Who's been saltwater fly fishing? NZ

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jofly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 10:22pm
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That's awesome, would love to catch a skippy on fly one day
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Mar 2021 at 5:33am
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Get up here on a calm day and we'll have a go!
They do show up in the Gulf from Leigh down to Kawau.   Possibly even Tiritiri I'd imagine.
Calm water helps a lot as they don't always have birds with them and they can be quite hard to spot in even a light breeze.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Snuffit. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Mar 2021 at 9:28am
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They come pretty close in from time to time, e.g. Gardner's Gap Motutap/Rangitoto. Awesome catch Craig.
You cant eat my toast fish
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jofly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 8:40am
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I've spent hours looking for them off Leigh. Only once a mate which was lure fishing with me caught a great one on Leigh reef.  I've not seen them since. I think coming up your way will definitely give me the best chance.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 1:25pm
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Yep, it's peak season for skippies in the north from now until June. I'll give you a bell when this bloody easterly goes away.

If you do end up looking for them in the tough spots around Auckland, find out from those who know where abouts they show up and on what tide. They seem to be creatures of habit and turn up in the same places on the same tides year after year.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jofly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 9:12pm
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Thanks, I'll be sure to keep some time free for it and I can generally do weekdays if you can as well, it normally suits me better too. Will keep in touch.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2021 at 8:23am
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Waiting, waiting, waiting... for the weather to clear

The easterly dropped down to 15 knots for a short time on Wednesday and I managed to get out for a quick cast at some hard working kahawai. They were good fun. Good boat placement, casts and fly selection were required before they'd oblige.

Tried some wash fishing too. It appeared promising. A legal pannie snaffled the fly on the third cast and there were plenty of sub-legal fish snaffling the fly, but the wind was very annoying. Very hard to set up a good boat drift along a rock face in that sort of switching breeze.

So I poked my nose outside in the hope of seeing skippies, but the wind was even worse out there... of course...

Now have to sit out gale force easterlies and potential flooding.

Hope all this rain doesn't stuff up the fishing. There must be some calm autumn days soon!

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jofly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2021 at 10:52am
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Great work getting out and sounds like a good session.  Looking pretty bad here till the weekend and then probably holiday madness will strike so I don't have too much hope Disapprove

Might have to see what next week brings.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote WillP Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2021 at 8:18pm
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Weather Is shaping up for next week. I got 10 days off so going to smash those flats every chance possible. Aitutaki can wait Big smile
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jofly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2021 at 9:12pm
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Oh that should be good, hope the weathers works out perfect. You should work a Tauranga trip in too.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Snuffit. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2021 at 7:23am
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Final TGA fling with forum member Cheeko yesterday, Early the weather played ball and with KY cutting loose on piper (tons of piper in the hbr) we had a few good shots at sighted fish. Put some tags in a couple of the larger (50cm+) fish. But no signs of kings before the wind cut up and blew away our vis. 

That draws a line under my kingi season. Its been a goodie.






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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Apr 2021 at 9:01pm
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Wow! Those are some very nice looking crease flies Obviously those big kahawai liked them.

We've had weeks of big work-ups from kahawai like that (and smaller) but now they've all spawned and the action has stopped. The only fish working are small immature kahawai. It seems quite odd, but I have noticed it before- a complete shut down of surface activity once spawning is over. They do come back on the bite slowly, but you'd think they'd be very hungry after spawning. Somehow it doesn't seem to be the case.

So I couldn't find any kahawai today and a sloppy swell outside the islands killed any chance of finding skippies. So I searched out a few calm bays inside the islands and found a small group of big kings rolling and surface sipping. I was close to intercepting them with a quiet drift when a boat came blasting around the corner and effectively ran right over the top of them

Just wasn't going to be my day.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 2021 at 10:04am
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Some phenomenal fishing up in the far far north over ANZAC, spent a lot of time fishing homemade skutes from the kayak which performed well, but I did manage to get some time on the fly rod when the wind and tide allowed. 

Was able to anchor the kayak in thigh deep water on the flats and wander around. Picked up a couple fat wee snapper in the eel grass which was a lot of fun in the shallow water. 

