Fishing: Target larger snapper by working in current

Floating baits in shallow harbour waters work well in summer. Photo / Supplied

When fishing in places like the Rangitoto Channel, Tauranga Harbour or any harbour with strong currents the bigger snapper hang back away from the boat. You will always hook small fish under the boat, as they are more competitive and will attack baits aggressively.

So to target the large fish you have to get your bait well back in the current. This can be done by casting the bait, or by free-spooling the reel and let the current carry your terminal gear away from the boat.

A new technique has been developed which works effectively, and consistently catches fish. It is a mini long-line that is connected to a rod and we have been using it for years.

On one trip with a large group of rugby players the boys at the back of the boat were hooking small snapper continuously. The boat was anchored off Kauri Pt, above the Harbour Bridge, and there was a good current on the incoming tide. So we tied a rag with a small sinker added on the end of the mini long-line and fed it down the current.

The 50m backbone is set up like any long-line, with stops every couple of metres, and we clipped on short traces with chunks of fresh mullet on the small, square hooks.

Fresh bait is always better on this system, as soft baits like pilchard would be quickly stripped by small fish.

With 10 traces attached the main line was then clipped on to a 15kg braid line and a large sinker added, and the whole lot dropped down the current until it hit the bottom. Then it was just a question of waiting for about 20 minutes, and the rod nodded as another fish hooked up.

The rod-based long-line can be found on the GT Tackle website, and it just needs a strong rod to attach it to.

Any old rod works, and braid line is better than monofilament as its thinner diameter cuts through the current, and it has no stretch.

Another system which works well in strong currents is to target the shallows, casting floating baits on light spin tackle.

The hook is tied directly to the end of the line, with no swivel or heavy trace, and when a bite is felt the line in free-spool allows the fish to swim away with the bait in its mouth. Then the reel is flicked into gear and the line tightened by simply winding in.

The snapper are moving into the inner Hauraki Gulf and with water temperatures over 16C, it won't be long before spawning starts.

Like all snapper fishing at this time of year, and through the summer, the first priority is to look for any surface activity.

The work-ups are obvious and you head straight to any sort of bird activity.

The other sign to look for is schools of bait fish on the fish finder. They will show up in midwater, and are usually jack mackerel. They like to sit on top of snapper, so it is a good place to start.

Freshwater

There have been some good runs of whitebait in the lower Waikato River and the Taranaki rivers. The best time to fish for them is on an incoming tide, but keep away from rivers flooded by rain.

Tip of the week

Use small chunks of cut pilchard or squid on flasher rigs or dropper rigs, with the hook point and barb exposed. With the other type of rig, a long trace and two hooks at the end, the same baits can be used with separate baits on each hook rather than one large bait using both hooks. This way if one bait is stripped by voracious small teeth, you still have another one working for you.

Bite times are 9.55am and 10.20pm today, and 10.50am and 11.15pm tomorrow.

More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 6.30m Saturdays, TV3, and at www.GTTackle.co.nz.