Hi all, good to catch up with you again. Nice bit of rain over the weekend if you work the land that is. If you were trying to go fishing, not so good ah! This unsettled spring just seems to keep on keeping on doesn’t it?
I have had some very good reports on the local trout fishing scene over the weekend and was talking to a guy who landed some very nice fish off the Arapuni dam bridge and off the bank under it. The best one of them was just under 8lb – very nice ah? On the local scene the streams like Waihou and the Rapurapu are still producing some very good fishing in the evenings at the change of light.
In the Rotorua area the jig fishing on the trophy lakes has improved big time. The water temperature has now got up to that 18 degrees mark and this causes the thermal cline layers to settle in the lakes. For example on Lake Rotoiti the smelt will now congregate at about the 20m level. This is where the plankton is and they feed on that and of course, the trout feed on the smelt so – yes, that’s right, that is where you need to drop your jigs to.
To the south to Taupo. Ken Duncan down there, local trout guru, tells me the rivers have been up and down a bit with the rain but have now settled back into a nice fishing mode. He tells me that if he was venturing out this week and he will be, he will be paying particular attention to the Waituanui and the Tauranga/Taupo streams. Out on the lake the jigging has picked up however there seems to be quite a lot of recovering fish in there so be prepared to let the odd one go for another day.
To the sea. Let me firstly say what a terrible, terrible tragedy on the west coast over the weekend. Our thoughts of course, go out to the families. I have said in this report many times the west coast must be treated with the utmost respect. Mother Nature can strike at any time.
The fishing out of Kawhia and Raglan is just amazing at the moment. Big snapper and plenty of them. The charter boys have been heading slightly north of Kawhia just of Gannet Island this past week and have been returning home with limit bags – some of them up and over that magical 20lb mark and on one trip last week,, over half of them were over 10lb. Local fisho Denchy went out last week and had the same results, big snapper and plenty of them. Dwayde Pinny off the Clansman tells me about the 55m mark is the best depth to start in.
To the Coromandel, this is another area that is producing some great fishing. Talking to a very well-known fishing guru, Snow Swney, the other day, he tells me of a recent trip out on a charter boat off Waikawau. They put their line down at 8.15am and were back at the boat ramp before 10.30am with their limit bag of beautiful fat Coro snapper, very nice. Incoming tide seems to be best at the moment. This week low tide is late in the afternoon. Get there about one to two hours before low, fish the change and then the first couple of hours lift.
Over the ranges to the Mercury Bay area, also good fishing. A lot of the snapper are out on the sand at the moment schooling up for spawning. This means spending a bit of extra time with your depth sounder to find them. John Ellwood, local charter skipper up there, tells me the 20m line between Opito Bay and Great Merc is a good place to start.
Over in the Bay of Plenty I have had some reports of good snapper up in the harbour at the moment. There has also been some nice snapper on the middle ground between the mount and Motiti. Another area starting to produce some nice fish is off the knoll at the southern end of Motiti. Change of light is the key there and plenty of burley.
Happy fishing to you all, Bungey.
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