Hungry snapper and big striped marlin

The water’s starting to cool down, but don’t start thinking that this is a bad thing. Typically, what this means is that the big snapper start moving back in close, and the last few marlin which are hanging about tend to be big, fat and hungry.

Inshore, the big snapper have started to migrate back in from their offshore summer hangouts and can be found feeding in close to the shore, usually mooching around rocky, reefy areas in the shallows. Now is the perfect time to get the soft plastic setups out, put on your favorite 7” softbait and cast, cast, cast! I can’t wait to tuck the game gear away and get amongst the shallow stuff, as this is my favorite time of the year to target big, angry snapper. 

Alternatively, if you don’t have access to a boat or a kayak, fishing off the rocks can be equally as productive. Recently, friends of mine took advantage of a small gap in the weather and went for their first session off the rocks for the season. They were rewarded with many fish over the 10lb mark, most of which were released nice and healthy and ready to fight another day. Muzza Wootten with his 130kg striped marlin from Hokianga. 

Out deep, you still have a good chance of tripping over a marlin if you put in the work. On a recent trip over the west coast, we managed to hook a good marlin in 150m of water just south of the Hokianga Bar. Due to the fish being foul hooked and the prolonged fight, we decided to keep the fish as it was in no state to be released. The fish was fat and ended up weighing 130kg, the heaviest fish to be weighed out of the Hokianga for the season. After a few quick photos, the fish was processed and shared with the crowd who came to watch the weigh-in, with the rest being taken home to be smoked and shared with friends and family. 

This brings me to the end of my report. Have a safe and happy Easter everyone. Hopefully after this bad weather passes we will be able to get out, wet a line and get back to what we enjoy the most!

Tight lines everyone.

Jordan Hensen