NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport

<i>Peter Jessup:</i> Snapper supplyy turns as winter looms

By Peter Jessup
NZ Herald·
16 May, 2008 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Opinion by
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

KEY POINTS:

Snapper fishing continues apace but it's on the turn as temperatures drop and changes to technique will be necessary in coming weeks as fish get lazier, less hungry and more wary.

As a measure of how it is now, a party of 12 on Cobalt with skipper Alan
Viscovich was disappointed to have to head for home after all nailing their limit - totalling 108 snapper - inside an hour and a half and just one gurnard and half a dozen kahawai to interrupt the flow of reds.

"It's getting a little bit slower and a little bit harder," Viscovich said of this week, though. He's been hitting the 40m mark at the back of the Noises and north towards Tiritiri Matangi.

"It's different every day. At times, there are no work-ups with dolphins and so on and other days you go from one to the other. But the snapper are there in patches all the time. Sometimes, the kahawai can be a pain there's so many, up to 3kg and feeding right to the bottom." All rigs are working.

Around the island reefs, john dory are taking live yellowtail or soft plastics.

Snapper are still being taken near the barges off Rangitoto and in the Rangitoto and Motuihe channels, though they are smaller than those out wide.

"The change is coming much later than last year, the water is still 18 degrees," Viscovich said.

Kingfish have been few and far between in the lower Hauraki Gulf, better catches reported at Tiri, Flat Rock and other reefs to the north.

Soft bait expert and Synit rod-builder Tiny Coe has been scoring well out from Orere Point, with trevally to 6kg going for three and four-inch swimming mullets.

"There are snapper too in close on the shallow reefs and in the wash and drop-offs. You need the smaller baits because, at this time of year, they aren't going for the big feed. Colour doesn't seem to matter."

The bottom end of Waiheke, Pakatoa Island, Ruth's Passage and the Clevedon Flats are all producing good snapper taken on three and four-inch softies, Coe says. The bigger lures aren't necessary unless in deeper water.

At the Bay of Islands, Geoff Stone reports good snapper in the shallows, which is normal for this time of year. Kingfish are widespread, congregating especially at Rocky Point and the 71m reef. There are large schools of kahawai to 3kg.

"We're hoping they deplete the food source for the barracouta so the barras remain out in deep water where they belong."

I reported on my ill-fated trip to the Three Kings in this column last month, about Rick Pollock's boat Pursuit being driven on to rocks at North Cape by a rogue wind. A week after that, he had arranged lease of Tracker II and has been back at the Kings in recent weeks.

The fishing for big bass and kingfish has been exceptional, Pollock says. The King Bank is the place for marlin with the sea temperature still 20-21deg C and mahimahi are also still there in numbers.

Out around the Far North, the water temperature has dropped markedly and although he says there are still marlin in the area from Cape Karikari to North Cape, they now pick at and drop lures rather than hitting with intention.

The snapper fishing in that area has been brilliant, with fish to 10kg regularly and some to 12kg from Doubtless Bay up and especially around Spirits and Tom Bowling Bays and the Cape, Pollock says.

Pursuit, meanwhile, sustained little structural damage during the grounding.

John Gregory on Primetime had a good week northwest of the Kings on the South Maria Bank, nailing 13 broadbill and 31 marlin.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
Opinion

The rise of Rosmini's 'Horse': Young star gallops to scoring benchmark

07 Jul 09:01 AM
Premium
All Blacks

Is World Rugby targeting the All Blacks with excessive scrutiny?

07 Jul 05:01 AM
Auckland FC

'Best chance': Rogerson commits to Black Knights amid World Cup dreams

07 Jul 04:24 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
The rise of Rosmini's 'Horse': Young star gallops to scoring benchmark

The rise of Rosmini's 'Horse': Young star gallops to scoring benchmark

07 Jul 09:01 AM

Braden Morley scored 30 points in Rosmini’s 40-7 win over Massey High.

Premium
Is World Rugby targeting the All Blacks with excessive scrutiny?

Is World Rugby targeting the All Blacks with excessive scrutiny?

07 Jul 05:01 AM
'Best chance': Rogerson commits to Black Knights amid World Cup dreams

'Best chance': Rogerson commits to Black Knights amid World Cup dreams

07 Jul 04:24 AM
All Blacks v France: Read the best Premium analysis

All Blacks v France: Read the best Premium analysis

07 Jul 03:48 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP