January/ February/ March 2024
Throughout Whangaparaoa to Kawau, extending to Flat Rock and the 46-meter mark, anglers have encountered challenges in the waters once known as the golden triangle, particularly with snapper fishing. While catches have been made, they haven’t met our usual expectations.
Currently, on a bad day we would catch 10 undersized snappers for every keeper. A successful day now entails landing 5 undersized snappers for each keeper. The keepers have to be measured / remeasured as they just get 31cm – 33cm fish we don’t normally keep.
Fishing the tidal flow has proven beneficial, particularly two hours before and after high tide. However, targeting solid 40cm to 55cm snappers near Gulf Harbour remains elusive.
In February, our focus shifted to Kingfish trips around Flat Rock, Maori Rock, and Nelson Rock. Despite encountering some Kingfish, we caught 3 and 2 were only heads! Many large sharks around so we stopped these charters so as to not waste the Kingfish.
Exploring the Craddock channel between Horn Rock and Broken Islands has been rewarding, as we have been catching bigger fish there and the area is holding fish. We have also been catching off Fantail Bay and Port Jackson in the 60-meter channel area. It’s a long way out there to catch a decent feed – 2 hours for us to travel there for 4 hours fishing then 2 hours back, but it is worth the adventure as some manta rays are about!7
These areas are not good if there is any wind over 10 knots as anchoring is best, and its deep water. Pick your days to venture out wide!
Mullet bait has shown remarkable durability, being our primary choice for bait. Bonito Tuna sightings were prominent in February and were fun to catch, but they seem to have gone now.
While some big catches have been made, they remain sporadic and predominantly out wide.
What can we expect in April? Hopefully the fish come in closer, as diesel is getting costly! Fish is the most expensive meal we eat currently.
Let’s stay optimistic for the next few months – keep those lines tight, and happy fishing!
Report by Double Rum Fishing and Charters
