Fishing: Hui works towards 'more fish in the sea'

Recreational fishing representatives were meeting Maori leaders at the Whakamaharatanga Marae on the Hokianga Harbour yesterday to further their accord of "more fish in the sea".

This is the third such hui. The aim is to widen the agreement that started with Ngapuhi to include other tribes. It is a major adjustment for Maori, who control a substantial amount of the fishing industry, because the ultimate aim is to reduce the commercial take to allow stocks to rebuild. But change is coming as a result of their desire to see more fish on the table.

The hui was expected to wind up today, with the next step to broaden the appeal to other tribes and then to go to the Fisheries Ministry with their joint plan.

Meanwhile, trawlers have been working the west coast between the 40 and 50 metre mark, scoring huge schools of snapper that are heavy with roe and about to spawn.

As the boats worked up the coast from Counties north, the fishing for the rest of us slowed considerably.

The easterlies that have prevailed over the past week have allowed lots of trailer boats to get off the coast, and fishing has been productive, with nice snapper in the 2-5kg range. The gurnard, oddly, have all been on the small side.

Warkworth Gamefishing Club angler Graham Espie nailed the fish of the week, a 12.984kg snapper taken at Horn Rock while fishing with charter skipper Bruce Rathe on the Assassin.

Rathe has been doing well on the foul at Horn, with a morning outgoing tide the best, and also at The Needles. Espie got his fish on 6kg, straylining a pilchard.

There has been some spectacular action on the Mangonui wharf, with huge schools of anchovy pushing into the harbour from Doubtless Bay. Following them are large schools of john dory, and the locals have taken to using Hawaiian slings to spear them from the wharf.

But those easterlies seem to have turned the snapper off the bite in the bay, says Doug McColl from Coopers Beach Sports. Anglers did well early in the week off Tokerau Beach and Rangaunu, but fishing slowed with the wind change.

The up side is the easterlies are pushing in warmer water, with the temperature climbing towards 19C, and he expects the snapper to be on the bite this weekend. Scallops are plentiful and fat in Rangaunu and Whangaroa harbours.

The worm beds north of Rangitoto continue to produce nice fish in the 2-5kg range, with straylining or soft baits the go though the bite-time is varied and some anglers have had dud trips. Berley is an absolute must - lots of it. Wait for the fish to come to you.

Snapper are starting to move through the channels, and fishing is improving in the Rakino and Motuihe channels. Tiri Channel is still firing.

On the Manukau, the Huia Fishing Club weighed a best-ever quantity, quality and range of fish at its last in-house contest.

There are trevally in numbers and some in good size from Huia to the Waiuku Channel, and bait and rig does not seem to matter. The snapper are moving into the harbour, most around 1kg. Some big kahawai have been caught too.

The old Furuno contest is no more, officially laid to rest, with some of the sponsors now moving to what is labelled "Son of Furuno," to be based at the Ruakaka Racecourse near Uretiti Beach in early March. The new event is run by fishing advertising character Keith "KP" Patterson, with Haines Hunter boats as major sponsor and Lion Red and Lowrance backing up. The contest on March 3-4 includes a beach component for the first time. Anglers can stay at the racecourse or at the Uretiti or Waipu camping grounds.