Local Fishing

Patience is usually reserved for hospitals; it’s tough being patient to go fishing right now with the blustery weather being the main inhibitor to a day out on the briny. However, when the big calm does swoop in, heading out towards Great Barrier past Anchorite Rock is a good option for local Auckland dwellers. Deeper water increases the likelihood of encountering better workup action and stumbling upon a few snapper schools, including some early-season big males venturing into the big pond unannounced. Using the prospecting approach of just stopping and drifting for 10 minutes here and there on the way out with kaburas and tungsten micro jigs is a smart move. A well-set-up sounder should tell you all you need to know. Even a gently jigged and retrieved inchiku is a good prospecting lure. You never know where the flash mob of workups will pop up, like those just out off the Ahaas. It’s a bit random, but that’s to be expected when fishing around the full moon, and it’s good news.

In general, water temperatures aren’t rising quite yet, so while it’s still wise to bring a few big tackle setups (as discussed at the JetFish night), start with the winter-mode approach for snapper: a softly-softly approach with kaburas, similarly gentle jigging action with micro jigs, and slow-motion with lightly weighted and small 3-5 inch soft baits. Consider using a double hook approach on the softies; big snapper still take small tail-bites, especially while still in winter-wary mode themselves. If you’ve cottoned on to a good snapper bite but it drops off, go straight back to the subtle approach when that bite dwindles. Bite times can be very short right now.

Quick Bites:

• How’s that fish smoker looking? If yours hasn’t been used for a while over winter, give it a good clean now, and sun-bake it ready for your next mission. Some nasty little belly bugs and mould may be lurking.
• Batteries – charge them up. Whether you have a trickle charger or need to borrow a mate’s, check if it holds the charge. This is one of the most common issues easily avoided out on the water, which can turn a wonderful memory into a day to forget.
• Rust never sleeps, and winter is prime time for its unwanted spread. Spend a little time getting rid of the orange virus on hooks, knives, trailer rollers now; it pays dividends for when you're just itching to get out there.

Remember to take your fishing approach lead from Mother Nature. If it’s a quiet day, use ‘quiet’ lures and a gentle slow-retrieve approach as well. But when it’s a good action-stations bite, go big—both in lure size and in your action—giving your lures more attention-getting action and vibe, with more aggressive motion to attract the bigger, more aggressive fish.

Fishing Seminars

The JetFish evening at Farnley’s Yamaha was superbly set amongst the beautiful big boys' toys of PWC Waverunners and more, with Simon from Garmin NZ, Russell from Rustler Fishing Gear and, of course, Jordan from Hutchwilco, all lending their expertise and very helpful advice. Food, drink, and a friendly atmosphere of sharing expertise and a few fishing yarns was awesome. It was a wonderful setting to officially launch www.FishingCoachPro.com with so many keen anglers eager to return for the fishing tutorials and workshops to be held at Farnley’s Yamaha. School opening and class details are all coming soon; to keep informed email FishingCoachPro@gmail.com. One-on-one coaching has also kicked off, with most dates/times already filled, just a couple available, email to get your personal coaching session booked (on-water workshops are a possibility on the horizon, let us know if you're keen).

Enjoy this build-up to more fishing-mission-possible days and get prepped now so you can get out there hassle-free, fast. Let’s go fishing.

Cheers, Espresso!