Fishing Reports

 

A recent Fishing Competition, organised by Mico Plumbing and involving heaps of plumbers from all over the Auckland region, was a huge success. I have just been informed, that a local plumber, who fished with us in the competition, ended up being the Grand Prize winner. For his efforts, Jeremy received a $40,000 Fryan Horizon, complete with motor and trailer. Jeremy also landed the biggest snapper for the boat that day. We are stoked! Onto the current situation. The day before the Furuno last week, was spent in behind Kawau Island trying to charm kingfish into the boat. This never happened and we had to be content with a limit of snapper, all of which were nice fish. A large John Dory was also taken out of the rip at the southern end of the island, when it fell for the old livie on the bottom trick. The snapper were smaller at this end of the island but some big fish have come from this southern corner in the past. Large schools of Kahawai have been present all week around the Whangaparaoa area and are easy to catch using small shiny lures towed at walking pace. Please try to avoid driving directly through the middle of the school, as they will get spooked and move quickly on. You will get far better results towing around the edge of the action or drifting down one side and casting into the school. We have not seen any reasonable snapper or kingfish under these birds and schools of kahawai yet and it may be the work up is moving to fast or the scraps of anchovy are just not making it down to the bottom. A couple of kingfish were caught by a group from Auckland Hospital that were on board the other day. It was a blustery sort of day and we were a bit stuck for options. Our first destination provided little and it seems the reef I had chosen has suffered from the pressures of summer, yielding only small snapper that we returned. The area of reef North east of Tiri was as dead as a door stopper, so a move was made to the sheltered conditions behind the island and it was here we secured a heap of "pannies". Like all good things, this came to an end and a move was made to the northern side of Whangaparaoa. More "pannies" and a couple of kingfish, both within 10 mins of each other and both on snapper baits. The bloke who landed the biggest fish had never been fishing before and was stoked with the result. The forecast seems to be fairly reasonable for the Easter break and a lot of boats will heading over to the Barrier and to other locations around the Gulf. For a lot of people, Easter is the time they do the last spot of fishing for the year and will not pick up a rod till Xmas. Easter is typically a pretty good time of year to secure a few fish and a lot of the well known spots will get a good looking over this weekend. We will be fishing the long weekend with every day being booked. Some of the deeper areas, out a little wider, will get our attention if the weather holds with a possible trip back up to Kawau or out towards the 50m area north east of Tiri. Another area that normally holds a few fish this time of year is the Tiri Passage. Although it has been a little slow over the last month or so, it should be starting to shift up a gear as the snapper move though and get into condition for the cooler months ahead. We have had good success at both ends of the Channel, out over the sand and mud in the past and with the huge amount of water that passes through the area it is not surprising. Try drift fishing or anchoring with a burley at the beginning of the tide and be prepared to sit it out for a while. There is still a few fish to be had down towards Rakino and Waiheke if you don't mind the crowds and ferry wakes. Some of the fish moving through the channels this summer have been excellent. The kingfish are around some of the channel buoys and reef structures at the moment, so if you have a good popper, give it a go. Better to try early in the day before the crowds gather and put the fish into a state of high alert. Some of the shallow bays and reefs are holding fish too with kingfish showing up in the burley and following baits to the boat. Those smaller kahawai are the ideal live bait in our neck of the woods and if set correctly could secure you one of these green and yellow torpedoes. Speaking of shallow water fishing. Yesterday was maintenance day, so rather than potter around in the marina and do the chores, I opted for the "work in the bay option". Parked in 2m of water over the sand, just outside the breakwater at Gulf Harbour, I set about the tasks at hand. After noticing a few splashes from bait fish in behind the boat, I secured a small yellowtail on a sabiki, and floated out a strip, on a light spinning outfit. Not thinking much would happen, I put the rod in the rod holder and went back to the chores. About 10 seconds later the rod was bent in half and line was peeling from the little Diawa reel. In my haste to grab the rod, I knocked the bait knife over the side, lost a screwdriver, stubbed my toe and bumped my head. About a minute later, cursing my floating bait knife that sunk, I had a nice snapper of about 4 lb. on the deck. What a fluke. So I floated out another small strip of yellowtail on the 4kg set. Same again and again, until I had 6 snapper on the deck. The chores were still waiting and I had no ice to keep the fish fresh and cut a track back to the marina, that was about 1 minute away. The fish can really get quite stroppy in the shallow water and on the light gear they are great sport. I wonder what the clients would say if I idled just out from the marina and threw the pick over? Have a happy and safe Easter Damian THE CHARTER CONNECTION

 

From A Charter Connection...

Report type: Saltwater

Report date: 28 March 02