The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park turns it on again for the crew at Hauraki Gulf Fishing. More and more, our days are filled with casting and making sure we have quality food on the boat and then mixing our days in with some snorkelling to chill out.
The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park has some spectacular bounty in beautiful beaches, swimming grounds, and world-class fishing.
This day had been coming for a while, as the solid onshore winds kept us on dry land for weeks. Finally, we were ready to hit the water, searching for big snapper and hopefully some Paua for dinner. It should be noted we never reveal where we have been fishing, but unless it’s a planned road trip out of Auckland, it’s always within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. We also mix up our areas, so we never thrash the same coastline and crave virgin ground, especially if the current and murky swell hits the rocks.
Thursday, February 17th, was the day after a full moon, with the full moon being present for three days centring on Wednesday 16th. A full moon always means big tides and, with it, strong currents. Many people have pre-determined ideas that fishing on a full moon is rubbish. I don’t subscribe to this theory and find fish generally feed aggressively over a full moon. However, they may be feeding all night and not bite so well during the day. Or only bite at sunrise or sunset. Or as was the case today, generally bite well all day.
Either way, a full moon will never stop us fishing, especially if it’s a good forecast!
Date of Fishing – February 17th
Method – Gulp! soft baits in the shallows
Moon – day after the full
Tide – 3pm low
Launch – 6 am, back on the trailer 6:30 pm
Fish caught – approx. 50.
Size range – 30 -77cm
Bycatch – two kahawai, one undersize kingfish
Best soft baits – Gulp 6″ Grub Orange Belly Shrimp, Gulp 9″ Jerk Shad Slimmed.
Snorkeling – 5 Paua, 2x 125mm, 3x 130mm.
Such was the case today, at first light, with the sun just rising. The fish were right on cue, casting into 5 metres of water and an easily visible bottom. Within half n hour, we’d caught eight snapper ranging from 45-70cm —more than enough food for two people for the week, with anything over 55cm released in good health. Unless a fish is mortally wounded, we release anything over 55cm.
Given that we had planned a big day and had an XXL snapper on our minds, we searched for the fish we were after.
After fishing some spectacular looking ground, we spied an area that we suspected would hold Paua and jumped in for a look. Our suspicions were correct and sitting at about 4 metres in a hidden crack were approx. 12 nice juicy Pauas, that all but a couple appeared to be of legal size. However, given the scarcity of Paua in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, we only took 5, which would be enough for a good feed over a couple of cold beers. Leaving enough to replenish themselves, we’ve made a mental note to check this same crack in a year to see if they are still there or if more are present.
As the sun rose during the day and no onshore wind made the shallow water fishing a little slow, we moved into 10-15 metres where we could not see the bottom and immediately, the fishing picked up again.
We have found the Hauraki Gulf through January and February of 2022, a large volume of snapper in the 35-55cm size range. At times unlimited numbers and even at water temps of 22 degrees plus, it appeared the fish were spawning again, or these were fish that had yet to re-generate. Given that we are now well into February and haven’t seen 18-degree water since November. Something strange is going on, or is this normal behavior?
After releasing plenty of good solid fish, we got onto an area that felt like a big fish could come next cast. Sure enough, a big snapper smashed my Gulp! 9″ Jerk Shad on the drop and then proceeded to take me into the heavy-laden kelp bottom. Unfortunately, I had hooked the fish on the bottom, and within seconds the fish had ploughed through the weed.
This is a crucial example of why we only use 30lb Fluro trace; anything less, and I would have lost the fish. Once stuck, it took a good 10 minutes for us to free the fish, lots of free spooling, getting up-current of the fish, and finally, as I was about to resort to trying to rip the fish out, it managed to pop free. I have often seen people with 20lb fluorocarbon trace lose a fish they spent all day trying to catch because of the light leader.
With the day getting on, we made one. More drift and then decided to fish our way home, stopping at any likely looking areas. The Haruaki Gulf then treated us to mirror calm seas for a glamour ride home.
Another mad day on the Hauraki Gulf that left us frothing for more!
