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However, when the kingies are off the chew it’s tough going, so bite times are good to keep an eye on.  Once they fire up, live baits, jigs, topwater, you name it, they eat it.

Dolphins are driving workups around fast and furious, anywhere from the top of the Firth, right up to north of Omaha.

Action seems to have shifted more to the east these last few days, particularly towards Kawau it’s east of the cable zone, and can happen anywhere right across to the Happy Jacks, so get your binoculars out and chase the white shimmers of gannets diving to get on the fish.

There’s no need to head all the way out to Barrier at the moment, you have to drive over a lot of fish to find fish! So we’ve been staying local while the spring bite is hot.

The fish are actively hitting lures at this time, but not always the same patterns.

Often anything with a skirt such as kabura or inchiku style lures will be the weapon, and at other times clean metal jigs such as slow pitch or micros will totally dominate, so it pays to experiment, change your kit around on the day, and then stick to what appears to be working best.

There are some really good sized pannie snapper in and around the Rangitoto Channel currently, and as we head closer to Christmas it’s expected that the fishing will move in right up under the harbour bridge and outside the Chelsea Sugar Factory as in past years as snapper spawn.

It looks like this will be happening early again this year, and with a bit of good luck and a bit of good management, the dreaded Covid will not shut us all this time.

Can you believe that it was March last year that we were watching the gorgeous weather from our land locked home detention centres?

There’s still a lot of bait hanging around north of Waiheke that will attract fish at any given stage, so early morning excursions could have you back on dock with a bin full of fish by morning tea time.

Tight lines

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Cheers,

Captain Espresso.

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This report is supplied by Grant 'Espresso' Bittle from Catch and Wave Dancer Charters.

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For Wave Dancer Charters: Visit www.wavedancer.co.nz to make a booking

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