Fishing: Big snapper, kingfish and crays out there waiting

Diving for crayfish at Great Barrier Island is excellent.

Crayfish, big snapper and kingfish are not far away.

A 12.5kg snapper came from a reef at the top end of the Coromandel Peninsula this week, and a group of divers returned from Great Barrier Island with a good haul of crayfish which they said were all in hard shell and sitting out in the open.

The bigger snapper are targeted by straylining into the rocks around the islands, with plenty of berley. It is a question of working the tides so the current takes the berley and the floating baits in towards the rocks, and dawn and dusk are always the best time for this type of fishing.

The channels are starting to fish well, but the most consistent results are in the Hauraki Gulf in 42-45m of water. You don't need to fish work-ups as they are not always easy to find, but always check out any bird activity. Changes in contour or fish signs on the bottom are other indicators. Flutter jigs and slow jigs all work drifting slowly, and the green kabura is producing consistently.

Kingfish have turned up at the regular hot spots and will be there all summer - Park Point, The Noises and Crusoe Rock and the Pakatoa Reef.

There are good numbers all the way from about 5km north of The Noises up the coast to east of Kawau Island, and into Bream Bay. Those who get out early will beat the wind and might be home for breakfast. The tide is high on the Hauraki Gulf at 10am today so there will be a good current early.

In some areas, the shallow water is fishing well, and small boats can do well in 10m of water in the Firth of Thames, Tamaki Strait, off the East Coast Bays, around Kawau and in Bream Bay. Light line and lightly weighted baits cast well away from the boat are the best approach. Hooks can be tied to the main line, which is a more sensitive rig than the normal swivel and trace combination. A good current is necessary combined with berley.

Spring sees large schools of mackerel and other bait fish move into the inner Hauraki Gulf, with concentrations of mackerel south of Kawau. This brings the predators which means the snapper won't be far away, often on the edges or down current. So you don't need to drive the boat right into the middle of the action as some people like to do.

The west coast can be hot about now. There are plenty of snapper schools in 55m off Raglan, and crayfish are not hard to find around Jacksons Reef.

In the Bay of Plenty, tarakihi are running well in 50m and kingfish are gathering on the outer reefs.

Land-based anglers are doing well at Whangaparaoa and along the coast from Waiwera north. Again, berley tossed out by the cupful and floating baits of half a pilchard fished on a light trace works well. Fishing from an hour before low tide to an hour after allows access to the edge of the rocks, but take care you are not isolated by the incoming tide. The high tide mark is an indicator of how far the water level is likely to rise.

Freshwater

Fish and Game are trying a different approach to the annual spring liberation of yearling trout into Lake Tarawera this week.

As the majority of trout released into the lakes return to the point of liberation to spawn two or thee years later, fishery officers used a boat to transport a thousand fingerlings across the lake to release them at three places - off the Wairua, Waitangi and Twin Creeks Stream mouths.

The aim is to enhance shoreline angling opportunities. The young trout are transferred from the truck which carries fish from the Ngongotaha Hatchery to a special oxygenated tank on the boat and then taken around the lake.

A total of 40,000 young trout have been released into the Rotorua lakes as part of the annual liberation programme.