IMO August & September are difficult months for fishing, especially shore based around Auckland. Whatipu on the north head of the Manukau Harbour may produce a kahawai or two on a straylined pilchard from off of Paratutae Island. Use no weight. A smaller bait may well get you some smaller kahawai which are great eating. Piper and Jack mackerel are great table fish and although small are relatively accessible. Squid at night off Orakei wharf by Kelly Tarltons and the whole waterfront could work well at night under a full moon. It's going to take some effort to learn  any of this so don't set your sights too high. Surface berley will help

Getting out on that kayak will increase your catch rate significantly. I used to launch off Mission Bay/Kohimarama and caught a lot of fish around Bean Rock on softbaits. A few softbaiting tutorials on YouTube will get you going. Wear a PFD, at the very least have a phone in a waterproof pouch (VHF radio better) and watch out for ferries! 

I regularly kayak fished alone for 7 years and only had one incident. Better to fish with others if you can though. A PLB is a good idea. I nearly always fished on the drift with a drift anchor. It's safer than anchoring and you cover more ground which is better for softbaiting. 

Mean photos, thanks for the help MB. Definitely something I’m looking to try in the near future.

Cheers.

With your Kayak , I reckon off the East Coast Bays is far safer than Bean Rock . A lot less boat traffic and ferry wake etc. Also check out the YAK threads on this site. They do pretty well on Snapper and Gurnard at this time of year off there in 10 to 15m depth. 

BananaBoat wrote: MB wrote: I used to launch off Mission Bay/Kohimarama and caught a lot of fish around Bean Rock on softbaits I regularly kayak fished alone for 7 years Curious to know, would the lighthouse area from July - Sept be worth putting time into to learn it or are they gone over winter Only fished it once years ago end of May & did really well, never been back since... paddle out from Tamaki yacht club

My understanding best time is when tide/wind is same direction,so burley/baits can get back in to structure.According to Bruce Duncans book page 60/61. I have only fished ref off St Helliers in winter and found good gurnard in winter,not plentiful but a feed. Seems patience is the key.

smudge wrote: IMO August & September are difficult months for fishing, especially shore based around Auckland. Whatipu on the north head of the Manukau Harbour may produce a kahawai or two on a straylined pilchard from off of Paratutae Island. Use no weight. A smaller bait may well get you some smaller kahawai which are great eating. Piper and Jack mackerel are great table fish and although small are relatively accessible. Squid at night off Orakei wharf by Kelly Tarltons and the whole waterfront could work well at night under a full moon. It's going to take some effort to learn  any of this so don't set your sights too high. Surface berley will help

betterthanwork wrote: We had fantastic fishing around Rangi lighthouse from May this year. incoming tide in the shallows with berley and dead baits. I couldn't believe quite how good it was

thanks mate, that's good to know about Rangi light, will suss it out