Hauraki Gulf
fishing report
May 7, 2021
Ed note: After too long not fishing the gulf, it was great to get out for a full couple of days, and pretty much cover the entire inner gulf in search of some decent fishing with pristine autumnal weather allowing perhaps the last of the shorts and T shirts comfort. Fishing was steady and solid, never failing to provide a fairly easy feed of reasonable snapper with a bit of searching. Fishing in close around Waiheke, Rakino, east coast bays, and Kawau was actually pretty slow, with the anchovy schools and close – in workups all but non – existent. Resident fish were there in patches and any of the favourite fishing areas would yield the odd fish, including snapper, john dory, and trevally, plus the odd good roaming kingfish.
Far better action was to be had heading a bit further afield towards the Coromandel.
We fished Anchorite, along with the usual crowd, for not much joy, but get the binoculars out and just south east of Anchorite, and also later north east towards Horn, all the workups were on, and they were quite different in their makeup.
It really confirmed how important it is to use bino’s, as without them the sea looked for all money like a barren wasteland. As soon as you spot some action through the glasses it’s amazing to see what you are missing out on with the naked eye.
We chased the action down the Coromandel coast, and although it was easy to fish a wide area that was covered in quickly moving workups with gannets going in everywhere, most of the fuss was caused by a lot of very good-sized kahawai, and the snapper tended to be very numerous but all on the small side. Great for eating but a little underwhelming given the look of the conditions. Every lure was getting hit, and the best way to avoid the kahawai was to use a really big (150 gram) kabura and get straight to the bottom.
Better action was had by our mate Espresso, who was in the mammal workups between Anchorite and Horn, and rather than skittery kahawai feeding, the big dogs make a real mess of the pilchards which bring in much better snapper and kingies for the feed.
If you’re heading out over the next few days that’s where I’d be going.
Here’s the Espresso Report from Grant:
Absolutely Awesome Autumn!
Almost speechless, spending the last several days fishing and filming the Hauraki Gulf and its surrounding paradise-islands of Little Barrier, Great Barrier, Mokohinaus and more is absolutely gob smacking - sheer beauty and intense fishing adventures we are so fortunate to have, right here.
Massive Brydes whales spouting around the boat, spraying pilchards high in the air as they engulf literally thousands of the delicious morsels - many spilling out of the gaping mouths of the behemoths.
Contingents of highly organised dolphins frantically communicating - rounding up said pilchards as best they can, tag teaming as they contain the bait-ball and taking turns at having lunch. The birdlife manic - as they enter the fray headlong determined to be a part of the bounty, so many types, the cacophony of sounds is mesmerizing.
Awesome autumn it is, especially in the outer gulf gateways.
The kingfish are back on the prowl big time, taking mechanical jigs but they’re also worth targeting with Slow Pitch jigs that descend much slower (e.g. BOSS or Double Trouble ) which helps target them as they move around over wider areas fast, looking for prey falling down from the surface workups, and you can go big too, something like the Deep V .
Flash mobs of solid well-legal kingfish are attacking pilchards on the run, bigger snapper are also aggressively feeding in the same 50m areas as they prepare themselves for the cooler winter months.
Kahawai schools are moving around fast out wide in the gulf, so some areas have many, some have none. There are also large numbers of smaller snapper to be caught around the inner gulf as they too need to feed.
BTW skipjack tuna are still around in patches just out of the confines of the gulf, and there’s been some big H
hapuka and Broadbill caught out the back of Gt Barrier this week with the calm weather encouraging these fishin’ missions.
Hunt With Me on TV. Great to see that fishing is not only included but featured in this locally filmed and produced TV program, Tuesday’s 9:30pm or on demand right here: Hunt with Me , well worth a watch!
Hutchwilco Boat Show is next week. Enjoying some well earned time browsing around the famous show is imminent. Whether just a bit of fishing gear, learning bait-free fishing at the Master Classes I’ll be presenting (look for scheduled times each day), or investing in boats, jet skis, kayaks or whatever your heart desires, it’ll be there.
The New BLACK LABEL LIVIES will be showcased in the huge 1400L jig tank on the Catch stand (No.258). You can see and work their action for yourself, and come and say hi to the Catch Fishing crew!
Cheers
Espresso.
This report is supplied by Grant 'Espresso' Bittle from Catch and Wave Dancer Charters.
For Wave Dancer Charters: Visit www.wavedancer.co.nz to make a booking
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