By JACK MANGROVE
The cooler weather we are experiencing at the moment is the perfect time to hit the water, so pull on that old woolly jumper and get out there!
Out on the reefs the bigger snapper will make their way onto the closer reefs so places like Sunshine Reef and Jew Shoal should really come alive.
Larger snapper, sweet lip, venus tusk fish, fusilier, moses perch and coral bream have all been accounted for over the last week.
North Reef has produced as well with some nice yellow fin tuna, snappe, trag jew and pearl perch.
One of the local charters did a run up to Double Island Point and really cleaned up coming back with venus tusk fish, moses perch, hussar, longtail tuna, mowong, Maori cod and some nice sized grass sweetlip.
So, with lighter winds forecast for the rest of the week, make sure you get out and get amongst them.
For the river anglers, the cooler weather is also a good thing.
Larger tailor, big bream and big trevally all like the cooler waters and the mouth of the river is a great place to start as the bigger predatorily fish chase bait schools into the river.
Soft plastics, slugs and bait will all lay claim to some quality fish.
Around in Woods Bay big trevally will herd schools of bait to the surface and with the good morning tides we have this week, this is the perfect time to get the poppers and surface walker out.
As the sun gets a little higher in the sky, soft plastics and Micro Jigs will also come into play as the fish sit a little deeper.
For the bait fisherman, fresh mullet, pilchards and salted bonito have all laid claim to some quality fish.
Up towards the lakes and ski runs there have also been some stonker flathead with a lot of the bigger females in the system.
If you start getting onto the flatties and see a few around the 40cm mark, keep working that same area as a lot of the time you will find those larger females with a harem of smaller males vying for her attention.
Up around the deeper holes near the lakes, there have been a few nice school sized jewies. Don’t forget minimum your size limit of 75cm and a bag limit of two.
So, on behalf of Jack Mangrove, best of luck on your fishing adventures!
