Far North - June 2010

Fish the foul

Jason Kemp caught this 45kg hapuku on a 500g Broken Arrow Jig at the Three Kings aboard charter boat Enchanter.

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West coast snapper fishing from the beach and out wide is about as good as it gets right now.

The quality of Northland’s west coast offshore snapper fishing during autumn through to winter has long been a well-kept secret: you have to be lucky to get on the water, with neither bar-crossings nor launching into the surf being for the faint-hearted or ill-prepared.

Certainly as I write, beach fishing is red-hot. Tough baits, such as octopus, fresh shark, mullet or kahawai, can withstand the attention of crabs and the washing-machine action of the habitat, and are amongst the most reliable performers.

On the east side, snapper fishing has been harder than usual since last spring. I have recently learned that this is most likely a consequence of intense fishing pressure from commercial long-liners, who are being encouraged to supply extra-fresh fish. This means that they are heavily working the same places that recreational fishers frequent, so as to remain within half a day’s steaming from their home ports. This enables the 24-hour turn-around required by premium international fresh-fish markets. The lesson for recreational fishers is to give the sand a miss, whereas any location likely to foul a commercial long-line is better for us.

The other factor in favour of the fish has been some very fine autumn weather, during which the wind has blown from the south. And indeed, the fish have closed their mouths. Stay home when it’s calm and fish when it’s rough, or be prepared to work extra hard for a modest return!

Out wide and deeper still, both ‘puka and blue-nose fishing seems to be in great shape right now. It would seem that well-known recreational spots are starting to recover from the sustained pressure of a very successful charter operator of a few years back, who made his reputation with these deep water species. Best advice is to use live baits and to work out which days and tides the fish are most likely to be hungry. Trouble is, if we all learn to speak fish, wouldn’t that take half the fun out of fishing?

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