KEY POINTS:
The Ministry of Fisheries has responded to a range of ecological issues arising in the amateur regulations, changing size rules for gurnard and trumpeter and shifting the Auckland and Northland scallop season.
Amateur anglers have noted a rise in the blue cod population in Auckland/Northland in recent years but often the fish were just under 33cm and had to be returned.
Now MFish has dropped the size limit to 30cm in recognition of the fact the blue cod mature at a smaller size in northern waters than they do in the colder water down south.
Fears of over-fishing have prompted size limits on two species for the first time. As of April 1, red gurnard must now be 25cm and trumpeter 35cm.
The scallop season for Cape Runaway to North Cape is to change from a July opening to September, remaining open to the end of March instead of mid-February. New dates are September 1 to March 31, as opposed to July 15 to February 15.
The change recognises that scallops are not in good condition early in the old season. It is a perfectly sensible one, and will mean young shellfish yet to develop beyond the "snotty" stage do not get needlessly smashed up by dredgers.
Scallops mature at one year and about 50cm across the shell but do not produce significant numbers of larvae until their third year. They take at least two years to reach the 100mm size limit and may live for five years.
Beds around Auckland seemed in particularly good shape this season.
Snapper fishing remains patchy for some and varying technique helps.
While anglers venturing wide in the Hauraki Gulf have had some poor returns, those fishing over mud close-in have done well. The inner harbour, Narrowneck reef, Rough Rock, the reefs up the North Shore beaches and the flats off Clevedon have been producing nice, fat fish up to 4kg.
Use lots of berley and cut baits too, advises John Moran, who nailed his limit in between 1.8m and 4m of water off Clevedon this week.
On a clear-water day with no wind, Moran had four straylines running, one baited with pilchard, one with squid, one with fresh skipjack and one with baby salmon.
"They went for the salmon first every time," he said. "I shifted to salmon on all four lines and started getting triple hook-ups, which was a bit hard to handle on a 3kg line. The fish fight like hell in shallow water."
Ground bait was a key, he said.
The snapper arrived late and appear to be staying in later than usual. But unusually, those fishing first light have often found it hard, with the bite picking up markedly as the day wears on.
In the Manukau Harbour flounder are prolific. Some locals have been catching them on very light line with trout hooks, good sport on light rods.
For snapper, fish the edges of the gutters into drops from 5m to 10m-plus.
Kahawai have been around in size and numbers over the bar but few are being caught inside the harbour.
The northeasterly winds of recent weeks have been ideal for west-coast kite fishers. Gurnard are being taken all along Muriwai Beach, with the best snapper being caught at the top end, according to kite guru Paul Barnes.
Snapper have also been relatively close-in off the east coast beaches that usually produce at this time of the year: Pakiri, Te Arai, Mangawhai and Uretiti. And while the change of light remains the best time, fish are being taken during the day.
Marlin continue to school in numbers off the Poor Knights and gamefishers further north are still doing it hard. Charter skipper Eugyn de Bruin reported plenty of sightings of stripeys feeding on saury. Water conditions have been ideal, good visibility and five knot winds.
But the attacks at lure have been tentative, plenty of boats reporting multiple strikes before they get a hook-up. And bite time has often been brief.
The good water, 21C, lies between Whangarei and Cape Brett. Further north temperature is patchy and inconsistent and the gamefishing is similarly sporadic.
