Top Catch Master Classes

Top Catch Master Classes are in full swing with more and more dates becoming available and more anglers extending their knowledge and skill base. These classes offer a great opportunity for anglers to learm from some very experienced anglers, many who have fished the Gulf for decades. 

Beware of imitations: Check out the original Top Catch Straylining Master Classes.

The Straylining Master Classes are held in the outer reaches of the Hauraki Gulf and typically although this style of fishing is often associated with fishing the shallows, great results have been acheived straylining in deeper water. The only really noticable difference is the depth and a slight adjustment to sinker weights as its very difficult, in any sort of tide or current say 45m, to float a bait down. Floating an unweighted bait down into a pumping burley trail in shallow water is often the best way to present a bait to a big snapper or kingfish for that matter, but near impossible in deeper water and current.

Little Barrier, Horn Rock, Great Barrier and Coromandel all offer excellent grounds for this style of fishing and recent successes clearly show that the habitat is home to these once in a lifetime snapper. In the shallows (less than 10m) the options are near unlimited with so much broken ground, kelp beds, boulder banks, bluffs and shallow reefs to choose from. Out deeper, a little more knowledge of fish movements, the structure, its location, the tides, currents and back eddies is required. The Top Catch Master Class Team have all this covered with decades of fishing experience across the region. As the Top Catch logo suggests "Fish are cunning. Be prepared"

Lately I've been a little less blessed with options due to the constant wind and have found myself scouring the depths off Kawau Island. Our best results have come from around the Slater Point, Fairchild Reef, Challenger Island area and Nelson Rock. Keeping in mind there has been some stiff breeze and often the tides' direction to take into account, I have picked mostly closer in to the island to offer some degree of shelter and to pick up tide as it pases through guts or around structure. The locations are marked in red and I have mentioned the nearest small boat launching spot. Sandspit is of course a good option too for bigger boats.

I'm not sure what it is as I can catch bait at most spots mentioned here, but Fairchild Reef seems to a good spot for targetting john dory and kingfish. We recemtly caught a dory on a mackerel set under a ballon for a kingfish here too.

As the season progresses the Top Catch Master Classes will be launching the Lure Fishing Master Classes. The first of these exciting seminars and trips is in late August and I suggest you get hold of Craig at the Glen Innes store to book a spot. We will be using some new, exciting jigs and lures as well as New Zealands most proven and sucessful slow jig, the Jitter Bugs. I really like these robust jigs because unlike a lot of the slow jigs and lures on the market, they have a decent skirt, not an inferior neck tie system for secring the skirt or tassles. The hook quality is great so mind those hands when unhooking your fish. I offer this advice from experience.

The Master Classes have been strategically timed to teach you how to find work ups, how to fish them and how to keep hooking fish once the action has died off. Work ups don't happen every day as some would lead us to believe so we will focus on other methods also. Both Glen Innes and takapuna Top catch stores have these on offer and the Whangaparaoa store is also offering straylining and lure fishing too.

Get up around Kawau or down the bottom end of Waiheke for this weeks best chance of getting into the fish. You might even find there's a few still lurking along the back of Rangitoto and out off the Takapuna Cliffs. 

Good luck

Damo

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