Those big fish will be spawning about now and once that happens they will slowly lose condition. I’m guessing most of them will head out of the harbour once the water starts to warm up, but there’s still a good chance of catching a big gurnard.

The west coast is fishing well but most success is coming from the 60m mark or thereabouts. Sharks, especially big tope and spiny dogfish can ruin your day if fishing in close.

Tope are experts at tangling your lines and biting off your terminal tackle while spiny dogfish will bite through your gear and give you a nasty puncture wound to the forearm if you get them to the boat.

A friend of mine lost some gear to sharks recently and reverted to lure fishing. He quickly hooked up on a trio of spiny dogs that were hooked up on his snipped off line and foul hooked on his lure.

It takes special skills to do that!

Scallop season isn’t too far away. It starts on September 1st. Read up on the rules and obey them so there are plenty for all of us.

Good luck out there and stay safe.

Smudge.

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This Manukau / Auckland west coast report is supplied by Michael "Smudge" Parker and supports the Counties Sportfishing Club​

For more information on the Counties Sportfishing Club visit its website here.

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