Whether you love or loathe eating little anchovies yourself, they are fish of the day, to almost all other out there right now!
Big 10″ Livies catching the prime summer snapper, @JackHenry and John (pictured) out there and into them!
Worth taking the big hint from Mother Nature so your (local) fishing success can flourish.
Anchovies in their thousands for instance along the shore, the North Shore Auckland this week, uncanny โ has someone given these little fish a marine chart app so they know where to stay in the no fishing zones!? When venturing out of these areas it has been ideal times for the smaller watercraft, kayaks, dinghies, and skis to whip out, not far offshore and enjoy those wonderful grin inducing hookups on lightweight spin gear with kahawai, mackerel and some keeper snapper in amongst the dark clouds of anchovy schools moving up and down looking more like a cloudโs shadow, with barely a cloud in sight. Glorious summer fishing weather. Kingfish perhaps?
Yet more shore lines near or far are producing the better conditioned snapper right now, habitat providing food no doubt. Venturing to Gt Barrier for an overnighter? More than a few have lately, and theyโve done well with snapper along the edges, rather than out deeper. Softbaits have proven their weight in gold there and also over at the top of Coromandel, the softbaits have been king of the ring. Throwing down a variety of sizes has been worth it too, from smaller offerings to the big boy burgers of 10inches when the snapper are inclined and on hunt for a more sizeable meal. First thing in the morning, and later in the afternoon have been the better times to be casting around for snapper.
Another prime snapper on the Livies softbaits for Jack Henry, very nice!
And if you are out by Channel Island/Barrier way โ donโt forget to target a king or two, some good arm stretching ones have been encountered, mainly mechanically jigging. Definitely keep a keen lookout for the odd whale feeding around top of Coro, fast โn furious stuff when the afternoon dinner gong has sounded.
Anyone else getting into the kahawai lately? Sashimi and smoking them is such a wonderful way to spend a summer evening. Some areas these fish are chokka full of anchovies, other places youโd expect the kahawai to be in huge numbers – but not one to be found, leaving the anchovies to do their thing. In amongst the mussel farms what a wonderful place to be and see the anchovies, south end area of Waiheke – primo place to be!
Also north side Whangaparaoa peninsula/big manly there has been some epic looking clouds of anchovies swirling around, with the delightful โcoke bottleโ sized kahawai hunting them โ gorging themselves silly, and a few similar scenes dotted back around Army Bay judging by the terns in attendance just offshore, perfect kayak fishing territory for sure.
This week’s tackle picks:
- Big 10inch Livies , double hook rigged for snapper, well presented on lightweight jigheads (see link below how to do it).
- And almost at the opposite end of the spectrum โ teeny tiny 7gm Pocket Rocket (Tungsten) microjigs when fishing in and around the shoreline anchovies, so much fun!
Not sure how to double hook rig your softbaits?
Hereโs how: How to double hook rig softbaits
Overall for snapper โ fish the edges/shallows/closer to land for better snapper, softbaits the go-go!
Cheers
