Winter fishing is well and truly on its way as the days get shorter and shorter. The decline in the number of snapper and kingfish being caught over the last couple of weeks has been quite noticable.

However, it is not all doom and gloom; as the autumn fishing finishes, the winter fishing starts! The winter inshore fishing of blue cod, terakihi and warahou will be starting to take off on both coast. There are still some good snapper being caught in Wellington at present, as well as some late season kingfish, both on the west coast and in Wellington harbour.

Surfcasters are reporting good runs of kahawai at local river mouths, with Lake Ferry being a popular destination. Lake Ferry produces some quite nice winter snapper too, and some big moki, with successful Wellington lady angler Sandra Judd catching a 5.7kg moki recently.

Popular bait to use when beach fishing over on the Wairarapa coast are mussel and paddle crab secured to your hooks with bait elastic. It was also nice to see a lot of families out fishing off the wharves and local beaches over the recent school holidays. There are always spotties and herrings to be caught, as well as the odd star fish. As the days get shorter, and the weather gets tougher, make sure to take every opportunity so go fishing when you can.

Tight lines, Steve