The winds of change, every 4^th year we get that extra day, 366 this year, leap year and a full moon thrown in – now that made for some fishy stories over

the past week or so! The season of Summer is changing to Autumn awesomeness, and fishing can really kick into gear around now, perfect timing.

Here’s some absolutely fantastic food motivation from local legend fisherman Anil Nathoo showing not only some great ‘how-to’ preparation using the entire fish, but a mouthwatering way to cook and serve snapper – your taste

buds are in for a thrill: fish for dinner .

Espresso articles are also coming right up over the next few issues of NZ Fishing News monthly magazine covering a variety of fishy topics, so keep your eye out for the new issues, out soon before it goes quarterly. And the big annual Hutchwilco Boat Show is not far away as well.

More inshore fishing activity, antics are keeping us amused – fish school detection easily spotted by the little white terns’ flitting about close and ‘not quite close enough’ for landbased.

Gannets too getting into the inshore action, in just a few meters of water off the shorelines, bombing in but requiring shallow diving – hammering these little kahawai that are after the anchovies. Birds battling the wind, terns getting sent fluttering backwards with strong gusts making for a difficult and tiring meal for them some days.

Ultralights are gaining momentum, big game still going strong marlin and tuna, and the good ol’ goto – snapper and mussel farms, they just go together right now right around the gulf. The edges of the big bay being the place to be for snapper just before the turn of season really kicks in. Good supply in terms of mussels but also the little anchovies too for snapper meals in the farms, so yes a very good place to be to put a few snapper in the bin, whether drifting and flicking a softie, or burleying up a storm getting the semi-sleepy snapper into the groove. An excellent time to be using all sorts of tackle not just the ho-hum always done approach, which can lead to frustratingly empty chilly-bins at times. Snapper feeding so close to the surface their dorsal fins are making waves – sight cast a baby 25gm stick bait and you’re topwater fishing for snapper, truly exciting stuff, a grin a mile wide, and good solid snapper takes you can see.

Or use a barely weighted (say 1/4oz jighead) and no-weighted softbaits, go big if they’ll take them, 10inch jobs. When they’re feeding aggressively try a few high casts, getting your softbait to slap down on the surface like a pilchard dropped by a bird – snapper when feeding high in the water column will sprint up and smash ‘em, simply thrilling visual ways to catch snapper. If they’re not that aggressive, go down in softbait size – but again really lightly weighted, cast and retrieve smoothly, not too fast, the snapper sees this as the lone lost anchovy caught out away from the school, exactly what it wants for lunch, give ‘em a taste. Smacko! Get out there and get into them.

Workups out further by top of Coro, the upper Firth ones have been OK but not too outrageous in terms of snapper numbers and quality though.

That seasonal change is upon us, of the good news kind, you know the days are getting shorter, and you can feel the air temps are starting to drop…big fish, small fish and everything in between, it’s action stations.

Cheers

www.catchfishing.pro

Pictured above:

Landbased opportunities abound right now, see the terns – cast the micro, at hand in the car: 7gm Pocket Rocket, 2 piece softbait rod and S3000 reel, always be ready 😊

Anil Nathoo snapper prep and cook link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neFkKjuHkD4

 

Ristretto, short ‘n sharp – but make mine a looong weekend 😊

Monday and Tuesday look primo Waitangi Day ‘n all, in fact most of next week looks good for some excellent fishing times.

We’re past that frenetic full moon fortunately, the tidal current is good but not too strong, primo, let’s go! Certainly good to be out after the big game – old favourites and new hot looking lures in tow. Even the wind and tides line up a lot of the day for those fishing in closer to shore.

Anchor ‘n burley session anyone? And why not do the same but out away from the basking beach-goers, glorious wide open spaces of 30m and more, anchored with burley down, a heavy one of the collapsable metal pots would be good (or add a rock to your sock), or tie a burley down off the anchor warp so it’s near(er) the bottom flowing back under your boat and away out the stern. Then dropping straight into a super session with microjigs!

Ridiculously good fun laughing away as you hook up on your lightest gear. Snapper, gurnard, dory, mackerel…who knows, probably a kingfish lurking around too, checking out what the commotion’s about. A great way to spend a calm sunny summers days out there, doing something a little bit different surprising yourself with what you can catch. The pick of micros – that famous little 25gm Pocket Rocket, or the beauty of these little 20gm microjigs, simply lift and drop the rod allowing the micro to freefall on the drop – even letting it hit the sea floor – vary this and see what’s working at the time. Or the partial-wind slow pitch approach, then a slow-ish gradual retrieve, tag tag – strike and hook up! Hilariously good fun 😊. Mackerel (more are showing up around shorelines all over the show at the mo’) love the diminutive 7gm Pocket Rocket, again it can be like too much fun

nice light drag settings and if you’re anchored the jig will get down no worries, use your lightest possible setups. The deeper you’re anchored the more vertically you can fish the micros, even very lightly weighted softbaits too – like the nice ‘n tasty looking 5inch Livies 😉.

ICE your fish, in cold slurry as soon as you’ve iki’d it aboard, the degradation of the fish flesh will be rapid in this heat, within minutes.

