KEY POINTS:
December and January fishing can often be harder than November and February, for a variety of reasons.
The water is often calm and clear, the sun high in the sky, allowing fish to see line and rigs.
There are frequently boats and other watercraft whizzing around, stereos roaring, driving fish to deeper water and deterring feeding.
And the snapper are mostly past spawning and having their post-sex sleep. That's why it picks up in February, when they want to feed again.
There are some ways to increase your percentages of a good catch.
Fishing early morning and at dusk is much more productive, when light is lower and the angle of the sun is lower on the water. This applies particularly around full moon.
Use cut baits rather than whole ones. The fish have to bite nearer the hook - otherwise you tend to feed lots of little ones. To cut the number of juvenile throw-backs, use larger hooks, at least 6/0.
And to prevent the constant picking off of pilchards, use fresh-caught mullet or kahawai, which not only stays on longer but also catches bigger fish as the little ones tear at it, attracting larger fish that shoulder them out of the way and take the hook.
Whole or cut jack mackerel are a good bait for big snapper and the Hauraki Gulf is full of these right now.
Catch them on small sabiki jigs then use them live with the tail removed to slow their movement or butterflied, hooked either through the back near the dorsal fin or up through the jaw, ensuring the point and barb are well exposed. These will frequently be nailed by john dory which are also in the Gulf and Firth of Thames and off Northland in numbers right now.
Mackerel also make good cut baits for straylining or strip baits for flasher rigs.
They will generally be mid-water, appearing as yellow blobs on the sounder.
Vertical blue columns on the screen may indicate squid and this can be tested with a baited rig. If there are pulls on the line that disappear every time you strike, it probably is squid.
Use a barbed squid jig with pilchard crushed on to it. I don't waste these for bait, they are too good to eat when fresh caught.
If you haven't tried soft-baiting, now is a good time. The movement seems to bring fish on to bite at times when baits won't. Braid line is better than mono because of the feel but is not essential. Drifting beats anchoring and you must use sufficient weight either with a jighead or attached teardrop sinker to ensure you reach the bottom.
When kahawai are surface-feeding but fail to take baits they are probably chasing whitebait or smaller prey. Use saltwater flies with a small ball sinker tied about 20cm up the race. Results from trolling around the outside of the school are greatly improved by use of a plastic plane at the top of the leader, which has similar effect in taking the lure just under the surface.
When seeking scallops, look for areas of good current where there is drop-off from around 2m down to 6m - deeper makes hauling a tough job. The shellfish lie in sandy expanses where food is brought to them by tide; they will not be found above the lowest low-water tide and dislike freshwater, so avoid estuary and creek mouths.
Estuary and creek mouths are where you will find trevally, especially on the outgoing tide. Use shellfish baits, or live earthworms, tied on with bait elastic. Many people make the mistake of using hooks that are too large - 3/0 is plenty and will snag trevs and kahawai, the most likely catch, and mullet and small snapper.
Snapper are running hot in Northland from Doubtless Bay down to the Bay of Islands, large schools of fish in the half kilo range schooling on foul ground, with plenty of four-fifths kilo ones moving through and anglers nailing bag limits with ease.
The gulf has been patchier, with the deeper holes working best and morning and night far more productive especially on the bigger fish.
Easterlies have promoted west coast fishing. Unusually, there are still lots of gurnard in the Manukau Harbour - they usually move offshore when the water warms.
The water temperature off the east coast is conducive to gamefish, approaching 20C, but they are yet to turn up. Some yellowfin tuna have been landed at Tutukaka, some dropped off the Ninepin at the BoI, none seen at Whangaroa or Houhora. The easterlies have pushed the warm East Australian current close in, so when they drop away there will be a flurry of activity to try to land the first marlin of the season.
