Nirvana-style workup fishing tales abound but sometimes early
advice can be a bit of a red herring. Diving gannets doesnโt necessarily mean loading the bin with monster snapper, it does mean gannets are trying to eat baitfish which is usually a great start.
A workup without dolphins to round up and hold the baitschool can be ’empty’
for instance (among other reasons) particularly at this time of year so yes there are workups, and then there are WORKUPS! Fast furious stuff out straight east of Kawau, and just out north of Waiheke โ as I say, fast paced
workup activity, lots of movement, can mean โno fish hereโ said the fisherman, and possibly the gannets, and dolphins โ happy baitfish, for a while at least.
Dolphins have been on the charge, big pods making a lot of splash while jostling for position around the gulf, quite eye catching but usually it means theyโre not likely to feed. Perhaps the occasional fast food stop off, like when on a road trip to the Far North for monster 25lb snapper say! Brief stop offs along the way only, on a mission style.
Full moon threw its curve ball again, some did well, most had to put in the big effort, lucky ones were rewarded. This reaction was well observed over much of the eastern coastline of the country this past several days, right up and down the coast, some good, many thoroughly challenged. Out wide some big snapper have been caught, except the exceptions e.g. Firth again this week, a stonker or two along with a fair bit of head scratching to find fish too.
50m is doing well, including fish variety from kings to cod, solid snapper and the occasional sea-monarch the beautiful gurnard.
Colours โ can make the world of difference, but that can change too. OK so the darker coloured Engine Oil LIVIE for instance is easily a go-to favourite particularly in Northland for BIG snapper, yet orange softbaits like the Glowing Gurnard are prolific fish catchers the majority of the time, similarly smelt-white softbaits have held 1st place on many occasions. Working out which works for you is half the fun.
Not sure whether the bite is on or off? A good inchiku lure with maximum flutter and rocking motion on descent, erratic skirt flick, luminous parts to attract in the depths- particularly flickering, strong twin stainless steel hooks, with high speed of deployment = ideal! The Boss Squid hybrid inchiku for instance designed and developed in NZ is a unique and highly effective lure design – tie them on the night before, with the leader to the lure itself onto the big head end (not the solid ring of the hook) 20lb fluro is a good starting point. If out in 50m expect kingfish hookups even when fishing for snapper โ the rocking motion does the trick on the drop usually. Like most inchikus let it freefall to the sea floor, be ready to strike with any sudden speeding up, or slack line โ hit it! The action is largely up to you, vary your rod lift in terms of speed and height, small flickers, then more slow pitch style, then a steady retrieve โ always be ready! Have a look at the โHow to fish Inchikuโ link here for a minute. A well designed inchiku lure is highly effective, very economic and so much fun to use, particularly when primarily targeting snapper!
Inchiku โ how to fish them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WH1-ebYXcQ
All signs are good, in true Spring form if history repeats is the second week in , tik tok, tik!
No lockdown, all signs aligning, the wind swings to the east over the next few days ย โ Spring action could be a van Halen like Eruption. If the weather doesnโt ring true for you, later in the week looks promising. Fortune favours the bold, be bold, go fishing and enjoy living the adventure whatever fishing fortunes unfold.
Espresso.
