Grunty gurnard are in and over the sand between Rangitoto and the North Shore Bays, so even when there’s a SW wind – combine with an outgoing tide and you have ingredients for several hours of good fishing. You’ll probably have to put up with by-catch of snapper, not such a bad thing right. Closer in to Rangitoto and the channels there have been some good snapper caught, mornings have been the go, nice pannie sizes for the dinner table – look for some terns working in the lighthouse area, a good place to start.
Whitewarrior 5″ smelt LIVIE working well
Small softbaits hard on the floor are working well, remember to cast in all directions also dragging a softbait, sometimes across drift or a softbait struggling down current can work very well not just the typical cast forward approach. The waters are still quite murky from the recent high winds and rain – accentuating the sound and sight of a potential feed (your lure/softbait) by letting it grub along the bottom helps let fish know your lure is there, you can attract a lot more bites by ‘revealing’ your lure this way. Little luminous white smelt style softbaits like this are ideal for this situation.
Mid ground has been more for gradual drift fishing smaller lures, microjigs, 5” softbaits or smaller inchiku, kahawai here and there, reasonable snapper too. The western side of mid ground, Kawau area has seen some good surface indicators – so another good place to be having a look and drift around. Common dolphins have been hanging out there a fair bit – they are giving us the hint.
Go big when the bite’s on, 200gm Squidwings
Further afield just out of the gulf, SW of Little Barrier and further up Cape Rodney there have been some great looking workups offshore, the usual combatants in attendance from the diminutive baitfish and all their hangers on…right through to top of the pops whales, orca sharks and dolphins. If you do get out and into a full-on bite, put the small gear and small lures away this is not the time for Kaburas! Go big and you’ll target the bigger predators around, kingfish, XL snapper and more. Auckland has a well earned reputation for multiple weather types in a day, even more erratic in spring, if you are after some calm fishing keep an eye on various forecasts and be aware that predicted calms come across often sooner than expected, and leave sooner, be prepared and you’ll get some good fishing time in. Carpe Diem, seize the day! Go fishing and enjoy.
