1) Be in the zone.  According to most of the local charter operators the kingfish action is a bit off currently, but plenty of good snapper around.  The popular area to fish at the moment has been widely publicised (see the map) being JUST east of the cable zone opposite Takatu Point.  Watch the cable zone! The action is often right on the line.  Although there are plenty of workups appearing on occasion, the fish are still there when the birds are not.  We fished the zone with not a single dolphin or gannet about and could catch as many snapper as you need.  The moral of this story, is hang about and wait for the bite rather than looking all over the place chasing your tail or random bird action.   We had finished fishing, but on the way home the sounder was alive with fish just west of the cable zone north of Tiri as per the map.

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2) Bite times were critical.  Fishing the major and minor bite times  https://www.catchfishing.pro/bite-times/  made all the difference.  Between bite times it seemed barren, even fishing first light which is usually productive was hopeless, but right on queue the fish fired up on the chew both Tuesday and Wednesday and fed aggressively right through the published bite times.

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3) Set up a good drift and fish it through.  Drifting with a sea anchor had us passing over schools of snapper, and when it occasionally quietened off, being patient and drifting on soon had us back on fish without moving around.  One big long drift filled our needs.

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4) Call it quits.  It’s 50 metres and most of the snapper come up blown, so when you have what you need for the pot, perhaps try and head to the sand to target gurnard, or the reefs to look for john dory and kingies etc, rather than smash the snaps when they are easy picking.  The pannies are big and in great nick, so you get a good meal off each one.

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5) LURES: Colour DOES sometimes matter.  We fish only using lures, and generally start with our favourites such as orange kabura patterns, or silver slow pitch jigs.  Last two days the BANGER colour turned out to be DARK RED for some reason.  It started with a dark red kabura outfishing everything else five to one.  Changing to dark red patterns made a huge difference and the magic lure of the day was the 100 gram blood red Catch Boss-Squid, a new design from them we have been testing.  Once the bite came on hard, everything worked, but dark red was certainly the best, especially when it was a bit quiet.  Just goes to show when you are lure fishing to mix it up and sometimes you hit on a find.  It might be that dark is the way to go currently, so give it a try.

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Here’s the Espresso report for this week:

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The Espresso Report June 11, 2020.

Southern blasts of Antarctic-cold airflow from a large high pressure system travelling up the country is bringing a definite chill to the early morning air, but the fish don’t seem to care!

There’s been some great fishing activity out in the gulf, the western side is still the main draw card, Kawau, Flat Rock and up around towards Omaha – but watch that cable zone, could be a very expensive fish.

Eastern side mussel farms have been producing excellent pannie snapper too. Various pop-up workups are on the move too so keep an eye open there are some BIG baitschools around out in 50m attracting the right attention!

Some good but brief fishing weather-windows are coming up for out in the open gulf, but only in small doses, the rest of the time – close in is the go.

This week – go the softbaits! Light jigheads or worm hooks and tiny split shot/sinkers with little softbaits like the ultra-real “Livies” are in demand from gurnard, snapper and the stunning John Dory. Try some aggressive movements – wake ‘em up, then let them sneak up and strike your barely moving lure, especially if you are up early and fishing close quarters, the edges of shadows, a great place to be fishing.

Predators lurking in the shadows looking out with good visibility from the edge of shadow – put your softbait in that area of exposed light, and be ready. Stealth can be vital, kayaks and landbased have an advantage – try to move around calmly with little or no engine noise.

Evening sessions and into the night can also be very productive, especially with the burley approach, line things up with those sou’ westers and target all sorts of fish, John Dory, kingfish, squid with squid jigs, a Lil’ Squidwings, a small stick bait, an unweighted softbait…there’s usually all sorts of fish out and around the back of the transom, not only snapper.

Saturday’s weather is looking great – wherever your fishy destination is, in close early or late, or out into the big wide open chasing down some adrenaline or simply enjoy a drift fish for some beautiful fresh winter fillets and trying to keep the filleting blade sharp.

Well-presented softbaits, microjigs, Kaburas and Beady Eyes are doing very well…little easy to eat tidbits close to the sea floor, fish on. Heavy leader is NOT the go most of the time, if you’re over most of the gulf with no foul ground, 20lb would be spot on.

Enjoy some stunning winter days of fishing.

If you can’t get out fishing, may as well add to your existing knowledge and fishing options, sit back and relax for a few minutes and watch: “An ideal Snapper setup from lure to you explained” perfect for fishing the Hauraki Gulf for instance, this week’s broadcast of the Espresso LIVE series of fishing information. Enjoy.

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Cheers, Captain Espresso.

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

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