Those who have been targeting shallow water snapper this week were in for a whale of a surprise!

Shallow water snapper hunters were treated to a surprise of Orca passers-by for both land-based and boat based anglers along a few coastal areas, North Shore Bays, Eastern bays, Unfortunately their presence usually mean any fish bite you’re onto disappears rapidly as soon as fish are aware of their presence. With sound travelling further faster in water, you can be sure fish alerts are on high around the smiling food chain top-of-the-pops predators.

Some good shallow water snapper when calm returns are on the cards, and more and more as the water temperatures threatens an upward summer swing. A very lightly weighted well presented (aligned perfectly straight on the hook) soft bait here, a soft bait there and disco! 5-10m depths. The smaller the boat the better really, kayaks tick the boxes too.

This has seen some good snapper sizes caught in close over the last couple of days, the bite earlier in the week really dropped off for most of the gulf though. Fortunately the bite is also on the upswing, let the good times roll. Spring means snapper emerging from semi-hibernation mode, so feeding there must be although not all the time, every day. The moon’s helping us, the moderate tidal flow as well, the season lends a helping hand to the day’s fishing fortune, the planets are lining up!

Keep an eye on the forecasts as they are constantly changing, very yeah-nah-yeah right now. Noticeably even within the confines of the Hauraki Gulf, the Firth of Thames can have “a lot of sheep in the paddock” i.e. choppy and white-capping, while over at Flat Rock is just that, flat, with a reversal of conditions by late morning.

Where’s The Fish?

Out past Anchorite off the top of Coromandel drift fishing is a great bet for a sounder that can look like it’s in baitfish demonstration mode. The snapper, kingfish, trevally, kahawai and gurnard have been in the area and all can be caught in a few hours, albeit not frantic fishing but good steady stuff. Micro jigs have been a big hit, shiny silver slivers are working their magic and the lighter the tackle the more fun. 5 or 6kg leader is plenty over most of the open gulf, whether you’re targeting some aquatic butterflies – gurnard, or snapper or kingfish. A little spin reel of 2500-3000 plenty on a soft bait rod ideal.

Huge, you know the ones, the big ‘ocean going’ kahawai were working up a storm of their own just out off northern Waiheke both earlier in the week for at least 2 afternoons following, yesterday the same, muscular, rod and tackle testing fish, exciting to catch. These particular ones have been chasing down and feasting on large pilchards, the frenzy can be fast moving with all participants able to cover a lot of ground, fast, after all it is a game of life and death.

Erupting workups just out from ‘the Bays’ south of the Marine Reserve could be easily spotted over the afternoon cuppa for a wee while earlier this week. Manic kahawai attacks, hundreds of gannets funnelling down divebombing in a continuous loop. Intensely mesmerizing. Then gone. When the battle subsides, the waters glinting scales reflecting the rainbows of colour, not much else left of the baitfish that were. For several days after the big bang gannets returned to the area looking for their chance at wounded stragglers succumbing to their battle wounds, you could see the white dots of birds sitting, bobbing around among the white caps.

What lies ahead?

Big game hunters are all suffering Athletes Foot like symptoms, ‘itchy feet’, it’s been a while, but there are the ever closer days of being out there on the big wide open blue, hooking up to a stroppy Stripey or a ballistic Blue, with that clicker shrieking into life, the line pinging and the instantaneous rush of adrenaline and all senses on high alert. What follows – well that has yet to be written, what’s on your horizon this season? Plan for it happening. It will be interesting to see the new tackle releases for this season as fishing continues its advancement along with most other facets of our lives, computer technology, high tech-high performance equipment (Americas Cup boat looks fast just sitting still out there on the water this week, another spectacle out there now!), lighter, stronger, faster…

It is still only September, very early days (daylight saving in 9 days, 29 September) in terms of Spring so expect times of fishing mayhem, and times of rest and recuperation fish wise. But you can’t catch fish at home…the fish are out there.

Espresso.

 

Catch Fishing / Wave Dancer / Extreme Boats / Honda Marine New Zealand / Savwinch Drum Winches / Isuzu Utes New Zealand Ltd / Oakley / Musto Australasia / Furuno NZ