With the forecast looking pretty rubbish for the Hauraki Gulf, we set our sights on getting out of Auckland and finding some calmer waters to fish. Upon leaving work, we drove out of town in the pelting rain, and continued to rain all night.
The forecast was a little 50/50 with some swell and changing wind; the trip was risky because we were hoping for a fishable day, but it could have easily gone the other way.
We awoke at 6:30 am to more rain and onshore wind! Not a great start! Not to be put off, we launched at the boat, a few hours shy of the high tide and made our way out in the heaving swell and rain.
Upon reaching the grounds, the wind and swell died off considerably. The rain also abated to sporadic showers, so it was for the rest of the day. Perfect wash fishing conditions, with the residual swell, disturbed waters, and no wind, allowing us to investigate every piece of coastline. Not so calm that we didn’t have to keep an eye on things. The odd rouge swell, still sweeping in, could have caused you grief if you weren’t keeping an eye on things.
Today’s plan was slightly different from the norm, with us fishing a mixture of smaller PowerBaits and the traditional big Gulps! that we use to target XXL fish.
We were fishing the micro 3.5 – 5″ Berkley Powerbaits; saw us, at times, polling snapper. Fish after fish come to the boat in the 45-55cm range. Ultimately, I gave up counting how many fish we caught using this new style of lure fishing.
Using Micro Baits meant sizing our tackle to 8lb braid and 15lb leaders with smaller, lighter Jig Heads. But man, was it effective. The ForkTail Minnows are a dry, scented soft plastic that lasts multiple fish. For myself, there is no substitute for Gulp! But I get the appeal of soft plastics that hold up better to the aggressive nature of snapper. And getting 4-5 fish per PowerBait is a very acceptable return number. So, for this reason, If I’m out for a quick fish and want to get a feed, then I’ll just be using the dry PowerBaits for ease of use and their exceptional fish-catching ability.
After catching about 20-30 fish on the baby PowerBaits, I decided to size up my offerings and go straight to XL Gulp! 9″ Jerk Shad in Slimed. One of my favourite baits for XL snapper and arguably the #1 soft bait for fish over 70cm. My last two snapper – estimated – over 20 pounds have both been on this soft bait, plus multiple fish over 70cm. All released, of course.
Sure enough, after sending the big baits out for the last hour of fishing, I quickly caught two snapper over 70cm. Both were released in good health to catch another day.
We fish heavy for these bigger fish – 15lb braid, 30lb flurocarbon trace, and 6-10kg rods. You must stop them before they stop you!
Date: 20/7/22
Anglers: Hamish Beesley, Albery Lyu, Alistair Arkell
Launch: 7am
Return to ramp: 4:30pm
High Tide: 10:30am
Bite Time: All day, only stopped when we stopped marking fish
Depths fished: 3-15 metres
Number of fish caught: 3 anglers – est 80 snapper
Number of fish kept: 7 snapper
Size range: 30cm-78cm
Bycatch: 5 Kahawai
Most productive lure: Berkley PowerBait 5″ Fork Tail Minnow – Bloodworm
Biggest fish 74cm: Berkley Gulp! 9″ JerkShad Slimed
With such hot fishing, we were pretty knackered and ready to hit the road and get back home by the end of the day. The closed we got close to the magic 20lb mark was a 78cm fish by Hamish Beesley on a new Gulp! Colour being released shortly.
As always, amped for the next one!
