Geoff Thomas: Warm season brings promise of plenty in reefs and rivers

Photo / Brett Phibbs

The first glimmer of change appeared this week as super-cold winter temperatures started to ease and fishing improved, particularly in the outer Hauraki Gulf.

Some large snapper have been caught in the Firth of Thames in deep water out past Gannet Rock, but generally the cold weather has made fishing hard. The successful anglers are using large baits like whole jack mackerel or yellowtail in about 40m, but they seem to be the exception.

There has been a lot of activity between Little Barrier Island and Flat Rock, and out to Horn Rock, and some commercial long-liners were working around Little Barrier this week, which is an indication of where the fish can be found.

Another bright spot has been at the 200m mark off Pakiri Beach, and further north it is even better from Bream Bay to Three Mile Reef off the Whangarei Heads. The usual pattern is for snapper to concentrate in Bream Bay before moving down the coast and into the gulf, so with warmer weather arriving soon, things will pick up.

The southern side of Great Barrier and around the Broken Islands is another area where there has been a lot of bird activity. There have also been some work-ups off Manly and north of Rangitoto Island, so all the signs are there for an improvement.

The water in the Colville Channel was 14C three days ago. One charter boat reported some fish up to 6kg and a lot of birds around, but not much else happening. "You have got to work at it ... You can have one good day then a disaster," said Cobalt skipper Alan Viskovitch.

While good snapper can be found off the west coast, they are out at 60m, said John Moran of Waiuku.

"We went out on Monday and tried at 20m, then out to 40m, and nothing. Then we went out to 60m and bang! We got our limits," he said.

"On the way home we stopped and picked up some gurnard, but they were very picky. It was all pillies last time, now they were only taking skippie ... We have changed to 10kg fluorescent leader and tying small hooks on a single strand for the droppers, with small baits."

Moran said he caught gurnard up to 1.4kg, but got a fright when he saw something following a hooked gurnard. "It was a massive gurnard, the biggest I have ever seen. I didn't know they grew that big. It must have been 2.5kg at least. Then it turned round and swam back down. What a sight!"

Prospects are looking good for the opening of the new trout season on the Rotorua Lakes on October 1. The trout in Lake Tarawera in particular are of a good size and condition thanks to a late summer and early-autumn smelt spawning, according to Fish and Game officer Matt Osborne.

"This provided plenty of feed and there was a huge improvement in fish quality going into the winter," Osborne said. "Data we've collected from competitions allows us to calculate the size of 2-year-old hatchery fish ... We expect the fish which were released in May 2010, for example, to reach 541mm. That's 21mm longer than last opening.

"Fish caught in our trap on Te Wairoa Stream during the spawning runs this winter were slightly shorter than last year, but heavier and in better condition, with an average length of 577mm and weight 2.51kg."

Lake Rotorua also experienced a healthy autumn smelt run, with an improvement in fish condition after a couple of disappointing seasons.

There have been no changes to Fish and Game's eastern region angling regulations this season. The area of Ruato Bay on Lake Rotoiti, which has been closed, will be open from October 1. But it will be off-limits again from April 1 until September 30 next year.

* More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 5.30pm on TV3, and on the internet TV channel www.FishnHunt.Tv