Manukau / Auckland West Coast
fishing report
July 3, 2020
We are now dead smack in the middle of one of my favourite fishing times for the harbour. The problem is it is going to end real soon and when it does we will be dead smack in the middle of one of my least favourite times. Hard to please much Smudge? Let me explain. Autumn to early winter rocks it in the harbour. Gurnard, trevally, kahawai and big snapper are all at their best right now. Unfortunately, the weather systems start to deteriorate really fast. There is nothing worse than a nasty sou’ easter to ruin a day on the harbour. The chop will be short & sharp and the water will be a muddy brown colour on those days which will become all too frequent from now until October.
Get a good day and it will be well worth your while for now but sooner or later the fish will quit biting your lures & baits. When the conditions are good I’d be concentrating on kahawai, gurnard and trevally.
Head out over the coast though and it is a different story. You are pretty much guaranteed to catch more spiny dogfish than you could ever hope for! I know that isn’t the most positive thing to say but here’s how you can give yourself a good chance at catching a trophy snap.
Fish shallow. Especially if you have a spot with some foul or structure in close.
By shallow I mean 10m or less when the swell is tiny. Another option is to fish deep and there will be heaps of snapper at 60m.
There may well be a heap of big tope and small but very annoying spiny dogfish too, and they can sap your energy and will-to-live real fast.
When the snapper are on though, it is just worth it.
Structure is hard to find south of the Manukau but head north from the harbour toward Piha or south from the river bar and you are more likely to get some snapper success in the shallows.
There are some great spots in between too but hey, I have to live with the locals! You will get gurnard & trevally in close but I prefer to fish the harbour for those delicacies.
Torpedo and kite fishermen are in their element through July.
There are some very big snapper being caught off the beach – especially in low light conditions. Spare a thought for other beach users and give yourself 500m from your neighbour. One word of advice – NEVER set a longline in the harbour, you will lose the whole lot due to the current and weed.
A couple of weeks ago we had our annual Grunter Hunter event. Here are a few stats from that- 10th placed fish was 1.01kg, 2nd was 1.20kg caught by Michael Tonge and first place was taken out by 14yr old Keegan Wallace, fishing from Graham’s Beach while surfcasting!
His fish weighed a sturdy 1.4kg and he had another very close to that weight. Amazing! He took home $1650, well done young man!
Anyway, I’m going for a gurnard and snapper fish in the harbour this weekend so I better go get the boat ready – unless the coast is flat as it may well be. Decisions, decisions.
Good luck out there and stay safe.
Smudge.
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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