Fishing Committee – by Paul Hitchman
Fishing Committee By Paul
The sea temperatures have risen nicely over the last month or so with temperatures up to 22c experienced out wide.
The Aldermans area seems to be the place to be to catch a marlin. A big congratulations to Ryan Housley who caught a 232.9 Blue Marlin in February and is a NZ record for a junior [still to be confirmed]. Mark Menefy did well to catch 174 kg Blue Marlin and Tim Santers a 174.4 kg Blue Marlin. Pictures are on our website.
The snapper have arrived in good numbers with the seasons changing and they are feeding up for the harder times of winter. The harbour has been fishing well, if you can put up with the sea lettuce, as is outside the bar with burley being the secret to attract them. There have been good numbers of trevally caught around the harbour entrance [great fighters on light gear].
The club had a very successful Nautigirls competition on Waitangi Weekend. We had 222 entrants with some nice weather on the day. Some good costumes were worn by a lot of people [pictures on our web site]. It was thrilling to see some wonderful expressions on some winner’s faces as they won prizes and especially the young lady who won the $1000 cash prize for the average weight snapper. A big thank you to all our sponsors and helpers on the day [Thanks again Rose for all your organising].
Our next competition is the Easter L J Hooker competition on the Sunday 4th April [Harbour only fishing] $25 entry fee per person.
The weekend after the Easter competition is the Newmont Waihi Gold and Mitre 10 Waihi , Juniors competition on the Sunday 11th April [Harbour only] $5 entry per Junior. If any junior needs a boat to fish from please contact our office 8635006 by the 3rd April.
We are updating our weigh masters list for fish weighing and are looking for new people willing to do this job, please contact Gary at our office 8635006 if you willing to help.
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming competitions.
Tight Lines
Paul
PADDLECRAB
Harbour: The harbour specialists are managing to get some good snapper fro the Kauri Point area and also around the entrance. Unless softbaiting very long traces are the go. Unfortunately the weed is still with us and this is just a cross we have to bear.
The harbour is still giving up some reasonable trevally and around the entrance itself loads of kahawai have been seen and taken.
In Close: All along the beach from Matakana through to Pettley’s and beyond there are still the odd snapper right in close but can be a little patchy. The tarakihi on the papa rock and other structure are still there in reasonable numbers and gurnard continue to be available along the sand. Have seen quite a few kahawai workups and the kings are available to the persistent angler who is prepared to troll a Rapala Lure around the bar area.
Out Wide: The water temp out around MayorIsland (Monday and Tuesday) was around 19° and I managed to pull in a nice little albacore tuna on my soft bait set. One or two boats in evidence doing the trolling thing (not trawling as some say, trawling is done with a net). We came across sign of tarakihi and saw load of rat kings just on the Western side of Mayor. Snapper, of quite reasonable proportions, are around Mayor Island in good numbers and we fished, on this occasion, with soft baits only so not too sure how other methods are faring but have had reports that “there are no snapper at Mayor” (this from the day before we went out). If you can be adaptable with your fishing method and be prepared to put in some time the snapper are there for the taking.
We are looking forward to the next trip which should be early next week.
Tight lines
HARBOURSIDE HOLIDAY VILLAS
200m from the Bowentown Boating Club
on the waters edge.
Phone Gaylene – 07-8634324 for bookings