Downtown brown town, Muddy Water blues indeed, wild weather continues

and massive rain run-offs bring a mixed bag of fortunes for fishing. Yes lots of potential food in the salt water as a result of the fresh run-off, problem is zero visibility, nil, nada, not a sausage – especially inshore, and with winter slow down, what to do to catch some fish?

1. Come on make some noise! Sound/vibration are the main hunting modes for fish, add in zero viz and the combo screams for things like rattles, blades, highly luminous lures, highly erratic and splashy lures, but also the slow-to-no jig…to let them feel, find, see and strike…quite a process, help your fish find your lure. See the blade added to the softbait above – adding extra flash and rattle to the baby mackerel softbait, a good thing in the near opaque water.
2. Clear(er) water – relatively speaking. Whether it’s near an estuary, stream or simply tidal currents swirling the mix around, try the clearer waters – where fish can see your lure, struggling and alone, defences down. Don’t forget your inshore baby 20gm stickbaits !
3. As this murky water clears, especially with a good wind drop…get your motor running, head out on the highway, looking for adventure…good fishing usually. Out and about in the deeper clearer gulf waters should be some great fish-action stations, with the food chain all perked up and ready to rumble.
4. Estuaries, streams, rivers, tidal flow areas…prime targets for fish to feed, and for you to hunt with a prospecting approach wandering along the edges (hopefully with wind helping your softbait or microjig cast from behind), or take up temporary residence and bring fish to you with burley.
5. DANGER! Logs, trees, all manner of detritus and barely or completely unseen hazards lie in wait for kayaks, boats and skis. Just last week I managed to find a solid log while underway and BOOM! The resonating sound of hitting a solid object at speed with a piece of sheet aluminium just a few mm’s thick…not a good recipe.

**Are you near Taupo next Friday, August 5^th?

Treat yourself to a free 45minute demonstration and presentation on how to catch snapper and kingfish on lures, improve your current success, learn new things and more… Click Here:  Evening with the experts at Trev Terry Marine 5th August 2022 – YouTube

Wild weather yet wonderful winter workups, then flat as a flounder, good snapper fishing though if you go…

and massive bluefin tuna being caught off the east coast – Waihau and already some big barrels out off eastern Coromandel.

Winter hibernation by humans is just that, the fish are ready and waiting out in the local Hauraki gulf, and the fishing has been very rewarding whether casting tasty looking little softbaits and microjigs in amongst the mussel farms or simply drifting out over open areas. Prime winter-conditioned snapper are ready and wating to be caught – with a simple, easy and highly effective method working well lately especially when the snapper are tentative/soft on the winter bite – watch in today’s Espresso Report video from onboard (Catch Fishing Facebook page).

Chase the dragon out in 40m+ (workups), stealth cast inner areas or simply drift with the technique shown and the winter chilly bin will be a snapper bin. Out of the gulf, those deeper drops have been very productive for bluenose and hapuka, when the wind drops so should those big rigs for big, incredibly good eating, fish.

WATCH the technique and simple method that’s working well in today’s Espresso Report VIDEO, have a quick look – and see the real deal snapper strike of a microjig! And enjoy some wonderful fishing.

Winter it is! Frosty starts a tad south spreading north, no surprises – but with the big chill down comes reward, and the rewards have been excellent a bit further out in the Hauraki Gulf lately, wonderfully so at times and as the saying goes, the whole 9 yards. Epic eruptions of baitfish flying through the air with whales on their tails, dolphins managing the melee, all and sundry taking part in the frantic feast if they can, birds, fish you name it. The winter ‘slow down’ is imminent but in the mean time, slow it is not out there at the end of the rainbow(s).

The inner area action has been rather flighty, gannets and terns sitting waiting pre-dawn in an area, and after the feast – how ever long that may last from minutes to an hour or more – a vanishing act. Nothing to be seen. And the next day? Probably several kilometres away and a fresh start.

Big fat ‘ocean going’ kahawai have been notably up and around the Kawau side, massive line pulling specimens too. A great plan is to grab some for a big smoke-up and share around, wherever you’re fishing. As is or however you prefer these kahawai, such an exciting fish to catch and a healthy delicious dinner or two too. Treat them well and they will reward with exceptional flavour. Iki instantly they’re aboard, then bleed and ice ice baby. Absolutely primo!

