Hungry fish move into shallower water
Eastern Courier
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Well the weather has been a nightmare this year. January only had 14 fishing days out of 31 and only three of those coincided with weekends.
Last Friday and Saturday there were wind warnings, although they did not eventuate and there was some great fishing to be had on Saturday.
The fish have moved into shallower water as the temperature has heated up. In Auckland there are fish in the inner harbour, along the edges of the channels, between Takapuna and the harbour bridge.
They are pretty hungry too, especially on the big tides we have had.
There have been great reports from anglers using squid as well as baby bonito, either cut up and put onto ledger rigs, or straylined whole using two hooks and fed away into the current.
In shallower water it pays to use plenty of berley and have the patience to wait for the fish to come to you, which can take an hour or more.
There have been great results for softbaiters and those using Lucanis and Bay rubber slow jigs.
Both styles require specialised equipment and for the boat to be drifting. They need graphite rods and braid line, for soft baiting a 2.1-metre rod and for slow jig fishing an 2.4-metre rod with an overhead reel works best.
Some anglers have been using both methods at the same time, having the slow jig in a rod holder down the back, bouncing along on the bottom, while casting the softbaits forward of the drift.
Big fish are tending to take the softbaits on the way down so it's important to stay in touch with your line, cast forward a little further than the depth you are in, and after about five seconds put the bail arm over and tighten up on the line so that you are in touch with it as it drops.
The last two metres of the drop have been producing the biggest snapper, rather than dragging it along behind you, which is where the slow jigs are working well.
Fish are cunning, be prepared. - Joe from Top Catch
