The Fishing Spot

This summer will definitely be one to remember with the continuous noreasterlies and tailwinds from tropical storms preventing us from getting out on the water! All Christmas and New Year we sat inside watching the weather reports, looking for a small window, waiting for a glimmer of hope, only to see 20 knot winds for another four days. Unless you were in Wellington like I was, where the weather was glamour and the fish were biting hard. I’m back at home now and as I write this, there is a small window tomorrow. It will be wind against tide and it could be raining, but I’m sure as hell going to get out there and get my lines wet.

Don’t stress too much. The weather always settles late summer and early autumn. The fish definitely feed during these months and the long, hot nights make for some great dusk expeditions. It will just be a matter of time before it comes right. Looking ahead, the moon phases over Easter weekend look great for afternoon fishing, so plan to get out then.

This month I had another couple of opportunities to shoot out both in Auckland and Wellington. My trip in Auckland was out with my head chef and we only had a small window before dinner service. The fishing was slower than previous trips. We still landed eight good sized snapper in twohours but we had to cover some ground to find the bite. In Wellington we were setting pots and nets and fishing for blue cod with my new electric reel. It felt a bit like cheating but winding up cod two at a time was a breeze. I’m certainly converted.

Next month we have a couple of game fishing trips planned out of Opua on a mate’s boat. Hopefully mother nature is nice to us and we get a few good days out there towing lures. It’s been a year since we caught a gamefish so I’m really looking forward to getting up there! No doubt you will hear how we get on over the next two months. Until then – tight lines!

Tim Lawrence

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