This summer has finally delivered some decent weather, and the fishing is typical of a snapper spawning season that seems to not have slowed down much since Spring.

We mainly concentrated on the top of the Firth, where the workups have been steady and quite stable in the areas indicated on the map over the last few days.

One thing that seems to be really important with such an abundance of food around, is fishing the bite times, as the fish just can’t feed flat out all the time naturally.

Most of the action this week has been from 3.00pm onwards top of the Firth.

Most publicized bite times have been very accurate, and are a good way to plan your fishing trips.

Try this one

The Coromandel/Firth workups have not been mammal driven.  

That is, mostly no dolphins or whales, instead it’s our friendly kahawai really stirring up the action and getting the gannets going.

Kahawai workups are generally a bit more sporadic and fast moving, so there’s no need to constantly chase the end of the rainbow as they move about.

A better strategy is just to fish long drifts where the action is or has been, and you will generally pick up fish easily enough.

Often another workup will likely pop up right around you, so follow the birds by all means, but don’t chase every diving gannet or mini-workup, it’s just not necessary.

The shallower Firth workups in 30 – 40 metres will often see big snapper coming right up to the surface (as is clearly visible on this sounder shot) so definitely try fishing just a few metres under the boat when the action is hot, as you can release fish that will not have suffered barotrauma being pulled up from the bottom.

There’s a lot of criticism at the moment for promoting pretty much anything that involves taking fish, or even releasing fish in the gulf.

I get that, but responsible recreational fishing is a right and a privilege at the same time, so please just take this report as a guide to what we know has been working, and make your own responsible decisions about what fish, and how many you choose to keep.

We are all for limiting your catch and practicing catch and release, but also love fishing, catching fish, eating fish, and doing it with a clear enough conscience that we are not all ravaging the planet.

Further north we have had good reports of solid fishing for snapper everywhere from the Barrier to Kawau when the bite time is on, so there’s no particular magic spot X’s at this time of year.

The well-known reef systems such as the fingers etc, will all provide the snapper that you need if the tide and conditions are favourable.

The gulf can really turn it on at the moment, so enjoy and respect it when the weather allows you to get out there.

Speaking of which, the next week or so looks better for celebrating with the beersies on land, as there’s a pretty nasty system coming through for what appears to be the whole first week of 2023!

On that note, Happy New Year to everyone, and stay safe out there.

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All the best from the crew at NZ Fishing World

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