Geoff Thomas: Over the moon about a glorious day out with the snapper

The moon was at its closest point to the Earth for the month 10 days ago, and on that day the fishing was the hottest for some time.

Called perigee, it occurs every month and the moon always appears to be larger than when further away, known as apogee. This month there was a difference of 34,503km in the distance the moon is away from Earth on perigee compared to apogee.

From the Manukau Harbour to the Clevedon Flats and Orere Pt, north of Rakino Island and out to workups in the Hauraki Gulf - those out on the water experienced some great action.

Trout were also running on the beaches on the Rotorua lakes and up the tributaries running into Lake Taupo, although rain and weather also affect these fisheries as much as the moon phase.

One party fishing out off the west coast filled their quota of 10 snapper each in less than hour with fish up to 4kg, and they also boated gurnard, kahawai and sharks.

Inside the harbour a snapper of 5kg was caught in the Papakura Channel; while on the Clevedon Flats two fishermen filled their quota in 40 minutes, including one huge snapper of 8.6kg. Other good bags came from the area between Rakino and Whangaparaoa, under schools of kahawai which are still in residence after the summer.

The small kingfish which were so plentiful have moved out, but the occasional big individual can be found around the islands and reefs all along the coast from the Coromandel Peninsula to Great Barrier Island and further north.

But it is not necessary to travel far to find snapper, and the reefs at Bean Rock, Mission Bay and Browns Bay are all producing fish to small, lightly weighted baits.

Patience is needed, allowing fish time to mouth baits before tightening the line. One angler has been doing well after launching at the Takapuna ramp and simply drifting out to the weed beds and catching fish. It is not even necessary to start the engine.

Mussel farms in the Firth of Thames, at Orere Pt and the bottom end of Waiheke are fishing well, and trevally can be targeted with shellfish bait. The frills from scallops caught during the season can be frozen and make an ideal bait for these tough battlers, which are lovely as sashimi, smoked or simply pan-fried as fresh fillets.

The mussel farm operators prefer boaties not to drop the anchor, as it can become tangled in the mooring lines that stretch a long way out from the mussel lines and cause damage when they try to pull it free. Instead it is better to use a small grapnel on a short rope which is simply tossed on to the ropes of the mussel farm and the boat can be secured this way to the end of a line, or between the lines of floats.

Natural phenomena also influenced anglers' behaviour in the north and in the Bay of Plenty.

A tsunami warning saw boat owners move their craft out to deep water in the Bay of Islands, where snapper are moving in to the shallows and around the oyster farms. Striped marlin are still being hooked, though few boats are fishing for them, and one was caught last week off the back of Stevenson's Island and another off Takou Bay.

And in the Bay of Plenty a series of undersea earthquakes put the fish right off.

The quakes were centred around Whale Island and the Rau Rimu Rocks off Thornton - prime snapper fishing spots - but the fishing shut down.

The dozen quakes up to 4.3 on the Richter Scale occurred late at night and were felt by residents in Whakatane. One sailor felt the shock wave on his yacht while sailing between Whale Island and the Whakatane bar.

Local divers relate stories of being underwater when a quake struck, and being rolled along the bottom by the force of the shock waves. But they do seem to put fish off their feeding behaviour, which is not surprising.

In Rotorua, a lot of trout have run up the Ngongotaha and Waiteti Streams following heavy rain, and fish gathering in schools to spawn move in close to the beaches on Lakes Rotoiti, Tarawera and Okataina as drains spill out into the lake.

Jigging around the island on Rotoiti is also going well, and early morning harling and trolling with five colours of lead-line usually produce fish at this time of year also. Popular lures are black toby, and cobras or Tasmanian Devils in green-yellow, spotted gold and fluorescent pink.

Back to the moon phases and the obvious question is when is the next perigee? Answer: June 15 at 11.22am.