Snapper are on holiday a lot in this heat, like many of us, no problem – target a few of the other fish out there waiting for you, and you can be eating some of the best tasting fish dishes there are on the planet. Check the stunning and mouthwatering dish above, @Alex Bender ( #jig_creek_fishing ) showing how it’s done catch ‘n cook. Piper no less! And what we can do with mackerel and other fish is amazing. The NZ Ajing and light game Facebook page has many more delicious and fun fish to catch. While snapper is great, they’re taking a well-earned summer vacation, so can we, embrace it, go light – there are a lot of other fish to fry. Imagine the tasty flavours from around the world from such simplicity, and the lifelong memories created for the younger generation on a catch ‘n cook day of their very own, school is just barely clicking into gear for the year. There’s no better time than now.

Cheers.

Whales ‘everywhere’, but in terms of fantastic fishing as the normal and expected result more akin to ‘water water everywhere but not a drop to drink’? If the whales are simply frolicking around, perhaps feeding on krill-like

morsels and not feeding on baitfish they are a wonder of the world, but for fishing – nothing doing down below! From the outer and more eastern areas of the gulf and down into the Firth of Thames, the surface activity has been prolific, many wonderful sights and sounds with whales, dolphins and various seabirds all into the early summer swing of things. The fishing? Well as per normal, some good and relatively easy times, and some ‘had to work for it’ despite the gulf being ‘alive’.

Chocka-block boat ramps on a gloriously welcome calm Saturday morning with the gulf being enjoyed in so many different ways, kayaks, boats, skis, paddle boards, you name it, the wonderful world of fishing was in full flight, woohoo! Eyes are all on that forecast for the next calm.

Snapper are keen on the inner warm areas for breeding, now right through the summer holiday period. Often surprisingly good fishing is to be had in what I term the ‘cheeky’ areas. Drifting close by the harbour bridge for instance, hearing the odd toot-toot from a slow-moving motorist above, while striking and hooking up on a snapper is priceless, and with using lightweight gear, a 2500-3000 sized reel on a 7ft softbait rod is ideal, with say a smaller 5″ softbait is a good bet. When the tide is running it often provides a lot more interest from snapper, so does casting in all directions working the lure back to the boat, with not too aggressive action can work wonders. Including simply letting the softbait drop close behind and semi-dragging the lure, with smooth lifts of the rod and lure up to impart a bit of life, then allowing the snapper to swim over and such the softbait in tail first, strike time! Good straight rigging and presentation of the softbait gets a lot more attention, and a stealthily rigged twin-hook will hook and land many more fish that simply take a tentative hit at the tail area only, and it’s not just the tiddlers that do this either. It can get busy boat-wise in the Tamaki strait and other high traffic areas (both snapper and boat traffic), so ensure you know the give way rules. And even if you are the stand-on vessel, be vigilant and ready, not all boaties know how to give way and operate safely.

Out further past the north areas of Waiheke and Tiri it’s an open field of discovery, one day an area can provide hot fishing, the next not. A simple and effective way to enjoy the day fishing, especially if you are out to enjoy not just catching fish but time on the water with friends and family, some hot food and refreshments…troll along with a lure out for kahawai, stopping now and then and dropping a Freestyle Kabura particularly if the drift speed is nice and slow. Drop your kabura to the sea floor, one wind up and into the rod holder while you enjoy some lunch? Remember to back the drag off so when a fish strikes and runs (the tiny hooks set themselves) it avoids the almost inevitable broken rod when the fish hooks up and heads straight back under the boat, tip-loading the rod with that telltale sound of snapping and swearing to follow.

Kingfish – don’t forget the mighty green machines out there. Whether you are into jigging, softbaiting, (use the big 10inch versions, big white warriors are the goto at the mo’ 😉) or slow trolling live-baits, kingfish can be found around the edges of most islands and headlands (and not just the North Island), and of course in the areas where workups are on in the local gulf, also where one of their favourite foods, kahawai, are congregating. There will be rippling surface areas, and obvious sounder sign of kahawai schools – fantastic to catch in themselves, but also think kingfish, because they will be there somewhere nearby!

Have a great Christmas and New Year, wherever you plan to enjoy the time, and whatever fishy business you get up to. R ‘n R time I hear. All the best to you, your family in ’24, thank you for your feedback, input, pictures, stories and sharing of fishing knowledge, the lure-fishing seminars have been epic around the country this year again thanks to you and your support, I trust the knowledge shared has been rewarding too.

Time to go fishing…

Cheers

 

 

Busted off…again! What can you do? Perhaps simply a hangover of previous below-average advice (poor line, leader, drag, technique and more), or following ‘traditions’ that no longer apply, ‘fishy facts’, ‘Fakebook facts’? Lighter leader is a well-known option for catching fish, but why not use HEAVY LEADER, like 300lb for a softbait?

What! Sacrilege surely. Don’t get stuck in a rut, adapt to your territory and fish target. (See video on Catch Fishing Facebook and Instagram).

Evolution of Softbaiting – past, present and future.

Improved rigging techniques, the latest softbait options, using SBs in new places, new and better methods of presentation, deep water SB, more effective rigs, straylining your softbaits, so many options.

