Tuna – Right On Time! As mentioned the previous Espresso Report or two it’s about now the YFT (and big eye) tuna showed up – BOOM! Out from Tauranga over last weekend the first of the these tuna were targeted and caught

Figure 1. Squidwings for tuna – skipjack, YFT, big eye, slender – hear your reel singin’ in full song!

recreationally. Exciting times directly ahead for tuna-tamers! Slender tuna were caught just a few weeks ago in the Hauraki Gulf, lots of skipjack are darting their way in closer to the NZ coastline every day now too. So what lures are good to troll for tuna? Well the notable go-to is the Squidwings range, perhaps not the Giant Squidwings (although the aggressive mahi mahi do love to take them on!), certainly the 200gm trolling Squidwing and smaller classic Squidwings are ideal – an outstanding trolling lure that doesn’t spiral, sends up it’s own jet of water attractant, runs straight and true for an easy follow and strike (comes with built-in stabilisers), and trolled readily at faster speeds for tuna if desired – all you gotta do is fish where the fish are for that clicker to start howling!

More settled weather, calmer tidal currents with mid tide current flow the go, eclipse and full moon have been moved on, really good fishing is the present state of play. Lots of surface activity and sounder sign in the early 30m chart depths pretty much right across the local Hauraki Gulf, and of course some thumper workups out further with the Brydes whales if you wish to chase the dragon.

Salt ice time! Iki or similar for all fish for a humane and instantaneous end, immersed immediately in salt ice slurry and amazing seafood for much longer is guaranteed. The key is getting that temp down fast – make the most of your day out, and for several days of fresh fish afterwards, ice ice baby.

Trebles vs singles for top water – what’s best? Without a doubt trebles with barbs for hook-up rate and hold, but there are drawbacks that can make other hook sets preferable in your fishing. Barbless trebles are brilliant too – easier to remove from fish without massive injury/death if released, also so much easier to get out of clothing, and skin(!). Or singles, not all top water lures will run with singles, but some already come tuned for this like these Zingaz or the stunning handmade Catch stickbaits, they run exceptionally well, no guess work required – cast ‘em out and hold on tight!

What jighead weight? Instead of changing your softbaits from one weight jighead to the other here’s another way you may find useful – as most of the time you’ll probably have about 2 or 3 favourite jighead weights for where you fish. Rig a softbait (SB) onto each different weight of jighead like these Stingaz and when you want to change jighead weight, just swap out to an already fully rigged SB and change the entire jighead and SB. Your SBs will last even longer than ever and they’ll be rigged nice and straight calmly at home looking perfect for the best presentation and strike rate, rather than the inevitably hurried and ‘that’ll do’ approach when you’re in the thick of it out fishing.

Blue mackerel schools are highly prized – and there are some good ones on the eastern side of the gulf, and where they are, well everything loves to eat them! Big snapper, and kingfish for sure. They are also a delicacy eaten sashimi style – stronger in flavour than most so that ice slurry is vital and brings out the best in this beautifully coloured fish. Unleash your microjigs , be patient after hookup, they have soft mouths.

Enjoy!

Whales having a whale of a time, dolphins grinning widely back at you while doing aerial acrobatics, and lots of fish – from the pilchard which seems to be flavour of the week to solid snapper and depending on where you are lots of kahawai, or none at all – couldn’t find one if you tried. Good tidal current, good moon and good water temps on the upward climb, all good, all good indeed. Out in the open waters of the Hauraki Gulf are vast areas of pilchards getting hounded, whales spillage providing snapper down below with some excellent nutrition…so take the hint, softbaits and lures like a Power Pilchard and Pocket Rocket will get more attention simply by looking like part of the food supply wafting down from above, whether there is active feeding going on above or not. Lots of activity still in the surrounds of Anchorite rock – but there’s so much happening right up and down the coast, the animal kingdom does not know about lockdowns, it is full throttle life in the fast lane out there. Simply drift fishing most places in 30m or more will return good snapper of various sizes, from small pannies to big thumping males – and how wonderful it is to see not only such solid snapper but the vast majority of them being put back successfully after a quick photo. Many 20lb plus snapper have been caught, and most released, how truly fulfilling not only to catch such a magnificent fish and at the end of the day having a BBQ showing off the picture of the magnificent beast, while that big ol’ boy is back in his home getting ready for another day too, triple bonus.

Great to see so many responsible and courteous anglers, boats, skis etc moving calmly and carefully around workup activity. When there are several sounders making a racket right throughout the water column – annoying at least, perhaps preventing or stopping the workup in its tracks? Here’s a tip to help your fellow warm blooded mammals, the dolphins and whales provide you with fish. Unless you are actively using your sounder/sonar to confirm what you are experiencing, best to turn it off yeah? Rather than wonder why the workup you are attending moves off – perhaps you caused it with your annoying sounder(s)? A bit like a neighbour playing a stereo too loud, whump whump whump – gets on your wick ay! Now imagine several neighbours all playing different music at the same time. Easy fix – turn your sounder off, you’re not using it anyway, but sound communication and echo location is how our aquatic brothers hunt and maintain a workup. Silence is golden.

Orca in the local gulf shallows, very happy hunting!

