Big trevally, snapper and eel on the menu

Geoff Thomas shows off a large trevally taken at White Island on a fly rod. Photo / Supplied

Winter is approaching but the right techniques will still catch fish

Snapper and big trevally are being caught off the wharf at Whitianga, and fishing has also been good up the river, with fish being caught up past the oyster farm as far as Hodges Bay.

On the other side of the river at the ferry landing people are catching long-finned eels, something locals have not seen for a long time. Fishing has also been good in the western Bay of Plenty with snapper and trevally prevalent and good-sized kingfish prowling the edges of the deeper reef structures.

Sail Rock has been fishing well on an incoming tide, and the deep foul out from Kennedy Bay fished well by day, the drop-offs close to shore producing at dawn and dusk.

Off Whakatane, a lot of good snapper are coming from foul in 15 to 30 metres of water.

Trevally can be targeted with berley and soft baits such as shellfish or cubes of pilchard on small recurved hooks. But they fight much harder than snapper, and big ones will test tackle.

They should also be netted when at the boat or the wharf as they can fall off the hook if lifted from the water on the line.

There are still snapper to be found around Auckland, but they are only in patches and the best way to find fish is to look for changes in the temperature of the water.

Some good bags of snapper are still coming from the pins between Motuihe and Browns Islands, but plenty of berley is the key.

Casting floating baits down a berley trail into weed-covered, rocky terrain has also been bringing results close to shore from the Takapuna cliffs to Browns Bay, Castor Bay and around the Noises, the David Rocks and the Ahaahas.

Anglers using soft baits and drifting the channels between the small islands and rocks are also picking up fish, and the small grub-type tails up to size 5/0 in orange-brown colours are proving successful.

One theory is that the snapper are feeding on small crayfish and this lure makes a reasonable imitation.

On the northern side of Rangitoto Island the story is the same, but you have to be out early as it is all over by 8 o'clock.

At Little Barrier Island, Great Barrier and Horn Rock, straylining hard against the weed line or the rocks has produced some good fish. But metal jigs and slow jigs have also been producing, as have large fresh baits such as a strip of kahawai or mackerel.

Casting soft plastics into the shallows and around rocks and reefs should improve as winter takes hold, particularly around the edge of large structures like Kawau Island, Takatu Point, the bottom end of Waiheke Island and further afield at the Moko Hinau group and Little Barrier and Great Barrier and the Mercury group.

Fishing generally has been reasonable at times in Kawau Bay all the way to Mahurangi, around Little Barrier and at the bottom end of Waiheke on the northern side of Shag Rock and Gannet Rock, out to 50m deep.

Game fishing in northern waters is hanging on but as with all fishing on the east coast this year, weather and sea conditions have limited opportunities to get out.

Some large hapuka have been caught off the west coast of the North Island all the way from Taranaki to 90 Mile Beach.

Freshwater
Trout fishing is also moving into winter mode at Rotorua and Taupo.

Fly fishing at small stream mouths is improving, and as the big moon wanes next week it should get better.

Harling and shallow trolling are producing fish in the early mornings and evenings, and as the trout move into spawning mode red-bodied flies and lures come into their own.

On Rotoiti, hot spots such as Ruato Bay are starting to fire, and Lake Tarawera continues to produce fish on the beach at the Landing and the Te Wairoa Stream mouth, although full moon last weekend didn't help.

When the moon is very bright fishing small rips is hard, and better results usually come from casting into deep water.

This can be done from an anchored boat, and works well at spots like the Log Pool, and the delta of the Tongaririo River at Turangi.

Bite times
Bite times are 4.10am and 4.35pm tomorrow, and 5am and 5.30pm on Sunday.

Tip of the week
While berley is commonly used when fishing for snapper, it is not used as much in fishing for trevally. But a technique employed by Wellington anglers fishing for tarakihi makes a lot of sense. Steve Reed of Wellington reports a lot of success with berley, but he adds his own mix to the commercially-made product.

"We thaw a couple of berley bombs and add about five kilos of cooked rice. This turns two bombs into five or six berleys, which can be refrozen. Then we drop a berley bomb to about five metres above the bottom, and it works really well in attracting the terakihi and trevally." Both are soft-mouthed feeders and they obviously like rice, but small cubes of bonito or pilchard, or shellfish tied to the hook with bait elastic, will trigger bites.

• More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 6.30am Saturday, TV3, and at GTTackle.co.nz.