Ahoy folks,
The Hauraki has been putting on some good workup action over the past few weeks. Gannets have generally been found working on either side of the cable zone around Tiritiri Matangi and Kawau islands, and also out further towards the middle of the Gulf where huge Bryde’s whales have also been in attendance – quite a sight to behold!
On some days following the gannets around can be frustrating until the dolphins and fish round up a larger school of bait. If there are boom and bust style workups, it’s often better just to set up long drifts through the area as the fish will be spread out. The full moon last week slowed things down somewhat, although the fish did come on the bite eventually – even if it took waiting it out for a different tide. We expect to be in for a huge November of workup action – plenty of winds from the northerly quarter have pushed the water temperature up recently.
There are a few donkey-sized snapper and kingfish lurking around these workups so don’t be surprised if you hook a freight train! It’s great to see a few kings starting to congregate – although we won’t start kingfish-specific charters until Christmas as they are a bit hit and miss until then and often through spring there are more kingis chasing the workups around than on the reefs anyway.
Cheers
Nick & George
