Geoff he has more than tripled his catch since changing baits. He now uses large squid, which he cuts into big, long strip baits. Over a two week period Geoff has landed 50 snapper between 10 and 20 lb and has lost two snapper over 30 lb through being
unable to haul them up over the ledge where he fishes.
Geoff has changed his traces on his rig to 100 lb game leader line to maximise his chances of landing the larger snapper.
Papamoa area
Bruce McConnochie has been kitefishing for 3 years and fishes the Papamoa area. Bruce reported that the fishing here was very patchy over the Christmas break but good catches of snapper are now being taken from Papamoa and Pukehina, although the fish
are smaller in the Pukehina area. Bruce's latest haul using blue mackerel for bait was 2 snapper and 1 shark from 4 hooks set.
Porongahau Fishing Report
Tony Eyles phoned in a report covering the kitefishers who work at the Takapau freezing works.
The guys have been kitefishing from Hawkes Bay right down to Porongahau. The fishing in the whole area has been red hot. At Whirinaki, Clifton, Waipatiki, Porongahau and Hawkes Bay in general he reports snapper and gurnard are being taken one after
another with the odd trevally also being landed.
Over Easter weekend at Porongahau there were two 25lb snapper taken, one 23lb snapper and two 15 pounders from Tonys' gear and from the fishermen on either side of him. Flexiwing Rigs, Big Dropper Rigs and Bottom Longline Rigs are all working well in
these areas.
Doug Bassett caught 6 gurnard, 1 trevally and 1 kahawai off one 10 hook set with a Flexiwing Rig and wound up with 15 big gurnard for the day. According to Tony, the fishing has been good in the area for a while now and with westerlies predicted again
for this weekend, this could be the place to be.
Waipu Cove Fishing Report
During the blustery gales over Easter weekend Lee Johnson fished with his Flexiwing Rig at north of Auckland. Lee set only 5 hooks per set on this day although his rig is capable of setting up to 10 hooks at a time. Lee set his gear out 3 times for
a total of 5 massive kahawai (reported to be the length of his arm) and 2 snapper weighing it at 6 lbs and 8 lbs.
Muriwai Beach Fishing Tackle
I have been fishing with one of your longline rigs mainly at for a couple of years now and am thoroughly enjoying the whole concept and have caught heaps of fish.
I am keen to talk to other kite fisher's and try different methods with different rigs in other spots. One thing that you noticed (and photographed) about my rig was that I have modified my rolling weight by adding a plastic cylinder to help the weight
roll better. The cylinder I had when you saw it was the body of a 2L soft drink bottle. This has worked very well.
I have since upgraded the cylinder to a piece of 75mm downpipe (100mm will probably work better but I didn't have any in my shed).
The problem I found with the rolling weight was that when using 2 or 4 rollers the weight got bogged down in soft sand.
Above : Steve's innovative modification to the rolling weight to improve the performance in soft sand
By adding this cylinder it offers a larger diameter roller and a full width surface no matter how many rollers are being used, thus making the weight roll easier in softer sand. Attached are a couple of photos of the weight with the new cylinder fitted.
Regards Steve Bailey
Barrie Wickins
Thanks Paul, simply love the site, full of very interesting information. I have been using your target hooks on the Waitemata working Crusoe, (along with about 100 other boats). Three of us caught 8 snapper each, however I was the only one to have all
mine lip hooked. I have also been using your target hooks down at White Island and the Mayor. Again excellent lip hook results on trevally and snapper. Keep up the good work.
Regards Barrie Wickens
Weymouth Fishing Report
Sick of all my friends dragging me out to the Waitemata, so I shot out of Weymouth yesterday afternoon (2/4/2) in a south-westerly blow. I went for one of the guts in the middle of the Harbour and shot the boat longline. Conditions being what they were,
I pulled it pretty-well straight away to find two 3.5 lb snapper and 3 just legal ones. When the wind drops I'll be back out for more!
Paul Major Weymouth Boating Club
Reports From Trish
The Crusoe Rock area is still producing school snapper for the rod fishermen, particularly the eastern end between Crusoe and Motuihe. The snapper are in good condition, very fat and giving a good fight on light tackle. Baby squid seems to be the most
popular bait along with fresh mullet.
It was good to hear over Easter weekend those fishing with Target Hooks had no problems getting their bag limit of legal sized snapper as there are still a few small ones around.
Auckland kitefishers are still catching plenty around the local beaches which are still producing school snapper up to 4lb.
Kitefishers using small dropper rigs such as the Flexiwing Rigs and Pocket Sleds have been doing very well in all the inshore areas from Kaiaua right through the Waiheke channel, in the Waitemata Harbour and off the east coast beaches on the North Shore.
Tiri Tiri Maitangi Island
Went and bought a sliding rig from your shop in Onehunga on Saturday morning. I fished Saturday and Sunday out the back of Tiri, and both times I was the main contributor to the bin, not like previous adventures.
Cheers Scott.
Fishing Buddy Wanted
Hello Paul, Could you please insert the following message in the next kitefishing newsletter:
I am interested in making contact with other kite fishermen in Taranaki with the purpose of arranging a gathering of enthusiasts to share tips, techniques, fishing localities etc, and maybe form a branch of the Kitefishing Club if there is an interest
in doing so.
I can be contacted by phoning (06) 7585753 Alistair Morine
Thanks Paul
Regards Alistair Morine
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