KEY POINTS:
After the strangely late fishing season we've just had, it seems the next run might be coming early.
Big snapper have been caught off the west coast around Mokau in recent days, fish that normally do not turn up until September.
Best so far is a 12.3kg fish, reports Mokau kite expert Geoff Preston, but there have been plenty in the 9/10kg range.
Normally, once these fish appear north of New Plymouth, they slowly make their way north and catches improve progressively at Raglan then Port Waikato, Karioitahi and Muriwai through September to November.
"They are certainly early this year and I expect fishing will improve earlier up north too," Preston said. So far off Karioitahi, it's mostly school sharks.
The kite fishers at Mokau enjoy the benefit of a katabatic wind that flows down from the central plateau and out the river mouth virtually every morning. So even if the wind direction is hard onshore, at ground level and up to about 40 metres, it will be blowing offshore at a strength good enough to carry kites and dropper rigs out.
Preston said the big reds were being caught at dawn and dusk right on the change of light. He uses strips of arrow squid as bait. They are generally out 800 metres or more but he's caught them right in close, "almost by accident when the kite is flopping around".
His personal best is 12.3kg caught in September last year.
"Unfortunately, I was by myself and didn't have anyone to share the excitement."
Paul Barnes from Paul's Kites, an ex-commercial fisherman, has his theories about the unusual run of big reds up the coast rather than down.
He reckons they are more low temperature-tolerant than smaller snapper and seek water that does not change temperature readily during winter. Commercially, he used to catch snapper in 100-200 metres during winter. "It may be colder but it doesn't change much." So the run north may be to go after food following the winter "hibernation".
Meanwhile, the major snapper schools are yet to flow down from the Far North and in from beyond the Hauraki Gulf.
At the Bay of Islands, Geoff Stone, on Major Tom II, reported snapper in close on the islands. Further out, "it's all right when you can get out". The 71-metre reef is holding kingfish in the 10-12kg range with few barracouta to bother things, as is Cape Brett. Hapuku are more prolific east of the cape rather than north towards Whangaroa. The terakihi fishing is unusually slow.
Around Auckland, a few good catches have been made close-in on Kawau and Tiri and around The Noises. Berley hard and be patient. Soft plastics appear to be encouraging more bites, probably because of the movement.
The Manukau fishers continue to take good numbers of gurnard early in the morning before the wind gets up. There are flounder in the harbour and some kahawai. Try targeting trevally at the creek mouths, using small hooks and fresh shellfish baits or, even better, fresh garden worms. The trevs congregate to eat this sort of wash-down.
The dirty water after recent rains is encouraging runs of whitebait and kahawai chasing them. The whitebait season opens next Wednesday but, as usual, it's impossible at this stage to say how it will produce.
Trout fishing is peaking at Taupo with good runs in all the rivers. The flow has dropped somewhat but regular rainfall has left some colour in the water. The size and condition of the fish had improved since last month, said Department of Conservation fisheries manager Glenn Maclean. "We have good conditions, there are lots of anglers on the rivers and they're all doing well," he said.
Many anglers are reverting to natural nymphs this year, which are working well as are glo-bugs.
Around Rotorua, rainbows are still being taken trolling on the lake. The Waititi and Lower Ngongotaha still have fish running. The north of the Ohau Channel is fishing well, anglers are fishing back to the mouth and the harling is good further off the mouth.
Other shoreline fly-fishing has slowed. Lake Okataina is still producing fish. Tarawera has slowed after a better season than last year, the fish bigger and in better condition, Fish and Game surveys have found.
The Rangitakei River and Anawhenua have been less rain-affected than other areas and continue to fish well.