There’s a seminar at 12noon this Saturday in Wellington at KP Marine’s Open Day covering all this, one not to miss.

The Bait-free fishing competition pre-seminar

hosted by Longshore Marine Whitianga at the Mercury Bay Game fishing club last week was absolutely fabulous! And check out the cracker snapper caught by

Mitch Anderson and Longshore Marine on the Catch 7”

Livie Softbaits – such a superb lead-up to the lure-only comp., congratulations and all the best this weekend.

Workups in the Hauraki Gulf abound, here there and way back over there, Spring it is and while there are whales appearing just around the corner off the Mercury Islands, with thumping workups to boot, the Hauraki Gulf is seeing its fair share of heart pounding adrenaline style fishing. Many are occurring closer in now, about level with Flat Rock across the gulf, some thumpers

further out with the whales, but closer in, good thrills and reasonable snapper along with some kingfish in attendance. Also, the action at top of Firth has been an excellent choice of where to start chasing the dragon of workups, a good go-to at this time of year. Milky fleshed snapper? While not 100% accurate, but holding a snapper horizontal and looking down on it, just behind the head/shoulder/gill area on the upper back is where the main fillet/muscle area is. The milky snapper are a lot skinnier and the muscle just isn’t there, if this shoulder area is skinny, going in towards the spine rather than flaring out with the normal muscle and condition you can see and feel – could well be a snapper with skinny milky and unappealing flesh, put it back if it’s good-to-go.

Rather quiet around the inner areas this past week between Whangaparaoa peninsula and Rangitoto, but expect that to change very soon, any day now.

Thank you for your continuing support of Catch a 100% NZ owned business, it’s products, the educational seminars – continuing not only to bring you the latest information and techniques, but also leading-edge lures, rods and reels to enjoy your fishing with, bring on a great summer and fishing. www.catchfishing.pro .

Cheers, Espresso.

Pre-Competition seminar!

Whether you’re in it to win it, to simply enjoy the festivities or simply want to learn and apply more bait free fun to your fishing in general, it’s a great to place to make it all happen:

100% Bait Free Lure Fishing Seminars:Whitianga Longshore Marine Lure Competition coming up with a Pre-comp lure specialist talk, Tues. Nov 7, 6pm. Wellington KP Marine open day – Softbaiting then and now at 1pm, Saturday Nov. 18

Bait-free competition, with preceding seminar for the inside running…get the good oil.

Heard of it, but do you, do it? Light leader, the key to a many angler’s success, whether they’ll tell you or not, just dropping from say 30lb to 20lb can be night and day in terms of snapper strikes, going down further to 10-15lb on those quiet/soft bite times – can bring home fish when otherwise it’s baked beans on toast for tea. Particularly when fishing in clear water over relatively open ground, light leader can give you the much-needed edge. Similarly with kingfish, depending on where you fish 30lb leader can be plenty! Especially on light gear out over open ground like most of the Hauraki Gulf for instance – if there are kingfish around hounding those bait schools, they’ll be keen on a well presented/light leader lure (of many kinds not just speed jigs) mid water, good times are guaranteed. And what about those days when the fish are there but not biting, maybe a SE wind just prior to full moon?

Light leader time can change your fishing fortunes like Lotto. Catch Fishing Facebook page.

Local Hauraki gulf hits and misses. North and NE of Tiri to Kawau area has been really good fishing, lots of birds generally milling around the area just outside the cable zone to point the way, general area snapper fishing no real need to chase the dragon. Similarly eastern gulf birds are active but flying over wide areas, stop drop and hookup under the Moehau range. Softbaits are doing very well, including the big 10inch versions to target the big boys, and yes there are some big thumpers lurking around there, check out Joe Burrells snapper this week pictured. Dolphins periodically visiting around this area and along the Whangaparaoa peninsula, with the odd foray down along the bays too – family hunts and captivating sights for the humans along the coastline to view.

Using your lighter leader for those wary fish (full moon at the end of this month for instance) is a great way to change minimal or soft tentative missed bites, into hook-ups and landed fish. The inner channels fishing your thing? It’s time to start some worthwhile prospecting, grubtail softbaits are perfect for using here and here’s a great approach to try, particularly with light leader, say 10-15lb. Literally grubbing your softbait along in the inshore mud/sludge, tail up is a dead giveaway due to the inherent buoyancy of the grubtail, add a small jerk of the rod to puff up the mud signal, then pause and let the snapper swim over, suck the wafting softbait in – strike time. Noises, Rangi channel, Motuhie, even the Tamaki strait – time to be prospecting. Further out, play time – baby dolphins flipping around, whales puffing away in the distance – aye a great place to be when the wind drops enough, and the whales can find enough baitfish. Hopefully some epic action between Flat Rock and Little Barrier is on the cards.

 

Christmas. There, I said it. Yes, the new normal means many things we may be wishing for or planning to get, don’t wait, there are already fishing supply chains that will be empty this side of Christmas. If there’re those things you want for yourself, or for others, best to do it now and avoid that inevitable disappointment when the fishing trips and fun in the sun is well underway www.catchfishing.pro .

Enjoy!

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