Successful Fishing. Is it skill, luck, technique, tackle, technology, a lucky charm (4 leaf clover?), leaving the bananas at home, the right place at the right time, the ever elusive Spot X?

One or any number of fishing factors are responsible for an exciting day of catching seriously solid fish. The more factors you have on your side the more likely that 20lb snapper or braid blistering big king is likely to put you and your tackle to the test. Good times indeed.

Technology has come a long way in the past few years. Just look at what we expect from a mere handheld phone, from a car, from sporting equipment in general. No matter what sports you’re into, technology can make for more enjoyment with better results. Similarly with fishing. Not only do we have lighter stronger materials to fish with, we use the technology to study what excites fish into striking. To see what they see, hear and feel. Then apply this knowledge into the design and function of tackle. Brilliant stuff.

What this means is that when we head out fishing for the day we are now armed with highly effective tackle. We’re able to target not only the species desired, but also the size preferred a lot of the time. Consequently reducing negative impact by almost eliminating undersized snapper for instance. Being able to pick out the larger fish intentionally – this is where the technology, integrity and research into fishing lures has some of its greatest impact. So you and I can simply come home with a huge grin after an exciting and rewarding day of fishing.

The only thing the fish is interested in is your lure and how it acts and reacts to your input.  The better it is, the more success on a consistent basis. So next time you’re out and the fish are biting remember not just to keep using what was working when they were slow on the bite, but also remember to change. Change to lures that work to eliminate the tiddlers (that stop you catching the bigger fish) and target and land the monsters. Get that wonderful picture of your big fish along with memories for a lifetime.

Where’s The Fish?

The inner to middle gulf has been firing well. Draw a line across your chart from Flat Rock to Gannet Rock (Waiheke) with an eye on the area to the south of this line (outside of the no go/big fine zone), and you’ll have the magic area of Spot X. Yes it’s a big one. The baitfish north of Tiri are stacking up, with gannets and dolphins in feeding mode pointing the way to both snapper and kingfish in this area. The workups move around a lot, some people chase, others stay and drift or anchor fish the areas. It’s your choice, both methods are working well.

Kingfish are hounding both kahawai schools and pilchards – mechanical jigging or top water heaven, particularly just north of Flat Rock area lately. Use your sounder sign, or surface bird sign and let loose those lures. Vary the action of the jigs and you’ll find the magic formula for the day. Whether a speed jig, a slow pitch or inchiku, variety helps a great deal with these sometimes fussy fish. You just need to offer them the right one and they’ll literally clamber over each other to strike. Check out some recent action on board Wave Dancer to see what we mean!

Inner channels are starting to fill up with snapper and not just the small to medium sized pannies either. The real deals are now lurking. Both Motuhie and Tiri channels have been two areas holding excellent snapper this past week. This will no doubt continue and the only trick is to get them to bite, right.

Enjoy some great Spring fishing and good times out on the water. Take your lucky charm, leave the bananas at home and enjoy the passing of the full moon. For there is still the promise of even more excellent fishing before the Christmas slowdown.

Enjoy watching this week’s video highlights 😊

See you out there!

Espresso.