Patience the key for snapper haul

The Hauraki Gulf winter fishing will draw to a close over the next few weeks and the snapper schools will be gathering in the outer gulf before spawning begins next month.

If the weather continues to warm up earlier than usual as forecast, the gulf fishing will go into pre-spawning mode from now on, when the fish can feed voraciously for brief periods but can be just as hard to bring on the bite as they are in winter.

The sheltered Hauraki Gulf, rich in nutrients, baitfish, shellfish, crustaceans and worms, has been described as the world's best snapper fishery and nursery.

Where else in the world can you catch fine snapper in the middle of a city just a stone's throw from the bottom of the main street?

It is estimated that half the gulf's adult snapper leave for deeper waters about May and return in October.

The other 50 per cent winter over in the gulf around the rocky coasts, reefs and foul areas where they find plenty of cover and food.

There are early signs of pre-spawning schools gathering in the outer gulf now, before their big spawning push into the shallow grazing areas of the inner gulf.

But it is early days, and at the moment the winter fishing techniques remain your best chance of boating a few snapper around Auckland.

Spring is a time for big snapper close in, especially at dawn and dusk, and they will be caught from Auckland to the Far North by rock-fishers prepared to do the early-morning trek and rock-hopping to be in their fishing spots up to an hour before daybreak.

Boat-fishers should concentrate on straylining. They need to stay out of the channels and head for the shallows.

Pick spots where the tide and wind run together if possible, back up toward the reefs, rocks and kelp beds and use large quantities of berley to get a consistent food trail drifting into the fishing spots.

For fishers patient with winter techniques around Auckland, pan-sized snapper and bigger can be taken:

* In Kawau Bay, off the western and southern coasts of Kawau Island and off the coastal river-mouths between Mahurangi and Puhoi, especially after stormy weather brings nutrient down the rivers.

* Around Tiri, at the edges of the Tiri Channel and out to deeper water where pre-spawning schools will be appearing soon before they head for the shallow worm beds and down to the Rangitoto Channel.

* Directly off Huaroa Pt at the tip of Whangaparaoa, around the reefs off Army Bay, and on the northern side of Wellington Reef where a northerly wind on an incoming tide works best.

* Off Long Bay at night; and any of the reef areas down the East Coast Bays are worth a try.

* Along the Rangitoto shallows from the lighthouse to Billy Goat Pt on the northern tip of Motutapu.

* On the northern and western coasts of Rakino Island and Browns Island.

* From Gannet Rock down the northern coast of Waiheke Island to Kauri Pt and out into deeper water where pre-spawners are due this month, gathering for their move into the Firth of Thames.

With winter techniques it can be best not to move around too much. Many experienced fishers prefer to remain in one likely spot, build up the berley trail and show lots of patience.

For fishers of the outer gulf, the place to be is from the tip of Coromandel out as far as Channel Island, a magnificent fishing area that produces the goods all year round, and where straylining in the shallows has been working best.