Fishing Reports

 

The last few days and a few days last week, gave us some great conditions. Near flat seas and little wind, means we have far more options and can fish a bit deeper in search of the better fish feeding on the worms, shellfish, bait schools and structures in the Gulf. We have to travel for a bit longer, but it can be well worth it and it has been this week. Bag limits of snapper for the past few trips, with fish up to about 7lb have been coming from in between Tiri and the Bottom end of Waiheke, on some of the patches of rubble. It normally takes a while for it to fire out here, but when they come on, they really come on! Most trips out to some of our other deeper spots have produced good numbers too, but the size has dropped a wee bit from what we were landing. The size will increase towards the end of March usually, as we get the fish on their way back out. Massive work ups of Gannets are also popping up out of nowhere out wide here and the fishing under these work ups has been pretty good. We choose to let the work up get well established before we start our drifts, rather than get into it too quickly. We have seen boats come charging in and ruin good work ups, just from lack of knowledge on how to fish it. Get up wind or up current, which ever is stronger and check your drift before getting in too close. Set up the correct drift, preferably in behind the work up to get the snapper feeding on the bits that filter down to them from the action above. The FRS is perfect for this style of fishing, but you could also try flashers, ledgers or other rigs like the weight on the hooks. Pilchard is probably the best bait, but if they are hot on the bite almost any bait will work. Big chrome jigs, suitable for the depth, will secure any kingfish that may be lurking in the turmoil. Try catching a kahawai on a smaller jig and setting it as a live bait under the action. It is that time of year when almost anything can happen under or in these work ups and I wouldnÕt be at all surprised to see a Tuna or even a Marlin working the bait schools in the Gulf. Keep your eyes open. A little closer to home, the gannets have been getting up early in the day and we have dropped gear in numerous work ups in between Whangaparaoa and the Noisies. The snapper are smaller than out a bit wider, but there has been no shortage of numbers. The birds seem to get back into gear later in the afternoon and we have passed a few decent work ups on our way back in. If we werenÕt full up we could have stopped! The Golden Years Fishing Club at Whangaparaoa, witnessed a rather large Mako sniffing the back of the boat just a few days ago. A live bait was deployed, but the shark had better plans and moved on. A friend later told me he was hooked up to a similar size fish for a 20 minute, acrobatics display on 8 kg line. Reckons he saw close to the bottom of the spool twice before getting busted off. There are plenty of sharks out here at the moment and we caught a few of the hammer head and school shark varieties this week. The Hibiscus Hire and Crows Nest fishing competition was a huge success last weekend. This contest supports the Police Blue Light Program, a very worthy cause, that we have no hesitation in helping as a sponsor. 5 species are allowed to be weighed in on the day and our objective was to have each one of our team members, weigh in one of each species. Big ask, but weÕd give it a crack. Fishing started at 5am and we were on location shortly after to get the snapper we needed. A deeper patch of foul was selected due to the wind and tide situation we had to deal with. Snapper were quickly secured all of which were on target for the average weight prizes. A move to the exposed bricks, closer to the shore, was the kahawai spot we tried next, but ended picking up snapper after snapper on the small lure we were towing on the paravane. Snapper strikes on a small lure being towed a 5 knots Ð great fun, but we didnÕt want snapper! A change in direction provided us with our prize wining kingfish. Congratulations to Graham Truman and his deadly Rapala, in mackerel colours. The Kingfish action was awesome, with huge boil ups and slashes of yellow and green tearing the bait schools apart. It didnÕt take long for the crowds to gather and we left them to it as we had the kingfish, snapper and kahawai we needed. It was off the get a few livies down on the foul for a dory or 5, while tried to burley up some trevally. We were running out of time and had seen nothing but more snapper, so a call was made to tow the rapalas back over the foul. We hooked up solid. But a 7 metre, Rayglass boat, travelling at over 30 knots is hard to stop even on 15kg. To the owner of ÒWaypointÓ you owe Graham T a new rapala. Also it would pay to read Òthe rules of the road at seaÓ. Contact us for GrahamsÕ number. The team finished the day with 8 prizes amongst them. DonÕt you love it when a plan comes together. The Tiri Passage has been patchy with only smaller snapper coming aboard on the few occasions we have had to fish in there. Behind the island is getting a hammering from the seine boats. They are probably after Dory, so I doubt there is too much snapper out the back there. Further out and over the 175 deg line is still holding fish, but I havenÕt been out here this past week. CanÕt wait to get back out there either away from the crowds and small fish. Long steam, but thatÕs what coffee is for. Better chance of good bird action out here too. Flat Rock is still being itÕs dodgy self and will continue that way for a month or so yet. IÕll let you know about any large fish that come off it, but I wont waste time taking a group up there just yet. Dawn and dusk could be the go around Kawau at the moment. Straylining the shallows in Kawau bay in the evenings has always been pretty good this time of year. Speaking of evenings, we will stop the evening trips when daylight saving ends, so give us a call for a booking. We have a few evenings available and also dates left in March for day trips too. Evening trips run from 4:30-9:30pm and are only $40pp. The card promotion is really going well and a few free trips have been given away already. Collect 8 cards and get a free trip. Cards are available on board. Give us a call on (09)4260604 or (025)2446346 or email us your enquirey at deepsea@clear.net.nz. The casual list is growing daily, which means we can offer you a trip on just about any day. If your interested in going on the list, give us a bell and weÕll send you the newsletters when they come out and call you when trips are available. If youÕre keen enough you may even end up on the fishing team. Fish on! Damian THE CHARTER CONNECTION

 

From A Charter Connection...

Report type: Saltwater

Report date: 21 February 02