Set sail for the reefs: big ones are waiting

The reef on the inside of Beach Rock is an ideal spot for winter straylining.

Straylining is a good way of catching snapper ... but be patient.

Last weekend's lovely weather enabled anglers to dust the cobwebs off the boat trailer - and some did well. Casting whole pilchards in towards the rocks along the shoreline of Waiheke Island produced some nice snapper up to 4kg, while those who ventured out into the Hauraki Gulf in search of work-ups were disappointed.

At this time of year, straylining into shallow reefs is always popular. Plenty of berley and floating baits are the key. In remote areas there is always a good chance of nailing a large snapper, and big baits can be used. These may be a whole mackerel, a slab of skinned fresh kahawai or a whole piper or pilchard.

You can also find fish close to the city. Spots like the Browns Bay Reef and Meola Reef will produce snapper, and Bean Rock is another spot which fishes well at this time of year.

A half pilchard with the hook protruding and secured with a half hitch is a good bait for casting.

If you arrive at low tide, you can see where the rocks lie and where the channels are between rocks. Then it is important to set the anchor so the boat lies with its stern facing the rocks when the tide starts running in.

You can never have too much berley, and experienced anglers will have a bag on each corner of the stern, close to the surface. Salmon berley is rich in oil, and a combination of a salmon on one side and pilchard or mussel on the other works well.

Give the berley bags a good shake every now and then to release a cloud of scraps, and when a berley runs low add a fresh one to keep the flow continuous. The berley can also be augmented with small chunks of pilchards tossed out in an arc to cover the water.

This is one situation where light tackle reigns supreme. Forget heavy traces and swivels, and tie a single hook directly to the end of the line. A soft bait rod is ideal, or a 2m rod with a soft tip for casting, combined with 4kg breaking strain monofilament on a small spin reel is good.

Baits are small - half a small pilchard or half a small squid threaded on to a 6/0 hook and secured with a half hitch.

If a strong tide is running, a small ball sinker may be needed to get the bait down.

The baits are cast well out away from the boat and fished with the reel in gear ready to fight a fish. Casts should be staggered in a semi-circle from one side to the other.

Bites will usually be tentative, so wait until the line goes tight before lifting the rod to set the hook. A premature strike will pull the bait out of the mouth of the fish.

In cold temperatures such as we have been having, snapper will be lethargic and what appear to be nibbles from small fish can turn out to be a surprisingly large specimen when hooked. Patience is important, as the bite may not come on for some time.

Fresh Water

There are plenty of trout to be caught by those willing to brave the freezing conditions at Rotorua.

Fly fishing along the shoreline at Lakes Rotoiti, Okataina and Tarawera will produce spawning trout, but many will be dark coloured and in poor condition this late in the season.

Smaller lakes such as Rerewhakaaitu and Rotoma are worth visiting.

Mature trout will return to the point of liberation and try to spawn, but this will not be successful in the lake, where there is no running water.

Bite times

Bite times are 1.35am and 2pm tomorrow, and 2.20am and 2.40pm on Sunday.

Tip of the week

Snapper will be fat at this time of year, with a layer of fat under the skin. It is worth scaling the fish whole then removing the guts and gills and cooking the fish whole. Or, fillet the fish and leave the skin on for cooking. Crispy skin browned in hot oil and butter adds to the eating quality of the fish, and it can be turned over and the pan removed from the heat to cook the other side slowly. This ensures your fish doesn't dry out.

More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 5pm Saturday, TV3, and at GTTackle.co.nz.