Great Sunrise Makes The Effort Worth It

Over the past few weeks, fishing had been difficult – no thanks to the cold and weather conditions we have endured around the country.

There have been some short breaks in the weather, but you had to be ready to take the opportunities when they presented themselves.

My last trip to the Manukau Harbour started very early with an amazing sunrise. To make the session interesting, we all used different tactics to see what fish species we could entice on a cold winter’s morning, and we weren’t disappointed. We landed several kahawai, two spotted smoothhounds, a gurnard, and a school shark. Compared to recent trips, that was a success!

The morning bite was short and quick, the remainder of the day being fishless – demonstrating the value of being at the right place at the right time.

Beautiful sunrises make the effort of getting up early worth it, especially when matched by a good bite time.

The good thing about winter fishing is there are not so many ‘pickers’. You can afford to use softer baits such as pilchard to attract fish to an area. To add to their longevity, wrap these baits up in bait elastic. They will stay on the hook longer during casting, and will survive the impact on landing. With no ‘pickers’ about, the bait has a better chance of being discovered by other tasty species, such as gurnard. Always stay warm and safe over the colder winter months and be a tidy angler – take your rubbish home with you.

Peter Hwang
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