Back in the days of early digital depth sounders, I fished a lot in an area we called “the barges” as it was where they used to be moored when not in use. This is just a large area of shallow water on the southwestern side of Rangitoto opposite North Head. The old sounders, being so basic then with such large pixels, made the bottom look like Lego blocks. Fortunately, we could easily make out the undulations and bits of foul, so I thought I would spend a bit of time surveying the area towards the south. Nowadays, my Furuno TZ touch sounder plotter combo is as good as having a diver down as with bottom discrimination showing the bottom type such as sand, mud, rock or any combination of,  as well as Accufish showing the actual size of any fish the goes thought the middle of the transducer beam. Being shallow (7-12 meters) the footprint the actual size of the bottom showing is not that big so it pays to zig-zag across an area to get a better overall picture of the area. This is Area 1 Spot 9 in my new book Hauraki Gulf Fishing Hot Spots.

In this particular area, the current is stronger out from the Rangitoto shore for around 200 meters during the incoming tide. It then angles off towards the entrance to the Tamaki River. By zig-zagging across the strongest point of the current, the bottom slightly undulates and you come across very small bits of foul. What did surprise me was the number of fish and size of some that showed, albeit spread out.

The key to fishing this type of area is a berley bomb set a meter off the bottom, use the smallest sinker to get to the bottom (1/4-1/2 oz at most) and cast your baits as far back down current as possible to be right in the berley trail and patience. With only three rods out I then set about catching a few jack macs for fresh bait until I noticed a small slow pull on one of the rods. Remember the snapper are not aggressive in winter merely sucking and chewing on the bait. When this happens, rather than striking, I feed them a bit of line so as not to spook them and when the line comes up tight I strike. From the size bite you would think the fish was 32-34 cm, but this one was over 45 cm. After nailing a couple more about the same size and one 56 for the smoker it was time to try something new.

A couple of years ago I was slowly zig zagging in an area that’s never fished I came across an isolated pinnacle of rock (it’s in the book Area 12 Spot 20). The pins are small, coming up off the bottom by two meters. This is a spot I only fish in winter but you need the wind and tide to be dead right to hold the boat so it faces the narrow rock. With fish holding behind the rock the first bait had only just hit the bottom when it got nailed, as did the next bait down.

Off now to Saint Heliers Bay reef, the area where I first learnt to fish as a four-year-old. Being so close to the beaches and in built up area, very few people nowadays bother to fish on their doorsteps, which is great for me as it always produces a few nice-size snapper. Ideally you’ll want to anchor just outside casting distance of the reef. Since it’s so shallow, there is no need to use a sinker as the weight of the bait will get it down and the snapper will not feel any resistance when picking up the bait. In winter I mostly use smaller 1/2 or 2/3^rd size baits such as half a pilchard but recently I have been cutting a couple of small chunks off in front of the tail. This gives me a slightly larger and stronger bait with more weight to get a more accuracy and distance in the cast but the small chucks and to the berley trail.

Most spots in winter can take up to an hour before the berley trail really kicks in, drawing the fish towards your baits. On one recent trip, just when I thought I had bummed out I got hit big time and busted off, followed by all three rods going off at the same time. Long story short, I had a ball on my own that day, learnt a lot, especially about the number and size of the snapper in the barge area and caught some nice fish for the smoker.