Tarakihi spots fishing well
A month of much improved weather hasn’t meant great fishing, but it is slowly improving. Snapper have been showing on the sounder in great numbers all over the place, but getting them to bite is another story altogether. Change-of-light fishing over the foul is still producing reasonable-sized fish if you persist and have a huge amount of berley. Bite times have been notoriously short.
Long-lining has been the way to go during daylight hours, and there are good numbers of gurnard around to help fill the bins. The snapper seem to be congregating a bit earlier this year, ready to head off into the Gulf for spawning. Anywhere in depths over 30m there are huge schools, and they have to bite soon!
Most of the deeper pins around Cuvier and the Aldermen Group are holding good numbers of red snapper and pink maomao on their tops, so if the hapuku are not co-operating, try dropping smaller rigs down. Avoid flasher rigs at the moment though, as the ‘couta are around in epic proportions and it can get quite expensive. Most people targeting hapuku are reporting plenty of spiny dogs too, but I would expect the numbers of vermin to be down by mid to late October.
All the usual tarakihi spots are firing well, and should continue to for a while. A visit to one of the tackle shops or your local club will get you up to date on the latest hot spots.
Scallops are picking up condition and the season looks like being a reasonable one. Reports are that Opito is a bit down on numbers, but the size is definitely there, and the Cove at Great Mercury looks like turning on its best for us again.
There are plenty of crays around, with the bucks in shallow; still plenty of females in berry though.
Those fishing out of Matarangi have a rejuvenated fishing club with a great committee who have had the foresight to join the New Zealand Sportfishing Council, affiliating with another 60-odd clubs around NZ.
