There’s been plenty of snapper about too, and you’ll now find them in the harbour, off Matakana, off the beaches and of course, holding around all the popular foul areas we usually expect to see good fishing.

Fishing the harbour, it’s important to fish the edges of the channels, or banks, and often you’ll get a better result there than in the deepest bit of the channel.

Tides are really important, and as a general rule the fishing is often best on an incoming tide if the moon is waxing, and an outgoing tide if the moon is waning.

It’s easy to find out what the phases and tides are on any number of apps.  I’ve just downloaded a good one called Nautide, which does cost just a few dollars but is really useful and soon pays for itself with one decent haul of snapper.

By fishing this theory you often can get some good results in the middle of the day when you might otherwise expect it to be a bit quiet.

Summer temps have certainly got the kingfish wound up and into action, and we have enjoyed some good sessions out at Mayor off Nor-west Bay, and only in 18 metres of water.

Not so much luck on the live baits, but these fish were all over the jigs, and happy to pounce on some subsurface stick baits.   A good one that’s been working for us is called a fatboy slim, from DeCoro in the Mount, and not only do the kingies like it, we even managed a nice snapper on one.

Kingies are a great target species now, and the A Beacon is always worth a punt, plus all the other reefy areas like Penguin Shoals, Centre Rock etc.  And stick baiting the shallower grounds around Karewa is also worth a go, particularly the north-eastern end.

The soft bait fishing in the shallows is awesome right now, and recently out at Mayor, the water was so clear we know a fisherman that could even see them taking the lure.  Softies are a very good summer lure, and work really well fished around all the beaches and inshore foul areas, especially good where the weed or rocks turns to sand.

A big plus seems to be the terakihi fishing, which has picked up nicely again for us fishing out in the middle ground area.

Over the last few years plagues of juvenile snapper have often made it difficult to fish, but last time we were out managed a great haul of good sized teri’s, without too much effort, and only in 32 metres of water or so.

Other end of the scale, the game fishing is yet to kick off but if the warm weather hangs around a bit, it won’t be long before we start seeing the first yellowfin and marlin turning up out around the Rangatira Knoll and back of Mayor.  As soon as enough boats are out there having a crack in the good conditions, the results will likely come if the past couple of years are anything to go by.

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Cheers

Russ

RUSS HAWKINS ...OWNER/SKIPPER FAT BOY CHARTERS

PH 5755986 OR 027 2863638

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