Snapper out wider are in feeding mode, 45m+. Drifting with a few good lures presented well on light leader (20lb maximum, but 15lb better) should result in excellent pannies accompanying you home,  no workups required. A few big reds are likely so a little patience is required to land them on lighter leader, but with nothing to bust off on over most of the gulf, easy and enthralling. Softbaits are a reliable and effective go-to, especially in the inner shallower waters of <20m, but also further out. Just short of and not far past Anchorite drifting a lonely looking imitation baitfish about a metre (one wind) up off the sea floor – disco! Snapper city. In these depths of 50m (or m

ore) it pays to use much more weight to get your softbait down to where then snapper are, using a 3/4oz jighead your softbait may never reach them – drift speed, current, sheer depth. Using heavier jigheads, allowing them to smack the sea floor once or twice (a great sight and sound dinner gong to a snapper in the area) is the way to go. 2ounces and more are needed, particularly when using big softbaits, chasing big snapper. The boat motion is often enough to get the snapper interested, and provide and easily attacked and eaten ‘fish’. 4ounces in 50m, now we’re talking.

Product Highlight: There are many ways to rig softbaits for deeper water or when the drift is fast, check out the deep water/high current rigs Catch Fishing

has created. Impressive, effective, twin-hook options too – and see snapper attacking and hooking up on the softbaits in 50+m deep!! Definitely worth checking out, much to see and learn on the Deep Water Rig video just put up on Catch Fishing’s Facebook today !!>>>

Have a great weekend, short, long, or long-er. The weather looks good, the fishing will be great fun – just add you!

Espresso.

Goodies.

Good fishing mid-week (yes Murphy’s Law), both near and far! Near – just off the North Shore Bays, the Rangi channel, and many more mid-inner areas around the gulf, good snapper to 50cm, good tidal flow, good surface/bird action particularly those easily spotted terns for at least a temporary hot Spot X, good solid snapper feeding well. Kayak, ski, tiny tinny, trailer boat, launch – you name it can be a short trip whether before, during or after work. Far-out ‘workups’ with whales, gannets, dolphins, baitfish, and bigger fish are very good too, intense fishing. And general farming over the open paddocks of the gulf i.e. drift fishing nowhere in particular, no particular Spot X but catching the plentiful pannies out grazing the open sea floor, good times and good looking fish bins at the end of the day or sooner, whether there’re workups near or not. Good shallow/landbased fishing right now especially when terns are working over the anchovies in in the general area – turn of tide on daybreak has been magic to watch, salt water fly, light spinners, micros (like a 7gm Pocket Rocket), drone fishing…it is definitely all good.

Good news for the Hutchwilco Boat Show! It’s been a long time. Time to be reacquainted, people, tackle, boats, practical stuff and all things bling, with everyone looking forward to making time to see the entire show, because you never know, until you go. It’s what we’ve been waiting for, good times, extra good.

Good excuse to go fishing? How about this! In the stunning Bay of Islands the G.J. Gardner Homes 48hr Summer Classic, June 3^rd-5^th with the @PioneerFishingClub. Good company, good fishing, good venue and lots of sponsor goodies too! Sounds like a good way to enjoy a weekend, whether away for a couple of days, or it’s your local area.

Colder southerly quarter winds may not be conducive to early morning fishing enthusiasm, but the water temps trending down is very good for fishing. Making good tackle choices is easy – start with your sizeable ‘baits’ in terms of slow pitch and inchiku particularly for snapper, their extra action, extra flap – extra good for the extra-big reds.

Thump, thump…thump!! All good.

 

Easter means predictable chaos and many people frantically going slow on roads at times, with weather and fishing a similar scene. Fishing will be very interesting with a full moon on Sunday expect some great fun fishing the skipjack in the outer gulf, and bigger varieties out even further is still on the cards. The tidal current is increasing but still with a nice medium flow, and with a change in air temperature downwards and the water temps are following sooner or later, many fish should be even more keen to feed. So really it’s just the curve ball that the big bright moon influence may throw over the next few days. Toss a coin, and go fishing to find out if you were right 😊. Good inner channel fishing first thing, good drift fishing the open areas for snapper over most of the gulf, tag onto some of the workups that have been popping up in 45m the last week or so, sometimes you’ll simply have a whale of a time, troll for a skipjack out between Little Barrier and the top of Coromandel, and jig a kingfish or two to. There should be some epic fishing tales to be told after this long weekend, enjoy making yours.

A great kick off to the Waikato Fishing Club’s Big 4 pre-Tournament get together and presentation earlier this week, rewarding in many ways, 2 way sharing of fishing ideas, a great night out, and the predicted foul weather – wasn’t!

The Hutchwilco Boat Show’s happy announcement of re-commencement in May, yay! An exciting prospect and one that will no doubt be well attended. Good news.