KEY POINTS:
It's the time of year when we are often fishing unfamiliar coastal areas, and it can be hard working out where to head.
Before you launch the boat, call at the local tackle store or petrol station to ask where the fish are biting.
Half the battle in gleaning information is in your approach, but you'll find most people will help if your attitude is right. Residents of many remote areas know that the better time visitors have, the longer they stay and the more they spend.
Safety-wise, a local chart is a must. Plus, if you study the contour lines and depths, you can learn a lot before you even hit the water.
When I'm in the Coromandel area, I often give my crew the chart and ask them where they think we should head. The depths are consistent around the 35m-40m mark but few ever notice there's a single mark of 25m. That means there's a big bit of something rising 10m off the bottom - the ideal spot to target big snapper, john dory and kingfish if wind and tide are favourable. Only 1 per cent ever see it without having it pointed out.
You should also constantly look at the water ahead. You'll often come on commercial crayfish pots set in the area and the last thing you want is to get a line wrapped around your propeller.
Sometimes people brag about lifting a pot and getting a couple of crayfish, but this is just plain theft. These guys work hard in all weathers and are the first to come to your aid if you get in trouble. So don't steal from them.
When you see a crayfish float bobbing around, look at your chart to see what's on the bottom. I'd bet one of Homer Simpson's prized doughnuts that often they're set on a little bit of foul that only the local crayfishermen know about.
Mark it on your chart plotter, then scout around the area to see the shape of the structure. If it's good for crays it'll also probably have a range of your target species.
When you anchor around a reef that has been potted make sure you are clear of any pots as the last thing the commercial boys need is to find fish hooks on their cray lines.
Early in the New Year, I was taking the boat from Mercury Island to Great Barrier, checking the contour lines and pondering if the tide flow bringing nutrients to the surface might be followed by bait fish.
This made me think that there was a good chance of finding a tuna work-up along the edge of a contour line. But true to Murphy's Law when man is on his own in a big cresting sea he will find a school of yellowfin tuna when it is not safe to battle a fish on his own.