There was a larger model tailing in front of me which I had a couple of goes at as it meandered just out of range of my casting. I got a bit closer, then put a knot in my fly line and the snapper moved on  Censored









Also had a kingfish encounter which got the heart racing, I was retrieving a baitfish pattern when the water just started exploding a meter or so behind the fly, a kingfish! But it didn't make sense as it was too far behind the fly to be having a go at it. 

As I apprehensively stripped line in the thrashing water got closer, I saw a sizeable Kahawai which must have been following my fly, getting chased in turn by the biggest kingfish I've ever seen. It hounded the ky right around my legs and took off into deeper water. 

I don't think I would have stood a chance if I had hooked it. 


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 2021 at 8:36pm
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Good effort John It's a great time of year for shallow water snapper in some of those Far North harbours. It was a nice Anzac weekend too. Although the breeze was a bit cool. You would have found it a bit chilly sitting on the kayak.

Kahawai working hard in the BOI's again today. But a bad year for skippies and fly rod kingies around here. Global warmings over!   
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kingaling Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 May 2021 at 11:14pm
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Originally posted by FishMan FishMan wrote:

Good effort John It's a great time of year for shallow water snapper in some of those Far North harbours. It was a nice Anzac weekend too. Although the breeze was a bit cool. You would have found it a bit chilly sitting on the kayak.

Kahawai working hard in the BOI's again today. But a bad year for skippies and fly rod kingies around here. Global warmings over!   


Yeah it was a bit cool in the mornings but warm enough when the sun got up, although some pretty rough squalls blew through at times (paddling against wind and tide is not ideal). I have one of these sharkskin jobs which I would highly recommend. 

https://sharkskin.com/collections/mens-tops/products/chillproof-long-sleeve-chest-zip-mens 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 May 2021 at 5:47am
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Thanks John, those Sharkskins look interesting Great for wearing over the top of nylon sunshirts. Be good for the tropics too. Plenty of times you can get cold in the tropics while out wading. Need something like that. Would double as a snorkelling shirt. Better get myself one!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Jofly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 May 2021 at 1:41pm
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Some nice fish coming in, not been out on the salt for ages. Will have to make a plan soon.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jan 2022 at 12:09pm
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It was great to get fishing with a mate again when Gisborne wine-maker Mark Thompson breezed through town In the last year Covid has really skewered most attempts at fishing with buddies so it was very nice to have some company again.

The breeze from the east was howling and stopped any thought of getting out in the boat. We chose instead to find a rocky point where the wind might be slightly at our backs.

Mark nailed a rat king on his very first cast. This was after me telling him that the first few casts on pure-fly at this spot often produces the best snapper.

The little King reefed him a few times and had me calling it for a trevally. He was very happy to see I was wrong as it was his first kingfish on fly off the rocks. Somehow I got to hold the monster for the camera

We then started berleying, while leaning backwards into the wind and trying not to be blown into the water. I expected a whole heap of small snapper from sub-legal to 35cms to come our way, but they were remarkably quiet. Only one keeper came my way.

What did turn up was a whole bunch of large and very fit kahawai. They fought way harder than any kahawai I can recently remember. They were tearing across the surface of the water with great rooster tails spraying of the line as they charged around. We thought a kingi or shark must be after them, but we saw nothing.

So it turned into a great session with the 10wt getting a real work out. It was so nice to be hooking into fish that had real weight and power. What great fish.

So hopefully Covid buggers off and more fishing with mates can resume


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote WillP Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jan 2022 at 2:47pm
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Good to see some hard core fishing going down. We had our first reel glimpse of some Auckland flats yesterday and the brief time we had we saw wakes so good to see they are back. the markers have slowed down this week but I suspect due to moon phase. The sharks seem to have disappeared so all good out there. Some boat and Minn kota maintenance is due so I will be making the best of the next bad weekend of weather coming up. Simon caught this little fella of the marker, we teamed up and got that guy out there, a little off color this fish?.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FishMan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jan 2022 at 3:00pm
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Nice going Simon
I find harbour kings in milky green water tend to be a bit paler. The bluer the water the more vibrant their colour seems to be.
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