Big fish are early risers

Fishing report

FAT SNAPPER: Now moving into the Hauraki Gulf to spawn.

After a short holiday and some time out of the water for survey and maintenance we are back into the fishing.

The season is in full swing with plenty of schools of snapper moving into the Hauraki Gulf to spawn. Because it is spawning time they may not always be on the bite because they’ve got other things on their minds.

Here is a basic round- up of where they are or should be, and what’s been catching them.

South of Little Barrier and the ground between there and Anchorite Rock will have schools of fish. The best bet out here on a nice day is to look for the schools on the sounder, or even better – spot a workup.

Look for the gannets piling in to the bait schools the dolphins and whales have rounded up. Just about anything you use for a bait in this situation will work. I even caught a 5kg fish out here in a workup using a bit of orange peel.

Kawau and the islands to the south have been getting a bit of attention from the locals up this way. The area is well known for holding schools of snappper and large schools of bait fish too. Get up early and anchor and berley over the schools you see on the sounder. Try using whole mackerel baits, which you can catch while you are there.

Early morning or last thing in the evening is best for the bigger fish, but you should be able to catch fish during the day too. Pilchards, squid, soft baits if you can drift fish and jigs. I like the 200 gram knife jigs in this depth – 30 metres – and the Zest range is among the best.

Whangaparaoa – already there have been some great reports of good fish only minutes from the boat ramps.

I’ll never forget a day a wee while ago when I stopped the boat only 400 metres from the marina entrance to catch some fresh livebaits and ended up drifting the area for two hours catching snapper up to 4.5kg and kingfish – one of which was 18kg. The other boats all went screaming past and over the horizon. Often it pays to fish your feet first.

Wellington Reef is another spot worth spending some time on at the moment because the kingis love the structure and all the bait around it. Early morning would be the time for a big snapper too.

South further to Rangitoto and the infamous worm beds. In actuality there are numerous worm beds in these areas. But the one that gets the most fame is the bed that sits between Rakino and Tiri and runs towards Rangi. It is a large area and can hold huge numbers of fish, including dory, snapper, kahawai, trevs, kingfish and sharks. There can be large amounts of baitfish too, which only adds to the food source.

The Firth and out towards Gannet Rock will also fish well if you’re in that neck of the woods. As with most areas that hold large amounts of bait and schools of snappers, you should do well as the season gets further along.

Keep your eyes open for the gannets, freshen up winter softbaits with some fresh “juice” and check your gear is free of corrosion and the line or braid is fresh and ready to go.

– Damian Clayton

- © Fairfax NZ News