Winter softbaiting tips

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    Posted: 21 Jun 2018 at 12:39pm
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Anyone got any general tips for softbaiting in winter just had my first summer softbaiting and now I’ve been out a few times with no luck, just wanting to know tips or tricks for softbaiting in winter
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote BFIST Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2018 at 1:12pm
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Last time out the fish were only picking up the softbait on the bottom after it had lied there for a few seconds. We got no takes at all on the drop. It made it really hard to detect bites on a fast drift.
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I tend to think that snapper like things slowed down in the colder months, but there are always days which are an exception to the rule!
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What areas are you fishing? I'd concentrate on the foul areas and weedlines. I find sidescan handy to look for fishy spots but I try and avoid driving over where I'm going to fish as it's generally 15m or less. When I go back around for another drift I'll go well wide of the area. The tip about letting it sit for a while is a good one and it can be difficult to detect bites. 
If you're doing everything right but still not catching them, the only other thing is to get out before dawn. It can be amazing fishing in winter but the bite times can be very short. I always try to be on the spot before the sun gets up. Last Friday was double and triple hook ups at first light. If you'd got there at 10am you'd be forgiven for thinking there were no fish.

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Agree Mboosh, little bit of secret sauce and drag well back behind the boat and let rodholder look after it😉
We don't know what we don't need till we've got it
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote brdas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2018 at 2:35pm
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Originally posted by JW JW wrote:

What areas are you fishing? I'd concentrate on the foul areas and weedlines. I find sidescan handy to look for fishy spots but I try and avoid driving over where I'm going to fish as it's generally 15m or less. When I go back around for another drift I'll go well wide of the area. The tip about letting it sit for a while is a good one and it can be difficult to detect bites. 
If you're doing everything right but still not catching them, the only other thing is to get out before dawn. It can be amazing fishing in winter but the bite times can be very short. I always try to be on the spot before the sun gets up. Last Friday was double and triple hook ups at first light. If you'd got there at 10am you'd be forgiven for thinking there were no fish.



Hey mostly around motuhie or that western side of waiheke, how do you find out if your over a foul area or weed line?
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I haven't fished the western side much so can't comment on it. I preferred the Waiheke channel side when I lived out east. Plenty of areas up through there that hold fish all year both inside the islands and on the seaward side facing coromandel. I liked it more up toward Rotoroa Isl. The Tamaki strait holds fish through winter and is well worth a crack on the way around but the fish thin out so I'd only stop and fish if you are out very early and see sign on the fish finder. 
To find the foul/weedline the easiest way (assuming you have a fish finder) is to move out of the channel and keep going in towards the coast until you see the bottom go from smooth to rough. If you have side scan and downscan it is even easier to see what the bottom looks like. 
Failing that, look at the coastline and see how the rocks enter the water. Imagine how those rocks might carry on under the water. Go in really close and work out how you can drift past any rocky point, end of a bay or headland. Aim to get a few long casts into each area and expect the fish to be on the upcurrent side of any structure. Areas I'm talking about are around 8m deep. I notice a lot of people tend to fish quite heavy. 1/4 oz 1/0 would be the biggest jig head I'd use in these areas. I wouldn't personally fish the area within 20 yards of the boat unless fishing out of a kayak. If you get out early enough, this should be a banker for a few snapper. I haven't caught any particularly large fish doing this in this area but it was a reliable way to get a feed of something even on the coldest days. If you're using zman softbaits, I really like the garlic and anchovy secret sauce this time of year but there's probably a bit of positive reinforcement going on as it's all I useBig smile. Anyway, that's how I'd start to attack it and go from there. If you're still not getting bites, try lighter braid and 15lb trace.  Good luck 
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Originally posted by JW JW wrote:

What areas are you fishing? I'd concentrate on the foul areas and weedlines. I find sidescan handy to look for fishy spots but I try and avoid driving over where I'm going to fish as it's generally 15m or less. When I go back around for another drift I'll go well wide of the area. The tip about letting it sit for a while is a good one and it can be difficult to detect bites. 
If you're doing everything right but still not catching them, the only other thing is to get out before dawn. It can be amazing fishing in winter but the bite times can be very short. I always try to be on the spot before the sun gets up. Last Friday was double and triple hook ups at first light. If you'd got there at 10am you'd be forgiven for thinking there were no fish.


This is gold advice worded how I would try to put it.

My last trip I had bites on the drop in less than 3 seconds in 15m, line was flying off the reel. My only point of difference is I cast a lot cover a lot of zone and try to hit the snapper on the head rather than my bait wafting in unattended areas.  
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We drift Sb /stray line bait.. summer time when surface temps about 16.5/ 17 deg both work well.
Week back the  bottom end tamaki was slowing up in particular the sbs temps around 16...
 this week temps low mid 15s.. sb where struggling and baits getting harder..
 Get out side the islands bottom end temps low/ mid 16s sbs better  and baits doing most of the work. 
 The bigger fish, mid 40s /50s also seem to  have moved of the lower harbour now...
Last few yrs seems around the time the inner harbour becomes cooler than the outer
 Still a lot of anchovy around inner and outter and fishing both sb and strayline bait improves with both matching colour and size to what is being feed on..
 
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Winter is my favourite season and all i do is softbait. JW summed it up well with this line "I'd concentrate on the foul areas and weedlines". There tend to be less fish around in winter but the ones that are tend to stick around areas with cover and food. Always try and be fishing at first light if not before, last few trips ive had some suprising success in the dark.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Potty Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Jun 2018 at 7:28pm
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As the others have said drift the shallows and expect to do a lot of casts between fish.
The size of the fish in winter makes up for the lack of numbers.
Love fishing, love my job. It's a bloody shame that they clash.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Clay Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 7:17am
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Moving down to 3 inch baits can sometime make the difference when the fishing is hard and they still attract good size fish.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote brdas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2018 at 10:24pm
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Far out thanks guys for all your help going to gonout tomorrow morning and have a explore around tamaki strait see how it is try find weed lines and just cruise around etc
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote BFIST Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2018 at 5:52pm
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Originally posted by bradov bradov wrote:

Far out thanks guys for all your help going to gonout tomorrow morning and have a explore around tamaki strait see how it is try find weed lines and just cruise around etc


How did you get on mate?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote puff Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2018 at 6:45pm
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Wear warmer clothes
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote brdas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2018 at 6:58pm
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Did ok better than last time, launched about 11 from half moon, drove around for about a hour just looking at the sounder trying to figure things out, did a few drifts not getting anything for about two hours, cruised around a bit more and found a bump on my sounder which I thought was a rock, same thing there was sign but no bites, soon as the sun started dropping around 4 the rods were going nuts but mostly snaps either too small or borderline 30cm so came home with 6 snaps about 35-37cm and a Kahawai. Tried the south end of gardeners think it’s called Islington bay, went around to the cable bay side of waiheke and then around motuhie where I lucked out lol still heaps of learning to do but better than the last time
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