seems to surface this time of year. Can you believe one boat set a longline 50 feet behind us much to the horror of the group on board! As you could imagine there was a variety of suggestions as to the action that should be taken in response to this act of ignorance. Moving away from the area proved to a sensible move when the fishing slowed, as we secured a heap of real nice snapper to 8lb or so from our next drop. There are plenty of fish to go around and no-one owns the ocean (well not yet anyway). A little bit of sensible thinking will put you on the fish without too much fuss this time of year. If you have absolutely no clues what so ever, read a fishing mag. The Tiri Passage is still working well and it is still the banks and low foul that are holding the fish. Try a drift down the centre of the channel. When you start to get a few, go back for another drift or anchor up and have a crack at what has been over this last week pretty good fishing. Keep your eyes open for the kingfish that are showing up in better numbers around the buoys and reefs at present. Try casting poppers at the buoys and reefs in the passage as there have been numerous hook ups and catches over the last week. We landed a good one not too far from Motutapu under a gannet work up this week. It took a half pilchard on the FRS (Flat Rock Special) that was being drifted down into the action. The poppers we cast around after we landed the fish produced nothing and you can never find a live bait when you need one. The reefs around the Rangi light and the channel produce good kingfish this time of year and we often head over that way for a change of scenery. The reefs around Rangitoto and all the islands to the east are extensive and can provide good shelter in inclement conditions. Burley up into the shallows at the change of light and you should do well. Behind Tiri, the action has been patchy and only really started to improve this week as a lot of people went back to work. Kingfish are around the deeper reefs as are the snapper. We are finding you have to wade your way through the small ones to get onto a few more respectable ones. It is for this reason we haven’t bothered to do much behind the island if we can help it. Out in 30 metres between Tiri and Kawau is also a little on the patchy side and we haven’t been too keen on wasting half a day looking around this large area for a good school of snapper. We have hooked kingfish out here but haven’t really put the time into it so far. Motuora Island is always worth a shot for a kingfish and feed of snapper this time of year. I wont say too much about locations over here as a good look at the local chart (NZ 5227 I think) will show the tell tale signs of some hot turf to try. Around the entrance to the Mahurangi Harbour is well worth a look too. There is plenty of shelter in this changeable weather also. Further out in the Gulf under the work ups is working well. Drift in beside the action rather than aim directly at it at 25 knots and lurch to a stop in the middle of it! This will only scare the action off and you may have just wasted your time travelling as well as the time of others in attendance. Anchorite Rock, so I hear from a reliable source, has a good population of small snapper and kingfish around it at present. We hardly ever bother with the place as we can catch the same fish closer to home without wasting time steaming out over the ocean. However, the place can hold some rather large specimens of the snapper and kingfish variety if you choose your times right. The change of light out here can be awesome for good snapper in a decent burley trail set near the bottom. You may have to put up with a heap of Maomao and other smaller fish but it can be worth it. Try for a big kingfish out here when you can get the place to yourself (which is not very often) using a big kahawai live bait. They love them and I’ll never forget staring wantonly out the back of the boat a year or so ago, only to be shocked into action by a huge splash of a tail carving the ocean apart. The result was a completely scaled kahawai and a few trembling knees. The livie was checked and reset only to wolfed down by a smaller fish of 27kg. The big ones are around but it takes time and planning to get rich. The area we are fishing at the moment will remain nameless as I’m sick of crowds and we have been having this great patch of fish to ourselves over the past week or so. The Lolago squid and NZ pilchards from The Bait Station in Parkway Drive are doing the damage still. When you’re in the store next check out some of the prices these guys have on tackle. They are major importers of a lot of tackle, so can pass on a decent price by cutting out the middleman. After sales service is excellent also. Ledger Rigs and the FRS are the rigs we are having most success with at the moment but we do occasionally use a running rig with a long trace, depending on the location and current. These however, tend to create more problems than usual with a large group on the boat. Evenings are fishing well locally, as is the change of light in the mornings. The South eastern corner of Whanaparaoa is close to the marina and providing it is not crowded out, produces some excellent fishing at these times. A lot of small snapper during the day, with the odd big trevally, but on the change of light it’s a different story. Another spot we have been fishing in the evenings is some of the low foul in the Tiri Passage. It can be dead during the day but dawn and dusk can turn on the action. The great thing about it is you only have to travel about ½ an hour to get there. For those that enjoy this cooler part of the day, we can organise a 6 hour trip in the afternoons and have you back around last light. These have been popular for the keen kids in the family. Don’t forget that the children get onboard for a discounted rate. It is a great thing to do while they are off school and sick of wearing out the batteries of the new toys. Our boats are set up in such a way that children are completely safe whilst on board and can fully enjoy the experience as much as mum and dad do. We are about to launch a new collectors edition business card promotion. Starting next week, we will hand out a business card with one of the local species on it. There are 8 cards in the set. When you have collected all 8 cards we will give you a free trip! The card set includes, kingfish, snapper, john dory, trevally, kahawai, shark and a few others (not sprats and koheru!). For those of you that are regular clients, we will be giving you the first one free and I can think of a few clients that will be getting free trips within a month or so (you know who you are). On a final note I would like to tell about another quality of the FRS. An angler recently got himself into the situation where he lost his rod over the side whilst hooked up to a fish! In great despair, he grabbed me by the sleeve and begged me to help him get his pride and joy Shimano set back. On my 3rd or 4th cast with the FRS, I hooked up on a dead weight with a gentle thud to it. A few minutes later, we landed his gear but the spool was empty. Fortunately the knot on the empty spool was good and we slowly and messily hand lined the still kicking fish to the boat! I’m told that the 12lb snapper caught in this unorthodox fashion tastes better than anything he’s ever tasted. I’ve been sworn to respect the name suppression order imposed onboard so I wont even mention Carl’s name. Opps! Take care out there and remember to take only what you require. Work is for those that don’t know how to fish! Damian Clayton THE CHARTER CONNECTION LIMITED

 

From A Charter Connection...

Report type: Saltwater

Report date: 09 January 02