March 2010 - Part 3
Bay of Islands Fishing Report
16th March - What a day! We hardly had any breeze at all, the water was perfectly flat and the fishing was unbelievable. Our first stop produced promising results, the Kahawai weren't biting so the Snapper had a chance of getting to our bait and boy did they come!
The Snapper being caught were averaging around 1-2lbs and most people were getting a chance to catch some. The odd Kahawai made an appearance, gave the angler a great fight, was pulled onboard and released. We only kept the injured ones as they would have died if released. Plus we were able to be very fussy as to what Snapper we kept.
We tried two spots that I have never been to before. The first was one that Skipper Terry suddenly remembered about that used to produce great fish years and years ago. We got our first Snapper around 5-6lbs here so it made it worthwhile trying this spot. The second spot was so close to our swing mooring it was embarrassing. However the results soon got us past that - great Snapper and we were the only charter boat in the area - priceless!!
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This was a day where the Snapper had a chance to bite as the Kahawai left us alone for most of the trip.
We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the fish and half the people on board caught one of the big'uns.
Plus I think everyone got at least one of the Kahawai.
Good Fun and Good Company.
18th March - It blows me away that we are the only Charter Boat fishing in this area. From what I can pick up, the fishing is as close to rubbish as you can get further out in the bay. The water is too blue (which the Snapper hate) and at the moment the swells are huge so I'm guessing that the others are heading in amongst the Islands and our look around there has already established the the fishing is nothing but tiny tiny Snapper interspersed with the odd midsized Kahawai. Whereas we are getting Snapper up to 6lbs and Kahawai up to 8lbs. We're having tons of fun but it is hard work at times when the Kahawai are firing - big powerful fish that don't know when to give up.
It was a strangely quiet day. We returned the first lot of Kahawai as we always get so many that we only keep the wounded ones. Today quickly turned into an exception, by the end of the day we'd only kept 5 Kahawai - 3 for bait and 2 for our clients. The Snapper were very elusive and dropped the bait everytime we tried to strike and hook them. When we eventually found some decent sized Snapper they were in the least likely place. Tomorrow will prove wether it was just a "today" thing or the beginning of a new pattern. A reasonable result by the end of the trip but way down on our previous one.
19th March - We had a boatload of Irishmen on a stag trip today. The accent is amazing but sometimes I felt like I needed a translator but it was fun with an easy going crowd. The fishing started off with a bang with quite a few Kahawai being caught but next to no Snapper. We kept six Kahawai as they were destined for a smoker and then returned the rest to the water. Within an hour of arriving at our first spot the tide went slack and the fishing deteriorated. Eventually, with the tide turned but next to zero flow, we decided to move. We were losing bait at an incredible rate but getting very little return. Our second spot was the one that had fired so well two trips ago. Once again it produced two very good 3lb Snapper and a couple of 1-2lb Snapper within 30 minutes but then it died completely. So we headed off for spots three and four but not a lot was happening at these except a few Kahawai. By the end of the trip we had at least 14 fish (possibly more) including Snapper, Kahawai and a lone Trevally.
20th March - Even as we left the wharf, Terry was undecided as to wether we should go right or left. The fishing on the right had real potential but Terry also wanted to drift between the Black Rocks and the Brampton Reef as the weather was ideal and we hadn't been out there for a while.
We left the wharf and Terry went ...... right !! This turned out to be a very good decision. This new spot that we'd tried over the past few days has been hot and luke warm, so we've been trying to find a pattern. Our first 30 minutes today was HOT. The Snapper were mostly around the 4lb mark, interspersed with the odd Kahawai. However, within 30-40 minutes of arriving the fishing just died completely. So we headed out to the Brampton. We got hammered by Kahawai so badly that the Snapper didn't get a chance but everyone was having fun pulling in these magnificent fighting fish so we didn't really care. We drifted onto the reef and started to lose too many rigs so we had to move. Our last spot (PF) produced the goodies - even better than our first spot. We were still getting lots of Kahawai but the Snapper were big. Our biggest today was 6.5lbs and it was caught by the same guy that had just landed a 4lb Snapper two minutes before.
All in all, a very successful day.
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John Ryan (the doomed man) on his Stag, is seen here with the best fish of the day - both Snapper and Kahawai. Congrats to Colin O'Brien and Michael Veale for the best of their species.
We caught tons of Kahawai today but we also got some pretty good Snapper. From top left we have Adrian Simmonds with the best Snapper of the 1st 30 mins. A great fish but it was soon beaten. We then have Louise Wilson with one of her many Kahawai. Lastly we have Wally Wilson who wasn't doing that well then finally he caught a nice Snapper around 4lbs and two minutes later this very nice 6.5lb Snapper. A late bloomer but not too blooming late (sorry couldn't resist)