Hauraki Gulf Fishing Report - September 17th, 2020

  • General Saltwater, Auckland and The Hauraki Gulf

Early breeding signs are loud and clear with kahawai getting those little bruise-bite marks and starting to roe-up. Gurnard and john dory are also starting their roe-ing, which was clearly evident in a number of fish caught this week.

The workups are primarily out wide of the gulf. There are some good looking ones west of both the Barriers and they are ready-set for major performances in the gulf. It’s nice to see some inner areas like the bottom end of Waiheke and the mid Firth of Thames still faithfully firing up many days, at least for an hour or so. Snapper are in and around these fast moving workups but not always – targeting other fish like kahawai and kingfish is a great option rather than being too blinkered on just snapper. When the snapper are half interested or more though – whether in a workup or not – a good inchiku lure is probably one of the best all round styles to use. The BossSquid (pictured) has been a stand-out success in this regard.

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The inshore areas are perking up too. A morning or evening soft-bait in the shallows, whether it’s a quick flick from the shore or lurking along on a kayak or similar (e.g. western Rakino/Rangitoto), are great options. There are still a lot of cautious strikes happening in the cold water – making good presentation and rigging (a second stinger hook is ideal) essential for solid hookups and eliminating the frustration of dropping solid fish.

Mid ground of the open gulf has been quiet, to be expected, but also to be expected is a steady flow of pan sized snapper when you’re out there. Use those little micro jigs, or have you tried soft-baits on a deep water rig (see video)? Most of the time you’ll catch some good fish along the way – snapper, gurnard and perhaps a john dory now and then, too! Sometimes slow and steady wins the race.

Kingfish just have to come back on the bite after their recent hiatus, and with a huge increase in tidal flow this week and a reasonable moon phase, expectations are high. Oh yes – time to target the big green machines out there! I would suggest having a few options to tip them over the edge – poppers, stick baits, long fall mechanical jigs, slow pitch jigs and even micro jigs. Can you feel that next kingie hookup and run?!

All the signs are pointing upwards. Everyone is under starters orders and poised – are you ready-set to go?

Enjoy your fishing. You can’t catch fish at home, so get your good gear together and get out there in amongst it. Don’t miss out!

Check out the Facebook LIVE update on the Smart Marine or Catch Fishing pages on Tuesday morning for a great snapshot of what is and isn’t happening in the gulf.

See you out there.

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