The weather has been rather unsettled over the last 3-4 months.... you probably noticed.
It has been a case of catching a good day! On those days we have found generally very good fishing, with catches of mainly tarakihi and snapper.
There have been three hapuka trips recently all of which produced hapuka, bass, bluenose and gemfish in respectable numbers and sizes.
The trip on Te Kuia on the 18/9/07 was a
great experience for the seven overseas tourists on board. Fishing in
30-40 metres of water, the bite time was short but hot, with excellent
catches of tarakihi (95%)and snapper (5%). Snapper were all over 30 cm
pannies. There were also four John Dory caught. Bonito bait was a waste
of time, but pipi and squid were irresistable. The water temperature is
16 C and the water is very clear.
Same day Ohorere was fishing for only a couple of hours out around Mayor Island in about 85 metres of water. They found plentiful numbers of beautiful big tarakihi, some pink maomao, and normal snapper 27 cm-42 cm and medium red snapper. There were a couple of huge grey whales cruising around and there was a lot of bird activity to be noted.
22/9/07 and 23rd.
Archie fishing with a party out on the Middle Ground was again catching 95% tarakihi, 5 %snapper in about 40 metres. There was quite a roll coming in from the NE but the fishing was on the whole excellent. The odd Trevally and gurnard was also pulled up.
On Sunday in glassy but rolly conditions, the trend was similar for the keepable sized fish, although there were also lots of small snapper which were thrown back. The sign was up off the bottom. They also got some big kahawai and nice blue cod.