Jones Dawkins couldn't be happier with his monster snapper. Photo / Supplied
Jones Dawkins couldn't be happier with his monster snapper. Photo / Supplied
Good fishing stories don't appear as often as they used to but when 11-year-old Jones Dawkins went out last week on his grandfather's boat he came home with a whopper.
Jones, 11 years old, lives in Orewa and he was fishing with his grandfather, Rex Dawkins, and skipper Lenny Rameka on the vessel SeaHawk, along with a friend from Hawke's Bay.
Jones has been fishing since he was six and has been taught skills by Lenny.
Grandad Rex takes up the story: "He likes to get out in the school holidays and we were fishing on the middle ground on the Firth of Thames and Jones was using cut pilchards.
We had only been fishing for an hour when Jones landed his 8.4kg snapper. He played and brought in the whopper all on his own devices. Jones had just had the plaster removed from a broken wrist so his effort in playing the snapper to the surface was extra special.
The rest of the crew on board were laughing as it looked as if he had hooked a kingfish or a good-sized kahawai. The snapper was past recovery when brought on board so unfortunately couldn't be returned to the sea."
There are still some large snapper to be hooked. Twenty-five years ago when we filmed the original Snapper Secrets video, we anchored the boat about 50 metres to the west of the two main rocks at the Ahaaha Rocks and cast large, unweighted baits into the small channel between the rocks.
He played and brought in the whopper on his own. Jones just had the plaster removed from a broken wrist so his effort in playing the snapper to the surface was extra special.
It was about this time of the year, and we hooked some huge snapper. The current was taking our berley into the reef surrounding the rocks which pierced the surface, and our baits were the whole tail section of one fillet of bonito, split down the middle.
The bonito head split in half was another favourite bait which leaked blood and juices and was smashed by the powerful, crushing jaws of the large snapper.
While the mythical 20lb (9.1kg) snapper are more elusive today, they are still out there. And only last weekend one such fish was hooked in the same spot, nudging 10kg on the scales. Because snapper are slow-growing and long-lived, such specimens can take 30 years or more to reach those dimensions.
But they are more likely to be encountered in more remote locations such as the waters of the Far North, the Mokohinau Islands, Great Barrier Island, Horn Rock, the Mercury group, and deep water reefs. Some people have fished for 30 years and are still to score their "20 pounder".
Close to Auckland there are plenty of small fish to keep anglers busy, and the better fishing can be found at the bottom end of Waiheke Island. D'Urville Rocks is holding large numbers of kahawai, with some snapper underneath; and the deep pinnacles out in the Firth of Thames are fishing well, as young Jones will attest.
There are also some kingfish around the Noises, and at this time of year trevally also turn up close to shore. Spots such as Crusoe Rock and Park Point are good areas to target these feisty fighters. They can be attracted by berley, and will take small cut baits of pilchard and bonito; but are also partial to any shellfish bait such as tuatua or mussels.
These soft baits should be tied to the hook with bait elastic, and when trevally are brought to the boat a landing net should be used as the hook can easily tear out of their soft mouths.
Another feature of the local scene is the prevalence of hapuku "pups", juvenile fish which often turn up at this time of year, and the 70m hole on the inside of the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula is one spot where they can be found.
The other regular feature of the winter fishing is the gurnard which can be found on the Manukau and Kaipara Harbours.
They can be hooked in the channels on both tides, and on the channel edges towards the top of the incoming tide as they move onto shallow banks to feed.
The small tides are better, as the powerful currents created by big tides make it hard to keep tackle on the bottom.
And on the Manukau the strong tides also dislodge red weed which fouls fishing lines.
Tips of the week
When targeting big snapper it is hard to beat fresh baits like whole piper or jack mackerel. These can be rigged with a hook reversed so it is facing the tail, on one side near the gut cavity and a half hitch round the tail to secure the bait for casting.
In strong currents a small ball sinker will take the bait down, and it can be secured in the half hitch so it doesn't slide down the trace.
A short trace of 30kg monofilament will protect the line from sharp teeth, and the hook does not have to be a large one. A 6/0 octopus hook is fine, and should match the size of the bait. More fishing action can be found at GTTackle.co.nz.
• Bite times Bite times are 5.30am and 5.55pm tomorrow and 6.20am and 6.45pm on Sunday.
