Geoff Thomas: Rough seas no match for crew's whopper kingfish

Photo / File

A crew on a charter boat which braved rough conditions to fish the Ranfurly Banks, took five of the eight prizes in the annual Topcatch Jigging and Top Water Tournament last weekend. Fishing is restricted to jigging and casting lures such as stick baits and poppers, and 189 anglers from throughout the country and some from overseas competed.

Skilled jig anglers can catch a lot of fish, and the two-day contest limited entries to one kingfish a person, with the emphasis on catch and release. Fishing was allowed from Coromandel to East Cape, and while fishing was hard in the Bay of Plenty, Coastal Fishing Charters, skippered by Aaron Sargent, battled 4m seas at the Ranfurly Banks and caught the winning kingfish, which weighed 32.5kg. They also took the woman's prize with a 21kg king.

Sea temperatures have dropped 14C, making some fishing hard, but those using soft baits around Auckland are doing well, although they have to work for their fish.

The fine weather is allowing boats to head out into the Hauraki Gulf and, if a work-up can be found, baits or lures should produce snapper and kahawai.

The alternative is to work the coastline, casting lures into the rocks and white water, and while snapper may not be actively feeding, they will often hit a soft bait out of aggression.

A welcome bycatch when fishing over deep reefs is john dory, as they like lures, and a live bait can always be dropped, too.

The outer fishing grounds around the Moko Hinau Islands, Little and Great Barrier Islands, Horn Rock and Anchorite will all be popular, with a fine weekend expected. Both soft baits, cut baits and livies can be expected to produce, and the occasional large kingfish is a bonus.

At this time of year the school kings have moved out to deep water, but solitary moochers, like big snapper, can be targeted with live baits.

Soft baits aimed at gurnard on the Manukau Harbour have also been producing some surprising results. Lures with a wiggly tail, like the lizards in pumpkin-seed colours, seem popular. As well as gurnard, there are good numbers of kahawai in the harbour and in the Kaipara Harbour; and some early runs of whitebait have been reported from Port Waikato.

The season opens next weekend on the 14th, and whitebaiters will be out in force at their favourite spots.

In the Bay of Plenty, snapper and tarakihi can be found close to shore, and the winter fishing has been good for bottom species when the weather is favourable.

Charter operators out of Whakatane are concerned at the number of people who seem unaware of the boundaries of the marine reserve around the Volkner Rocks, near White Island. One group of divers from outside the Bay of Plenty were recently seen diving and spearing fish right up against the rocks, which are the basis of the reserve.

Not all marine charts have the reserve marked, but pamphlets with the GPS coordinates for the boundaries can be obtained from Department of Conservation offices or on the internet. The reserve extends for a mile around the islands, with a wedge on the southern side that penetrates to within 400m, which allows boats to fish for kingfish over a particular reef that comes up to 40m.

The runs of spawning trout which are monitored at the trap on the Te Wairoa Stream in Lake Tarawera are down on last year, although up to 200 fish were killed when algae from nearby Lake Rotokakahi went down the stream earlier in the winter.

But drift dives by Fish and Game staff at the Tarawera Outlet counted more than 800 large trout in about one kilometre of river, with many fish which appeared to be 4kg or more. The quality of the trout coming from the lake at the end of the season has improved noticeably, with 2-year-old fish of 2.5kg and 3kg, which is a good sign for the season opening on October 1.

While those fish are caught by deep trolling, and anglers using downriggers and fishing at 35m did well, fly fishermen on the shoreline are reporting fish up to 4kg from the Orchard and the Landing, with big boobies and glo-bugs working well.

The Utuhina Stream, which flows through Rotorua, is reported to be full of fish and fishing is permitted through the closed season below the Devon St bridge.

* More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 5.30pm on TV3, and on the new internet television channel FishnHunt.Tv.