On the western side, from Tiritiri Matangi to Kawau, the better fishing can be found between 20 and 25 metres, but with no work-ups happening many fishermen are anchoring and sending out berley to attract the fish. Drifting and dropping slow jigs and soft baits will pick up some fish, but it is a matter of trying different spots until you find fish.
The pattern is the same in the Firth of Thames where snapper can be found in 18 to 20 metres of water.
Stray-lining with light line in water only three or four metres deep has also been working well along both sides of the Tamaki Strait. Break the head off a pilchard to let the blood and juices run out and cast it unweighted well out from the boat down a berley trail.
Scallops in the Rakino Channel are in good condition, and they are also nice and fat on the Manukau Harbour with no sign of the rotting weed which plagued those who were dredging for scallops in past years.
Some anglers are using the frill from the scallop meat for bait, threading it on to a size 2/0 hook with a very small sinker on a soft bait rod and casting over the banks in the areas where they have been dredging, and hooking some nice trevally.
School snapper are also in the harbour in reasonable numbers, although they are not widespread, being more concentrated at the top of the harbour.
Fishing around the Mercury group of islands has been quiet and crayfish are in deep water around 25m.
But casting soft baits along the coast of Great Barrier Island has been good, from Tryphena to Cape Barrier and Wellington Head.
Kingfish are being reported in good numbers around reefs all through the Bay of Plenty, but snapper fishing is better in deep water.
In the Bay of Islands, anglers on the water at dawn are doing well drifting in 50m, and during the day some nice snapper are being taken on the up-current side of Centre Foul.
Fresh water
Fish and Game officers welcomed help from members of the public after poachers were spotted in the Utuhina Stream at Rotorua last week.
A local person reported seeing four men, one with a rod, in a section of the upper stream which is closed to fishing to protect spawning trout.
The officers found two men holding a net across the stream while a third man tried to drive fish into the net and a fourth man acted as a lookout. The officers called for police assistance, and when two men fled a passing motorist spotted them and directed police.
Fish and Game manager Andy Garrick said: "This quick-thinking motorist allowed us to intercept the offenders - still dripping wet from the stream - and interview them. Two other men were intercepted as they made off across a nearby reserve.
"The member of the public who alerted us at the outset did the right thing by phoning 0800 POACHING."
Anyone convicted of poaching spawning trout could be jailed for up to two years or fined up to $100,000.
Bite times
Bite times are 6am and 6.25pm tomorrow and 6.45am and 7.05pm on Sunday.
Tip of the week
When looking for snapper, in the absence of work-ups follow contour lines on the chart, and look for little nooks and crannies or small patches of foul bottom on the depth sounder. These are places which will hold fish, and can be checked by drifting.
• More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 6.30am Saturday, TV3, and at GTTackle.co.nz.
