Fishing: Picking up the pieces after cyclone

Anglers are hoping the stir of the tropical cyclone this week will keep warm water close to the coast to prolong the game fish and snapper feeding season.

The next few days should be good fishing all round the North Island as fish move in to clean up the storm debris as the water clears.

The fishing round Auckland has been hotter than in many other areas. The Hauraki Gulf is full of snapper - just find them on the sounder and drift-fish through the schools, dropping jigs or ledger rigs.

Heavy weight will deter the bigger fish, so use just what you need to get to the bottom. And stay in touch with the terminal rig while it is dropping as many fish will hit just before the bottom then run with the hook. They'll drop it when they feel weight, so a good and well-timed strike is required.

But really, if you can't catch fish now, you never will.

Berley is not required and may be a nuisance, attracting kahawai or other species. If strayling, the best baits seem to be fresh skipjack. Soft-tail baits are also working well. The Black Magic pink and white jigs are a killer, but you may need various sizes from 60 grams up as current changes. Again, as light a jig as will reach the bottom works best.

The bigger snapper are in 40 metres of water behind Waiheke and in the Tiri Channel.

Also prevalent in the gulf are john dory, which will also take the soft tails. Charter operator Eugyn de Bruyn also recommends the Berkley "Gulp" soft baits in crab imitation.

"The dory go ballistic on them. They chew them to bits," he said.

There are huge schools of baitfish still hanging around the Hauraki Gulf, encouraging the presence of kingfish, dolphins and Bryde's whales, with snapper beneath them. As long as the water temperature stays close to its present 20C, nothing will change. Fins working gannets and shearwaters and you've found the work-up.

De Bruyn was fishing off Tutukaka last weekend and reports plagues of barracouta, unusually early in the year.

At the Bay of Islands, the weather closed in last Sunday and seas were still high mid-week. Prior to that local Gene Pabirowski nailed some big fish off Roberton Island, fishing the incoming tide in the evening. Best was a 13kg red that took a pilchard with a floating bead above the hook.

Local charter operator Geoff Stone reported steady snapper fishing but expressed concern at the decline in size of kingfish in the bay. Fishing pressure meant a 15kg kingie was a good one now, he said. More anglers should consider returning fish.

The marlin have been most predominant from Doubtless Bay south to Cape Brett, with many trailer boats and weekend game fishers scoring well this season while some of the bigger boats venturing further off-shore have seen little action. The east coast striped marlin have in general been much smaller than those caught off the west, averaging just under the 90kg size limit, most taken in 100-150 metres. Off the west coast they have been in even closer, seen jumping off Oaia Island at Muriwai and schooling in shallows around the Manukau bar. Erin Jacobsen, who has scored marlin line-class records in each of the past three summers, has applied for another after catching a 120kg stripey on 60kg line at the Three Kings. The Kings have been quiet for much of the summer, but the experts predict a big end to the season given the numbers of fish still being seen or caught as far south as Waihau Bay on the east and Kawhia on the west coast, all yet to follow the pattern of migration back past the northern tip of the country.

At Rotorua, the fishing remains good but weather has kept angler numbers down. Steve Smith from Fish and Game was expecting the rain to bring spawning fish close to beaches on Lakes Rotoiti and Okataina. The Lake Rotorua tributaries are producing some big brown trout, particularly at Ngongotaha and Waitete.

At Taupo jigging is best method, with the rainbows averaging 2.5kg and in very good condition, said Department of Conservation fisheries manager Glenn Maclean, anglers reporting a good catch rate. Deep down-rigging is also producing fish.

The rain produced some discolouration in the rivers but the fresh also encouraged early runs of trout with those in the right place at the right time scoring well in the brief flurries of movement.

Brown trout are still holding low in the rivers and are hard to catch, Maclean said.