December 2009 - Part 2
Bay of Islands Fishing Report
21st December - A very exciting trip today with a lot of fish caught. Our first stop produced one pannie just over 30cm and we were being monstered by small fish robbing the bait. We moved and this turned out to be fortuitous. From the moment the first line hit the water we started catching fish. The Snapper got steadily bigger and bigger until within half an hour we were not accepting any fish that were under 3lb. The flow of fish on board was continuous, No sooner had we landed and released one Snapper, there were at least one other coming in - if not two. It got to the stage where we were only keeping wounded or big fish. Everyone was confident that they had a use for what they were catching. There were a few novices on board so their first Snappers were exciting and they were amazed when the fish just kept coming. A good day - we're only going out with three tomorrow so I might get a fish myself.
A full on day with a lot of fish caught. It was hard work convincing everyone to only keep what they needed as everyone was getting caught up in the moment. It was so busy that no-one had a chance to eat until they were coming home ( I had my own lunch at home at around 4pm).
A great day and a strong indication that the School Fish Season is not very far away - tomorrow? - the next day? - it's very close.
22nd December - We went out today just to check out if yesterday was a fluke. We had three anglers which was below my usual minimum but they all had fishing experience so it was going to give me a chance to have a fish as well. There were quite a few boats out there, some drifting and some anchored. We chose to anchor as the slight breeze was threatening to strengthen. It was pretty quiet for the first hour so I had a play with the Shimano Lucanus Slow Jigs lure which up to now has had very little success. I've watched the video, and practiced and practiced but have only caught a Rock Cod and a tiny Snapper. The most successful method I've found is drop the lure to roughly where the fish are, put the rod in a holder and find something else to do. This method worked today with (finally) a reasonable 4-5lb Snapper being caught. Pilchard was more successful however, so I returned to fishing with the old faithful bait. After about an hour, the fish started to bite and every drop produced a Snapper. We were able to pick and choose what we kept and everyone went home (including me) with fish.
26th December - The busy season has just kicked off so we had a reasonably full boat. The weather is perfect so we're able to use the entire boat so we have tons of room to fish from. Our first spot was a non-starter, we caught one pannie around 34cm but it soon became apparent that the area wasn't going to produce so we moved on.
Our second spot was the same as what produced so well last trip. Unfortunately Blue Seas had used us as a fish finder last trip and almost camped on top of our anchor. Today they were squatting right on the same spot so we had to settle for another spot about 50m away. I suppose I should be happy that my skipper has so much knowledge that even the opposition needs to use it - says heaps about the opposition really.
Anyway, the fish started to bite right from the onset. People caught just enough to ensure that they were going to have a feed of fish tonight, then they got fussy in what they kept. It was just as well really because the fish slowly got better and better. By the end of the trip we had a lot of Snapper around 3-5lbs, one fantastic 15lb Snapper and a huge 4lb John Dory.
This was one of those days that the girls out performed the guys. Alice Ku, once she got the hang of it, pulled in fish after fish (I think Ricky is on cooking duty tonight seeing as how Alice did all the work. Sarah Moon was another of our successful anglers but I've just noticed that I didn't get a photo. Anyway, Malcolm Nicholson was doing well too but everyone got pipped by Ross Williams when he hooked this 15lb Snapper (he was happier than he looks here - I just couldn't get him to smile for his picture)
