I am only going to give you one (new) idea to try and that is fishing deep water with livebaits that need to be near the surface.
Make up some 50lb leaders and fix a float to one end and a hook to the other. You slidebait clip should be above the float.
Cast your sinker out to the deep water and lodge it in the botom. Now slide your first bait on a trace without a float. There will be predators down deep too. Follow that with your float trace and a lively bait. It will slide to the surface and stay there unable to pull the float under. I get as many fish on the floater as the other off the Marine Parade in Napier for instance.
If you follow my articles in the Hawkes Bay Today each week I take this theme a step further and mention some other ideas over the next few weeks.
Good fishing.