Geoff Thomas: Squad score plenty of snapper during time out on the briny

Two-hook ledger rigs are hard to beat when drifting. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It is just as if somebody has turned on a switch and the snapper responded. This week, we had some rugby players who wanted a break from training and a day on the water sounded perfect.

The normal pattern at this time of the season is to head out and find action on the surface, for the channels closer to the city are not yet carrying the concentrations of fish that can be expected from December.

The birds were so easy to find that even the binoculars weren't needed. A couple of nautical miles east of Maria Island there were patches of activity everywhere. Birds were sitting on the water in large numbers, mainly shearwaters and petrels, and the gannets were diving. Some large fish slashing on the surface turned out to be sharks - one was accidentally hooked - and the first baits dropped hooked up straightaway.

As the wind and tide died away even the drogue wasn't needed, but it is always a good idea to have it handy, as drifting is definitely the way to fish in this situation.

Two-hook ledger rigs are hard to beat when drifting. The teardrop sinker pulls the gear down quickly, avoiding most of the kahawai which are marauding in midwater. Fishermen who are not experienced find the bites easier to detect when the baits are above the weight. With 6/0 recurve hooks, the fish basically hook themselves. The first baits were fresh mullet, scaled and cut into chunks. The snapper love them.

When swapped for squid tentacles or jack mackerel, the bites slowed. Pilchard would no doubt have done just as well, but the mullet stays on the hook better and is easy to replace.

It is important to keep moving if the fishing slows down, as the snapper are scattered and are not always directly under the birds. If a hot patch is encountered, you can motor back up and repeat the drift. It took only two hours for the guests to fill a fish box with snapper up to 4kg and they took home enough fillets to provide dinner for the whole squad.

This sort of action will continue until after summer. It is just a question of watching the weather as any wind over 20 knots becomes a problem. Or get out early in the morning.

Trout fishers found Lake Tarawera the best option for the season opening last weekend, and Fish and Game officers checked and weighed more than 1000 fish from that lake. They measured three fish for every two anglers, which indicated good catch rates.

As expected, the quality of the trout was well up on previous years, in length and condition, and a lot of fish over 2kg were caught with some at 3kg.

Harling and shallow trolling was productive only at first light, while those using glo-bugs did well throughout the day.

The best method is deep trolling with a downrigger, setting the lure at 30m. One boat reported catching 17 fish in just over two hours, which is phenomenal fishing.

The officers counted 117 vehicles and trailers parked at Boatshed Bay, which is by far the most popular launching spot.

On Lake Rotoiti, fishing started well but slowed during the day. However, the biggest trout, at 4kg, came from there.

Officers measured four fish for every five anglers surveyed and this was better than the previous eight years. Rotoiti is a lake where fishing gets better as the season progresses, so prospects are good.

The most productive time is around Christmas when the trout concentrate in large schools and when jigging produces large numbers. The fish follow the schools of smelt, which show up on the fish finder, and it is a question of getting the right depth, which could be anything from 20m to 40m.

With the high quality of trout coming from both lakes at this early stage, by the time these fish have matured next autumn they will be about 4kg or 5kg.

The quality of trout from Lake Okataina was also pleasing but the 100 anglers surveyed found fishing hard, which was attributed to the high lake level.

Fly fishing at the Ohau Channel proved harder than usual this year, and brown trout were again the largest caught.