Rewarding days at sea in abundance

Yellow tails, or jack mackerel, are common and easily caught on small baits and are top baits for snapper and kingfish.

Good-sized kingfish and snapper to be had, all within easy reach.

A monster kingfish surprised a party of snapper fishermen last weekend when it swallowed a bait meant for snapper. The 36kg king took the piece of pilchard on a flasher rig by the Noises and was eventually subdued on the light 10kg breaking strain line.

Another notable catch was a marlin which was hooked near the Moko Hinau Islands.

Snapper fishing is booming. Kayak fishermen are catching fish off Mellons Bay and Howick, and one angler reported taking a limit of seven snapper all over 500mm long in an hour.

At Waiheke Island fish are being caught at Park Point and Church Bay, while there are also a lot of fish on the pinnacles around the Ahaaha Rocks, along with trevally. Another area holding a lot of snapper and kahawai is on the right side of the cable zone out in the middle between Rakino Island and Tiritiri Matangi Island. There are still a lot of kingfish everywhere, from the Noises to the bottom end of Waiheke.

The Firth of Thames is also firing with a lot of good-sized snapper coming from the 19m deep pinnacles in the middle of the firth, and mussel farms are fishing well for snapper and kingfish. Fresh jack mackerel is one of the best baits when fishing in deep water out in the firth. They can be rigged live, which will attract big snapper, john dory and kingfish; or as cut bait with a half fish or whole fillet rigged on two hooks.

Those anglers using soft bait lures are struggling, while the old favourites of berley and pilchards are doing the business.

On the west coast the snapper fishing has been hot when conditions allow boats to get out, and the top bait is fresh kahawai. On the Manukau Harbour the snapper fishing has slowed except for under the signal station where some remarkable catches of fish up to 6kg have been reported. As expected gurnard numbers are building up in the harbour, and soft plastics are doing really well.

Gurnard are usually targeted with flasher rigs, and sometimes the trace with the flashers is tied below a sinker so the baits lie along the bottom. Small cubes of squid, pilchard or bonito are used. The natural food for gurnard includes small fish like bullies, crabs and other bottom dwellers, and adding a small wiggly lure on one of the hooks makes sense.

Fresh waterRecent heavy rain has sparked the trout fishing in the Rotorua lakes. Deep jigging has been the stand-out method, with trout in top condition taken on Lake Rotoiti. Smelt patterns like the Grey Ghost and Jack Spratt are working well, and Hauparu Bay and Hinehopu are the top areas. Jigging on Lake Tarawera is also producing some good catches at Red Beach, Twin Creeks and at Humphreys Bay while deep trolling is also going well. Trolling on Lake Rotorua from the airport to the Ohau Channel is producing good catches.

The winter shoreline fly fishing is just starting and the first cold snap should see this improve. Night fishing doll flies or marabou patterns are popular once winter arrives, and this is where the largest trout are usually taken.

Tip of the week
Kingfish can be targeted with live baits either fished from an anchored boat with the livies tethered under a balloon, or sitting on the bottom with a breakaway sinker tied to the swivel with dental floss; or slow trolled around reefs and islands. A kahawai makes the best trolled bait, hooked through the lip and towed slowly with the drag on the reel set with just enough pressure to prevent line running off but a fish can take out line when it hits the bait.

Bite times
Bite times are 8:25am and 8:45pm tomorrow and 9:10am and 9:35pm on Sunday. More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 6:30am Saturdays, TV3, and at www.GTtackle.co.nz