This is the second time I have had to type this so it is shorter this time, bloody computers!

Over the past weekend we had some fantastic weather here in the bay, long periods of north westerly conditions means fantastic fishing! I have been heading to Dinahs beach as it is the first place snapper come into as it is on the open coast and well exposed. The down side it is location is open sharks, like most remote spots. This weekend was a little different because there was a surprising lack of sharks which ment baits were able to sit long enough to catch the prime target species. Sure enough along came my first snapper in the bay in the middle of the day around lunch time, at just over 3kg and full of crab.

While I have a little bit of idle time, I thought I would share a few ways to increase you chances of catching fish when you head out and away fishing. These are very simple and most take them for granted but they are very important when it comes to catching a good number of fish.

It is important to take your time when baiting up and do it properly, this will make a difference when the fishing is slow/ hard. Rigging up for certain species and casting baits perfect for them is more likely to entice the bite.

Below are a couple of baits ready to be deployed and both are designed for different species. The first being the piece of crayfish. In spring, snapper love crayfish, its a good part of there diet and a good substitute for crabs.  The small red float is on there to catch the attention of the fish and lift it from the bottom. The needlefish also dangles around and catches the current which is very tempting to most fish. I have found snapper love the cray fish in more of a ball, which is very soft. I use a little bit of bait elastic to ensure its not going to come off, but not to much as it will firm up. This bait being flicked out on the edge of a reef will lure sure almost every time if they are around.  Because it is a sort bait the barbs can be hidden a little more than firm baits, but still make sure that the points are well exposed as this will increase your chances of a hook up.

3/4 inch bright red float, pink needle fish skirt, 4/0 beak hook fixed with a sliding 3/0 circle keeper

using 60lb fluro trace

The next bait is made more aerodynamic and its made so I can get a big distance behind the surf and into the deep water using a longcast rig. Gurnard are very partial to skippie and that what this bait was made for. When the bait is clipped into the longcast rig she is going to fly a long way. The hooks are well exposed. Gurnard tend to hit the bait in the middle and more often than not, they are caught on the circle keeper hook. Green is a magic color when targeting gurnard also. Gurnard can swallow decent sized bait and have big mouths, but its best to keep the bait on the smaller side

Green needlefish skirt, 3/0 beak mainhook, sliding 2/0 circle hook using 60lb fluro trace

It doesn't matter where or when I go fishing I take almost every bait with me to give me the best chance of hooking up on the fish. Not always will snapper sit there and suck back pilchards. On a recent trip up the east cape I stopped in at Maraenui for a few casts and a kid after a long day on the bricks. For the life of us we could not get a bite. It is a fantastic place that always holds snapper and we had tryed almost everything!! I hate squid, and i'm dead against it  Its a bloody boring bait unless its a live bait. After trying mussels, tuatua, anchovies, pilchard, skippie I had to resort to using the bloody squid. I regretfully baiting up a nice juicy looking piece and flung it out there. Within 5 minutes I had the biggest snapper for the trip ! I couldn't believe it. There were still 3 other rods outs with all the other baits on em and they were left alone. I thought it was worth another crack, and straight away whack, second best snapper for the weekend. Still nothing on all the other rods and bait and it happened a third time in a row. Those snapper were there the entire time, but they were not biting because they were being fussy huas. By taking a large variety of bait we got into the fish and would have got bugger all and said it was dead other wise. The main baits I try to cover when we go out is at least one shellfish, tuatua, pipi, mussel limets ect... Ether squid or occy in the bait bin. One crustation like cray, crab, prawn and finally two oily baits like skippie, pillie, anchovie, sandma ect... Having a variety will diffinitly help you catch more fish.

In the weekend, after trying everyting, cray, mussels, pilchards, skippie, it wasn't until we sent anchovie's out till the gurnard started coming ashore. Again, we would not have caught any guranrd without it as we tried everything.

I was able to make it to the Gisborne surfcasting clubs weigh in on the weekend, fantastic bunch of guys and gals. It was great to see the kids weighing in some choice fish. I would recommend anyone new to surfcasting to look up a local club in their area and consider joining, you can take allot away from joining a club, its not for everyone, but its a great place to learn. 

One of the fish that crossed the scales was a fantastic catch. An elephant fish tipping the scales at over 6 kilo's caught by Marko, it was also a new club record. They are a very unusual fish and not the run of the mill everyday fish caught in the area and thats what makes it so special.

Avoid these hansom critters at all costs  they are capable of swallowing a sand-grip sinker and look like something out of a horror movie. They are commonly known as a blind eel, hagfish, snott ect.... Some say they are tasty to eat, but I will leave that department for you fallas 

The most hard case catch was a flounder which I hooked in the back while retrieving a large bait on an 8/0 hook. Bit of a dag, the poor bugger would have got a shock.

If I get a little more spare time during the week I may drag a few surf pics out and do a little piece on reading the surf.

Chur

In addition to reading the surf, it'd be great to get your thoughts on gear (reels, rods, line brands, line weight), traces, weather, seasons, slidebaiting, fighting big fish in the surf, and in fact the whole surfcasting realm. 

Pity about having to rewrite the whole thing. I have had to do this a few times and now select all and copy as I go when writing a long post.

Keep it up mate, look forward to the next instalment.