Haines HQ fishing report.
With the weather going from strong east to north east winds, the good news is, that the wind is now dropping off and I think that from now on we will get a lot more periods of light winds for the next two months.
The only down side to extremely hot calm conditions is the snapper are now moving out to deeper cooler water, in the estuaries and shallow water of the upper harbour the snapper are holding where the current is stronger.
Out from Omaha again the snapper have moved out to around the fifty mark, to the east of Little Barrier where the current is stronger, not only are the king fish giving the bait balls hell, a number of yellow fin tuna have been caught along with one marlin I know of.
As the calmer weather heads to the east of Tiri to find the work ups but for the bait fishermen look at the channel on the western side of Tiri just out from the wharf. The bottom has a significant rise, with stronger current on the in coming tide snapper hold and feed on the face of the rise. Here I would use a running rig with a ½ to 2-meter trace to stop the baits from spinning around.
Out on the worm beds try slightly south of Tiri and across to the east, the work ups in this area are not large but with the anchovies and bait fish in the area there a lot of snapper spread out along the bottom.
The area around Anchorite and to the east especially around the top of the Coromandel’s have numerous works but the bigger snapper are closer to the Coromandel’s where the current is stronger.
Over the last couple of weeks there have been some big snapper in the 50 cm range being caught around or just out from the mussel farms. Catch a few live baits and set them just off the bottom, my mates released some snapper over 9 kg but did keep the john dory and king fish that also took the live baits.
Around the bottom end of Waiheke again look for the current when targeting the shallower water on a hot sunny day, a very consistent producer of snapper in the 35-40 cm range is on the sand on the western side of Pakatoa Island where the current is stronger. Stay clear of the cables to the island down towards the wharf. Out in around twenty meters at the southern end of Hooks Bay again the current is stronger and is fishing well on the incoming tide.
The top end of The Noises on the eastern side is quite deep close in on the rocks but out off the rocks you will find a lot of panicles and foul ground, stray line big fresh baits so they very slowly sink towards the foul as there is a good chance of hooking up not only on snapper but also king fish.
Administration Bay [ the northern side of Motutapu Island ] right along the shore line to Rangitoto light the schools of anchovies are getting hammered by small kahawai king fish with snapper below, try a small silver lure of 4 inch white/ blue soft bait that emulates an anchovy.
Off to the side of Rangitoto channel both on the city side and towards the Rangitoto wharf the current is a bit stronger, fishing a lightly weighted stray line rig on the incoming tide at the change of light in the early evening has produced some really good snapper up to 43 cm.
Rather than trying to fish in the Motuihe channel with all the boat traffic knocking you around try the hole to the north east of Matiatia, it’s got to be good as even my brother caught a feed using a ledger rig. South at Park Point it’s a bit hit and miss but when it fires it’s all go with some reports of people getting a limit in less than an hour.
Up in the inner harbour on the incoming tide anchor, staying clear of the fairway to Bayswater marina, where you see the bottom rising up to the west so your baits will be on the side of the rise but also do long casts to get the bait up towards the top. Best fishing at present here is at the change of light at dawn or dusk but well worth a shot if the tide is right.
With the good weather days on the water can be long and hot so you must take care of your catch. The moment I land a fish I ike it then put it in a bucket of salt water with a big frozen water bottle for around twenty minutes then place it in a chilly bin of ice and frozen water bottles. Before heading home I take the now chilled fish out gut and wash them before covering them in ice, back home they are clean fresh and ready to fillet. I leave the fish I won’t eat that night whole and keep them in the fridge so when filleted the next day the flesh is firm and there is no moisture loss which makes them stunning to eat.
From the team at Haines HQ get out on the water and enjoy it with family and friends.
