Despite winter being in full swing fishing has proven to be fairly productive in many areas.

Heading out into the Firth of Thames and up as far as Coromandel Harbour has been giving some great rewards, especially where birds are sitting or even working at times.

The mussel farms have also continued to offer a good feed, especially in the Firth of Thames and around Deadmans point. Away from the farms use the sounder to locate fish and if bait fishing, drop the anchor and get a berley trail going to complement some stray lined whole, dead baits. Drifting with dead baits can also work well, but micro jigs and soft-baits are by far the better option.

Up the coast on the western side, areas like 'happy jacks' can be worth visiting especially early in the morning and late afternoon with some nice snapper in the shallows.

Granite wharf, up and around to Fletchers Bay, is well worth a visit also, offering plenty of snapper of a decent size. This is also the case right down the eastern coast to Whangapoua with snapper both in close and also, out in deeper water.

Gurnard have been showing up in good numbers and can be found out on the sand in depths from 15 meters out to 35 meters - the best way to find them is to keep your eye on your sounder while doing a few drifts.

On the diving side, the crayfish have moved in close and females are holding eggs with some crays also shedding their shells, so are best left alone. In saying that, there are still some that are not in the soft shell stage so it can be worth dropping down if you're looking for a feed.

Happy winter fishing.

For more details on what's been happening in the Coromandel, check out Rob's latest vlog report here - don't forget to give it a like on YouTube.

Rob produces Reel Screaming Kayaks on YouTube. Reel Screaming Kayaks is a kiwi fishing show which covers a range of kayak-based fishing adventures in Rob's beautiful backyard, the Coromandel! In the latest episode, there is plenty of snapper and kingfish action on soft-baits, jigs and stick baits. Check it out here:

To get regular updates when new episodes of Reel Screaming Kayaks are uploaded, be sure to hit "Subscribe" on the YouTube channel.

If you are ever in Coromandel Town and want to know the latest on fishing and diving, find Rob and his team at 1945 Tiki Road. Our Coromandel Kayak & Fishing store is 2kms south of Coromandel Town on the main highway (just look for the kayak angler on top of our sign).

Rob Fort

Coromandel Kayak adventures

1945 Tiki Road, Coromandel Town 
021 294 1694 or 07 866 7466
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