Orca! Absolutely delighting boaties particularly around Kawau lately with their captivating smile, sheer size and playful looking antics in the shallows, turning upside down flailing their prey the ray, quite an incredible sight. If you do see Orca you may as well put your rods away and enjoy the spectacle for a while, fishing tends to go very quiet and still when these top predators are in town. An International documentary is being filmed right here until Christmas so help make them famous and help with their protection – if you see or hear of Orca just call 0800 FILM UW and let them know roughly where. @SteveHathaway is doing extraordinary work with these big beautiful mammals, help our big mates out. Enjoy!

Extended Whangaparaoa bay areas continue to be a good place to be for many according to a lot of birds, baitfish and their hangers on – kahawai, snapper and humans. Lots of following the kahawai under frantically diving gannets on fast-moving bait going on, by that I mean many boats and skis keen to be where the birds are diving, a constantly changing spot.

Stunning deep water softbait rig, the Beady Eye Kabura & Black Label LIVIE combination.

The gannets dive because they can see baitfish that are more than likely being hounded by kahawai, and possibly dolphins. Casting in or near this white water (let alone being actually in this forbidden white-water zone) almost guarantees a kahawai hookup soon after a lure hits the water, no chance of getting near a snapper 40m away below. Trying to fish the white-water also increases the risk of hooking a gannet or dolphin – one of the most destructive and easily avoided injuries out there. If you are catching too many kahawai to your snapper here’re a few things you can do to increase your snapper ratio. No skirts, no kaburas, and use (usually) bigger heavier lures – like a metal slow pitch jig and fish your lures one or two handle-winds up from the bottom only, then STOP, drop back and keep fishing the bottom metre only. Net your caught fish so if you don’t want a kahawai say, de-hook with a pair of pliers and release back out of the net – the fish will almost certainly live this way, and they are a vital part of the food chain to be treated with due respect like all life out there.

Drift fishing most places, including within (distant) eyesight of the large gatherings of boats is also a very productive way to target snapper and less kahawai. Snapper are not pelagic style long distance chasers, so they are around the active area but often not close to the boiling pot that’s moving all over the show. So dropping down a pilchard look-a-like for instance the Power Pilchard Black Label LIVIE (softbait) or an anchovy imitation like the faster-sinking tungsten Pocket Rocket is exciting and productive, without buzzing around only to arrive back exactly where you were, less the prime fishing time it took up, and less fuel. Getting your lure down fast to the bottom where the snapper are is key – using a heavier deep water softbait rig like the one pictured (Beady Eye Kabura with Black Label LIVIE  softbait) also increases your chances of catching big prime snapper, wafting a softbait down on a lightweight jighead will almost certainly guarantee a kahawai.

A little further afield out in the midground there are good solid pop up workups, it’s that time of year! However there’s a fair bit of quiet going on in 50m, the relative edges of the gulf providing the most action, right up from Tiri to past Kawau to northern Bream Bay – dotted along the coast various intensities of gatherings, various combatants too. The inner Auckland channels will slowly be starting to improve, especially once the current muddy waters clear a bit and the Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) continue to climb inshore i.e. breeding time.

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.

Great thumping snapper are being caught – mainly ‘up north’, big healthy snappers – on the drift, easy money, even when you’re not in the workups off Bream Bay! Further out the key, 50m.

Within the current lockdown 3 zone the simple pleasures of shoreline fishing are being enjoyed by many, a couple of fresh kahawai with a snapper land-based or from a kayak in close all bait-free, mackerel jigging, squid jigging…all topped off with a few mussels, sounds like a great family BBQ feast. It’s so good to see more than a few doing this style of fishing and similar in the current climate. Where there is a will there is a way.

Slow pitching snapper – the BOSS

October heads up. Snapper will be swimming be into the gulf from out wider, if the traditions hold true then right about now there’ll be some of the front runner male snapper (big boys) mooching in under the radar, well more like below strong winds and local lockdown restrictions. As October progresses the number of snapper can increase dramatically, fingers crossed the local Auckland lockdown levels drop and freshly caught snapper are on the table. Your prized lures should be in demand by the fish, when the feeding is on remember to go big, big slow pitch lures are ideal for eliminating smaller or undersized fish. And if you’re targeting snapper but need to get through lots of surface kahawai – use a big jig (slow pitch ideal like the Double Trouble or Deep V) with no skirts, you’ll catch fewer kahawai and more snapper. Dolphin pods quickly visited in and around the Waitemata this week, then yah-nah, lockdown definitely not their bag baby and hasta la vista it was, fast! Back out into open gulf waters chasing bait schools with the gannets in tow.

Is catching some of those true monsters of the deep blue in your near future, hapuka, bass, big kings, bluenose – if you’re into catching them already you’ll probably know about the Giant Squidwings, even if you do here’s something extra for those chasing dragons in high current, when there’s a fast drift on, and of course extra-deep water. Have you tried COLOSSAL Giant Squidwings? Check this monster out! A Colossal Giant Squidwings? Here’s how to go HUGE with Giant Squidwings, deeper, faster, bigger! – YouTube

Many big game anglers in NZ use trailer boats or smaller to catch marlin, striped, blue and black. Bonze has some great information about setup, and most importantly why so you can adapt your approach. Another guy putting back into the industry his knowledge and skill set, awesome. And who knows – marlin for sure, but while you’re out there how about bringing home a mahi mahi, or tuna for tea? A few tips here when you do hook up to that next marlin to help you land it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlYEKllT34k

There are high expectations for fishing improvement over the next few weeks, still wild weather but when the wind wanes, and levels lower, dude and dudettes – get into it!