Harvey Clark: Time to dig out trout rods

The weather is going to cave in seriously this Labour weekend and beyond, and sea-fishers are better off loading up their trout rods and heading south.

The snapper are definitely coming in closer from the Far North to the Hauraki Gulf - even the Rangitoto Channel has started to produce - but boaties won't get near them with the big blow coming up.

On the other hand, the fishing has been very good in the Rotorua and Tongariro fisheries - the freezers and smokehouses are full - and it will get better because trout love a bit of dirty weather to get them moving and feeding.

On the fringes of the inner Hauraki Gulf, skippers have reported "wonderful sign" everywhere but especially at the 40m mark. That means large schools of snapper showing up on the fish-finder, birds and baitfish schools on the move and pelagic fish such as kahawai boiling up the surface. Prospects for the next two months are excellent.

The present snap of bad weather has checked the sea temperature just below the spawning trigger of 18C and put snapper off the bite. It may be a week or two before conditions settle. A bit more heat and it should be all on.

Boaties super-keen to get out during Labour weekend should try to find sheltered spots where the wind and tide run together. Wind against tide is a big problem at the moment. It's not much fun being blown sideways.

Local fishers who brave the elements should try in close around the Rakino Channel with plenty of berley; in the hole half a kilometre off the Rakino wharf; out behind the Noises and around Tiri; at the 40m line just north of the Ahaaha Rocks; in close off the Rangitoto Lighthouse; and at the northeastern side of Motuihe Island.

The charter skippers have been successful in all those areas and, farther out, large top-conditioned snapper have been boated around the Mokohinaus and the Hen and Chickens.

At the Bay of Islands, experienced fisher Phil Andrews says that in a strong southwesterly, boaties are best to try to tuck in at Oke Bay on the eastern side of Urupukapuka Island, and on the seaward side; look for shelter around the Hole in the Rock; or try off Lion Rock on the way to the Cavalli Islands.

At Doubtless Bay, when the wind allows, boats have been getting good catches off the Mangonui Harbour entrance and just beyond the breakers at Tokerau Bay, where surfcasters have also been successful off the beach from an hour before dark.

In the Tongariro River, where the spring spawning runs are in full swing, you can see trout everywhere in the shallows, mainly recovering spawners, and plenty of fresh-run fish are out in the main currents. Anglers wading the shallows should take care not to trample clean gravel spawning redds.

Tongariro and Tauranga-Taupo anglers who fish to the prevailing conditions are catching 20 or more fish a day. "Thirty in a couple of days" is the common throwaway comment. One local caught the same fish twice (identified by its markings) in half an hour in the same pool.

In the Rotorua fishery, anglers prepared to put in the hours at the Ohau Channel are getting their rewards. A string of trophy fish (4.5kg and up) have been landed, the biggest so far being Rotorua man Anton Donaldson's 7.2kg (15.8lb) splendid brown jack. Most fish here are being caught on smelt patterns.

O'Keefe's tackle shop in Rotorua reports that parents wanting to take their kids fishing for the rest of the holiday weekend should head for the lower Ngongotaha Stream or the attractive little Utahina Stream which flows through the town.

The Utahina, accessible downstream from the Lake Rd bridge, is an excellent spot for a child to learn flyfishing. O'Keefe's says: "Anglers are having some action-packed sessions here."