Wind frm the Sth fish close their mouth or do they

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    Posted: 22 May 2019 at 5:11pm
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When you have a bad day out on the water - no fish, no bites or the fishing was slow most fisho's try to think why it was such a hard day to catch fish. The usual comes to mind when most have a bad day the superstitions start to kick in.

- I hope no one had a banana in their bag - It must of been a full moon last night - It did say bad fishing on the Calender - Couldn't find my lucky hat And the list goes on but a well known one is when the wind blows the South the fish close their mouth.
With a 15-20knt Southerly forecast for the day I thought it was about time to put this superstition really to the test. Gen was keen to get back out on the water and I was keen to take the little fc430 for another run and so far catching fish constantly in it maybe with it's luck we could put the Southerly myth to bed.
The Sis turned up just before 6.00am, hitching up the little FC we were on the way as the Southerly started to kick in. It was a good hour and a half before we hit our destination, was the fishing going to be hard only time would tell. I picked a spot that produces well to give it a good chance of catching fish, I set the berley and with the last of the outgoing tide we set in for a day of testing a myth. As usual with a berley going our first few baits started with a few nibbles, it felt like maybe Macs but this did not count. Bait fish are pretty much always attracted to berley.
Winding in something had a go at my retrieved hook which would of been a Kahawai, sure enough Gen's next bait was grabbed as the rod sat in the holder while she washed her hands. The bait was just under the surface and once again with a good berley pumping we knew the Kahawai wouldn't be to far off.
We made a rule that testing the Southerly myth we had to catch Snapper, more than just a few as the fishing was hard scenario would of fallen under the myth. It took awhile for our first tell tail snapper bite signs to start then Gen was first to hook up to something other than a Kahawai, It was a nice sized Carrot at around 40cm. then next she hooked into a nice little Snap. Pumping the berley the bites got more vigorous and it started to look like that Southerly myth was under pressure.
Even with the small tide and lack of current which once again could of been a fault if the lack of fish was on the cards. Instead it started to look like we were going to have an off the hook Snapper sesh. I started with 2 rods but 30mins in I had to put one away and there was no time to put the rod in the rod holder for a quick break. Using some fresh Kahawai once again was the go - if you missed a fish you just left it and within sec's it was grabbed again. Gen couldn't believe it and asked was it a real superstition or was I just making that one up as she pulled in another nice little Snap.
All these fish were take-able at around 40-45cm so not only were we not meant to be catching fish because of the Southerly but we didn't catch anything small. The great thing to we were stray lining in 3-4mtrs which allowed us to release most fish caught, nearly everything lip hooked after awhile went back with us just keeping the wounded or hook swallowers. Maybe our little fc was the lucky charm after all as every bait was hit, and after an hour or two we must of caught well over 30-40 fish which were all pretty much takable. It was great to be able to release most of these and being of good size from 40-60cm we only needed to keep 4-5each although our daily limit was 20.
Superstitions are just that and we know these are not the real reasons why our fishing days are bad but a true Kiwi fisherman will always have some excuse for a bad days fishing....
  Tight lines


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Marligator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 6:19am
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Good fishing alright.
My personal experience is that when the wind is southerly or southeast out from Tauranga it is usually quite hard fishing and this is born out by results in fishing comps as well with most people finding it hard fishing although there will always be one or two boats that get onto a patch of fish feeding and they will do quite well and it is not always the same boats so you can't say they are just better fisherman.
 
The other thing is that this time of the year, especially down in the BOP, it is the best snapper fishing and that if you can't catch a feed of snapper you should go and take up some other outdoor activity.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 12:20pm
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Think it was Matt Watsan that used to say that on some old TV series ???
And sort of stuck in the back of my mind we we have headed out in a southerly.. and must say a little hidden negativity..
 Bit of that negativity also entailed, espec in winter , a cold day. 
The bottom end was the hunting grounds and so long as didnt stick your nose to far out into the firth on a incoming tide the sea stayed flat..
And we still always came home with a feed for 3 families.. mostly snapper. Struggled a few times in winter thu.

 The full moon.. well took the moon phase out of my record keeping of tide water temp date etc a long time back

 And bananas well think historically had something to do with running slave ships as well..hard to get good slaves these days Wink

 Always enjoy your reports...

And the catch the feed, and the rest just catch and release..
Only ever brought a limit bin back once...most got smoked for the crew freezers as well.
 If freezers are only 1/2 full , a limit catch is still huge amount to get rid off practically.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote bazza Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 12:48pm
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Altho I have often heard the quotation re "when the wind is from the south the fish close their mouth" quite often, nevertheless must say have heard " when the wind is from the east the fishing's the least" far more often ... even Matt Watson used to quote it.
Going out tomorrow with an Easterly predicted, albeit a mere 5 or 6 knts. ...... nevertheless will report back on how we got on as last trip out was a real boomer.
 
Has always puzzled me how on earth the fish are supposed to know which direction the wind is blowing from ... particularly when in deeper water !
When you cry, feel pain or sadness, no one notices your sorrow .... BUT
fart just ONE time !!!!!!!!!!!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote brmbrm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 8:57am
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"When the wind's from the east the fish bite least" was a saying in UK as well, years before I came to NZ.  having said that, "bite least" does not mean "don't bite at all", so you might as well still go fishing.

Its S/SE this weekend, but I hope to be out there (if less than 5 knots counts as wind :))
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 9:36am
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If nth hemisphere then we would be from the west.. they are upside down to us..
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote bazza Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2019 at 7:55pm
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Originally posted by bazza bazza wrote:

 
Has always puzzled me how on earth the fish are supposed to know which direction the wind is blowing from ... particularly when in deeper water !
 
OK ... it very much looked as tho the fog would be far more an issue than winds from any direction & I was quite prepared to pull the plug having been lost in fog on the Kaipara a couple of times, however Kevin was adamant we should give it a shot.
 
Discovered that in pics taken in fog the misty affect close to the lens appear as small droplets which I guess that in reality is what fog consists of.
 
 
So it was that we eventually anchored at our intended location without too much drama & the first snapper came onboard after 10 minutes or so. Would like to be able to say that was the first of many but in fact the snapper action was rather sporadic nevertheless their size & condition was rather gratifying. The large hard fighting KY however were so persistent it was almost a relief to have one break free every so often as regularly hauling them in became a tad tedious.
 
As for the fish closing their mouth the one in the second pic below probably wished it had as when my two rods went off simultaneously I handed one to Kev whilst I worked on the other & were both equally surprised when it came aboard that it was the same fish but it had gulped down both baits. 
 
When you cry, feel pain or sadness, no one notices your sorrow .... BUT
fart just ONE time !!!!!!!!!!!
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