Snapper, gurnard, kahawai, kingfish, and even groper... but all spread around

Well, what a rugged long weekend we had at the top of the south. Strong winds and heavy rain pretty much ruled out most outdoor activities, but most of all fishing over Labour weekend. However, the sun is now shining, the rivers are lowering, and the sea is starting to clear so it won’t be long until boats are back out chasing fish in the top of the south. 
 

Prior to the rain the fishing was fantastic throughout the top of the south. Some great snapper have been caught and it is so good to see so many people out enjoying catching fish. Along with the snapper, there have been some great catches of gurnard, kahawai and the odd kingfish as well. For those that have ventured to D’Urville Island, there is even the odd groper around in relatively shallow water.

There's the odd groper in shallow water around D'Urville.

The snapper have been very spread out throughout Tasman Bay and Golden Bay from surfcasting out to 40 metres, and I really could not pick one depth over another if I was going to recommend where to fish.  After all this rain and wind there is lot a lot of dirty water in close, so I would certainly suggest fishing in deeper water to start with. Fishing with drones from shore is starting to take off here, and some really nice fish are being caught now which is great for those anglers who don’t have a boat. 

The outer Marlborough Sounds have been producing some good gurnard lately. This time of year, gurnard are getting ready to spawn as well and there are some fish in very good condition around this time of year. However, following all the rain I would imagine the inner Marlborough Sounds is still quite dirty, and not ideal for chasing snapper.

Young Jayden with a very healthy specimen.

There are a lot of barracouta in Tasman Bay at the moment, and in higher numbers than I have ever seen.  They are very hard on your fishing gear, but the tackle stores do love them! One good bonus is that they are good bait when fresh, but you only need one normally and unfortunately there are a lot more than that out there! 

The next couple of months will see some great fishing prior to the snapper spawning in the top of the south, and it is a matter of making time when weather allows to get out there.

Cheers!

Dan Govier 

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