I'm heading up to Napier this weekend, and was wondering how the fishing is going up that way? Trying to decide whether it's worth squeezing a couple of rods in.
Some decent moki on the reefs, cod and kahawai in the surf Some big smoothies around too. Yep, worth a try mate.The snapper don't know where the car park is! Sometimes it is better to travel than to arrive.
Had a four hour session this morning, arrived at 9:00am, two rods, high tide 10:30am. The baits (anchovy) returned to the beach exactly as I had put them out, not touched. Apart from the occasional large swell, conditions were excellent although the water did hold a little colour, looking at the sea I was expecting some action.
At 1:00pm I packed the gear in my car and wandered back down the beach to have a chat with a kontiki angler I have come to know quite well; a friendly fellow who is never shy in passing on information. I watched him retrieve twenty-five hooks, set at varying distances up to a kilometre from shore. Just like my anchovies not one bait had been touched. The only happy creatures that got a feed were the gulls who waited in an orderly line as he cleaned his hooks ready for leaving.
Hope you have better luck Wellyfisher, it was certainly very quiet this morning.
Commiserations on the slow morning. My favourite (most comfortable) fishing spot down here is exactly like that, many days with absolutely nothing. But it's also where i've caught my only snapper, gurnard, and tarakihi.
Is anywhere along awatoto worth a punt? I'm not too fussy as i'm bringing my father in law along. Looking for a fairly easy option for his sake.
After Friday's blank we decided to give the torpedo a run to see what was around a little further off shore. Two sets produced half a dozen really fat kahawai and about a dozen spiny backs, so a Sunday fish barbecue is shortly on the menu.
One poor soul set his torpedo in the water and it was under-weighted by a considerable amount. He launched at least 800 metres down the beach from us and about twenty minutes later he had crossed our line. Fortunately I have an excellent winch and it easily handled pulling both sets to the beach.
Once the end gear, meaning the hooks could be detached, we worked as a team to free his line with no tangles or need to cut a line. The guy could speak very little English but we were able to convey to him why his deployment had gone so horribly wrong. With some help explained mostly by showing him the right gear and with rather ingenious, highly inventive sign language, he was able to retrieve his torpedo and set it again only next time correctly.
The regular long-line anglers along Marine Parade are a truly helpful and friendly lot. This guy had done it right by leaving a large space between himself and the next angler, he just had no idea of the weight required to hold it in place once set, and how to use the tacking plate. I hope his next set worked out okay, there were certainly plenty of fish around, amazing how things can change in such a short space of time, Friday it was a lost cause.
Wellyfisher, I hope you caught up with a few fish, kahawai were thrashing into schools of bait fish, in some cases no more than fifty metres from shore.
Got out briefly to Awatoto on Sunday morning, no luck unfortunately. Was there with a long row of others, counted at least a dozen rods out, didn't see a single one bend over.
Since I was there with my father in law we were only there from about 8.15 till about 10.30. Main thing though was I just fell in love with the place. So many easily accessable beaches around, don't know why i'm living in Wellington! =)
on 29/5/2013, 8:07 pm