KEY POINTS:
Experienced anglers all agree - we're in the midst of an Indian summer.
The snapper arrived late and are staying late. And on Wednesday this week a boat trolling for skipjack in relatively shallow water close-in behind Whale Island near Whakatane hooked a 114kg striped marlin.
Normally the school snapper, the schools of surface-feeding kahawai and the anchovies they feed on have gone to deeper waters by the end of April but this year the snapper fishing remains hot in the inner harbour right up as far as Greenhithe and in shallow areas of the Firth of Thames.
And everyone is talking about soft baits and how well they are working.
John Moran was lucky enough to spend a few days off Great Barrier in the good weather this week, nailing snapper from three to seven kilograms when drift-fishing just off Tryphena Harbour. His group took a wide variety of species, all falling to plastics fished on braid.
The lure must be on or very near the bottom and movement is crucial - but not too much as it gets unrealistic. Short pumps of the rod tip, movement of 10-40cm, is sufficient. Rest and repeat.
Eugyn de Bruyn has adopted another method. Instead of having the weighted soft bait tied at the end of the trace, he uses a ledger-type rig with a one ounce teardrop sinker about half a metre or less below it. The lure "swims" just above the bottom.
Both de Bruyn and TV fishing guru Geoff Thomas worked the back of The Noises during the week, finding fat snapper generally in the 3kg range - perfect eating.
Thomas recommends putting a bait rig down for mackerel at all times. "We always use fresh baits."
He agrees that the usual catch of yellowtail/jack mackerel are not the best attractant. But they have advantages in that they do not attract the little pickers that strip pilchard and other soft baits inside seconds.
"Use both, fish a pilchard and put a big cut mackerel bait out - if you get something on it will be a bigger fish or a stingray."
Slimy/blue mackerel are the ideal. "The big snapper love them."
The Rangitoto Channel has slowed, possibly due to fishing pressure and boat traffic. The Motuihe and Sergeant Channels are holding school snapper and kingfish are being taken on live baits around Crusoe Rock.
De Bruyn nailed two marlin close off the Poor Knights in water still at 19.5C earlier in the week and is surprised more people are not fishing what has remained a hot-spot for the past three months. The Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers' Club will record its best season yet.
But farther north the gamefishing has been very patchy, with lots of small marlin and many of them playing with lures then dropping them without striking.
The fifth annual Classic Boats contest at Whangaroa last weekend was a success in attracting some real oldies but ordinary in the fishing department with just five gamefish hooked by 16 boats over two days.
Oldest entrant was Little Hinemoa at 104 years, closely followed by the 102-year-old Mistletoe and the 100-year-old Puff. The boat Lamorna took all honours, with one of two tag-and-release marlin catches and one of two underweight marlin landed, at 88.6kg just 3.4kg under the limit, as well as a short-billed spearfish.
That experience seems typical of Far North gamefishing this year - you will only do well if you fluke upon a patch of warmer water holding fish and there is no consistency or regular current trails.
On the Manukau, fish are well up the harbour in the Papakura Channel rather than out near the mouth and the Huia Bank.
Snapper in the 30-35cm range are prolific. Some gurnard are being taken as the nights cool but a few more weeks of cold weather should see the snapper move out and the gurnard come in force. Several anglers report tussles with big trevally. These tough scrappers must be played gently or the hook pulls through their soft mouths.
