It’s great to be back out on the water again enjoying the relative freedom of Level 2.5!
We’ve had a few charters under the belt now since the latest lockdown, including a multi-day adventure over at Great Barrier Island. The workups are firing over those ways, with a big area in the Craddock Channel holding good fish. Long drifts through the action here will yield a good variety of fish, and on Saturday we did this to great effect filling the bin with kings, snapper, trevally, john dory, gurnard and kahawai!
The fishing closer to Auckland is still slow. This is par for the course at this time of year before the water temperature heads upwards. Whilst there have been workups in the Firth of Thames and north of Waiheke and the Noises, the fish are on the small side. The best action for September will continue to be out wide – areas like Great Barrier, the top end of Coromandel, Little Barrier and towards Bream Bay will see the best action until the pilchards move further into the Hauraki Gulf.
On another note, scallop season has begun. We’ve checked out a couple of the usual beds with good results, although the roes could do with another month or so of plumping up. Try sandy areas with a decent current in the 5 – 20m depths – diving flags on anchored vessels over flat bottoms are a sure sign!
