Naomi Peterson – Waikato, NZ

If you’re not out chasing the big game fish this month, but instead hungry for a few snapper to pop on the plate, look no further than the Firth of Thames.

As usual, dolphins are showing the way, followed by small numbers of gannets. These half-hearted attempts at work-ups maybe reminiscent of early summer and sparse fishing but they’re holding big kahawai and decent pannie snapper.

The snapper are feeding up large to put on condition lost during spawning; some are still in roe thanks to the longer, warmer summer we’ve enjoyed.

While consistent, they’re not aggressively feeding, so I use the slower lures. I find the Betabug and Freestyle Kabura offer a better hookup rate with the slower bite. The Kabura particularly so on really slow days.

Use a lure heavy enough to get down to where the fish are feeding. I’ll use 80-120gm Kaburas or 80-100gm Betabugs out in the middle of the Firth. The beauty of working the sea floor where the bottom feeders are is that you’ll pick up gurnard and blue cod as well as snapper.

For closer in and around the mussel farms, I’ll drop down in weight to 60-80gm Kaburas.

Get out and make the most of it before the cooler shorter days arrive.

Naomi