Some of New Zealands top club surfcasters will be meeting in Whakatane next weekend for the prestigious Snapper 1000 fishing Contest. this is an annual event that lures the best snapper fishers from clubs around the country. It is invitation only and is very well patronised. Organiser, Ray Burton works hard (so he says) to put this together each year.
I am wondering what are the favoured baits for the competitors. I favour anchovies, crayfish and octopus. I havnt done any good yet so I am keen to hear what others think. I watched Panser from Taranaki land a nice pannie on a prawn a couple of years ago. I tend to catch kahawai on my anchovies but I know snapper will eat them too. What do you think?The snapper don't know where the car park is! Sometimes it is better to travel than to arrive.
Has Pania had an invite? Didn't hear anything at the last meeting? Oh and in answer to your question. Anchovies have always worked for me and I'm sure Ive heard Occy is good there too? Interestingly Ive always struggled to catch anything there in winter spring but I know others do very well so dont know whay that is.
Anchovies are a favoured bait for the Whakatane/Matata area, however it really depends on the time of the day. During daylight obviously Kahawhai will happily nail a well presented bait, also large yems and small trevalli can be a problem. The favoured time for snapper to show was the hour before and an hour after the change of light during the evenings. This was also the time gurnard came on the feed.
After dark, into the early hours of the morning, was the favourite time for the larger fish to show. Anchovies always worked very well for me and was the standard bait carried by other locals who usually fared better than average.
on 19/9/2014, 1:51 am