Fishing: Finding the perfect spot key to becoming a rock star

NZ Herald

25 Aug, 2017 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Pete Reynolds leans into a snapper while fishing from the rocks at Mahurangi. Photo / Geoff Thomas

The question arises regularly: Where can I go to catch a fish from the shore around Auckland?

For those prepared to venture to the Coromandel or Northland coasts there is a wealth of shore-based opportunities, usually from a rocky promontory where currents clash.

For that is the key to rock fishing - finding a spot where tidal flows sweep past, and for the fish the safety of deep water is never far away.

One clue is to check the contour of the land sweeping down to the sea, for that contour will continue unseen beneath the waves. A steep hillside promises deep water within casting range.

Conversely a fan of gravel and sand growing out from a cleft in the hills has been fed by the river flowing through the valley, and the seabed will slope gradually away into the blue mist below the sparkling surface.

These are the clues the successful angler will look for, and when leaving home in the city of well over a million souls there are many options. The first is the artificial casting platforms like the wharves at Orakei, Cornwallis and Shelly Beach.

These will be producing plenty of baby snapper at the moment but as the weather warms the better fish will turn up. And for those partial to a meal of small fish like jack mackerel and piper the wharves are ideal hunting grounds.

The rocky platforms at the base of Musick Pt and Duders Pt, and the rocks at Whatipu and Muriwai are always popular, but vigilance and an awareness of rogue waves and the incoming tide is imperative.

A drive along the coast of the Firth of Thames to Kaiaua reveals many rocky opportunities, with Orete Point an obvious one.

The North Shore has a wealth of possibilities, starting at the Black Rocks in Milford and winding along the East Coast Bays to the rocky reefs at Browns Bay and Campbells Bay. The rich fishing potential continues on both sides of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula wherever access down to the water beckons.

It continues up past Hadfields Beach, on both sides of Waiwera and along to Mahurangi. There are many places where a brisk walk along the coast reveals a ledge where a bait can be cast.

The key is to work the tides and the weather. Arriving at half tide on the ebb allows plenty of time to fish through the bottom of the tide to half of the incoming.

This has two benefits - the prime bite time is usually on one side of low tide so both are covered, and there will always be safe access as the highest part of the tide may well have cut off retreat.

A well-known and successful Auckland rock fisherman, Peter Reynolds, fishes most days and knows where to go for a couple of hours of late afternoon fishing. He has a few tricks, chief of which is to tie his hook directly on to a short trace of 15kg monofilament connected to his main line of 7kg monofilament. Sinkers and heavy swivels will only drag the line down to snag among rocks or weed.

The floating baits of a half-pilchard which has been salted to make it tougher are dipped into a concoction of salmon berley mixed with mashed baby salmon, and the coating of slimy berley attracts the fish.

He then "walks the bait" by slowly turning the spool on his baitrunner-type reel, to keep the bait moving. Fish are allowed to swim away with the bait before the reel is flicked into gear and the fish is hooked.

At this time of year Milford's Black Rocks can produce fish at low tide in the late afternoon, and good-sized trevally can often be hooked there. When targeting trevally baits of fresh shellfish like mussel or tuatua, tied on the hook with bait elastic, are the best bet and of course a passing snapper won't refuse them either.

A knowledge of what to look for in terms of coastal contours at low tide, a combination of floating baits and long casts and a slowly moving bait can produce fresh fillets for dinner.

And it is right on the doorstep of the country's largest cosmopolitan centre, winter and summer. But from October through to May the fishing just gets better. Fishing at night with glowing lures for squid is also popular along the waterfront and off some of the wharves.

Freshwater

In the Tongariro River experienced anglers are catching some lovely fresh-run trout, along with fish which have spawned, on small natural nymph imitations like caddis and Hare and Copper.

Small streams are also holding good numbers of fish, but they are hard to hook. On Lake Taupo the first smelt are showing, and trout caught at the Tokaanu hole are packed with smelt. Deep trolling with a spotted gold cobra or black toby is also producing some nice trout.

On Lake Rotorua trolling in the shallows on the eastern side, from the airport to the Ohau Channel, is producing good catches. At this time of year, smelt start migrating through the channel from Lake Rotoiti to spawn on the sandy shallows in Lake Rotorua.

Trolling with lures like silver toby or purple cobra works well, and a smelt fly added to the trace a metre ahead of the lure is also a useful option. Fly fishermen can cast into the shallows where the lake runs into the channel, but the channel itself remains closed to fishing until the new season opens on October 1.