Set off from Pier 21 with another 5 anglers in the chilly morning. Overcast skies and a light breeze greeted us as we set off to our fishing spots. I overhead the boat captain, Cam, say that we'll be fishing in the waters near Coromandel.
The first 2 spots we stopped on the way to Coromandel showed some signs of fish on the fish finder but we didn't have any takers. So we proceeded straight to Coromandel.
When we arrived, we could see lots of birds circling an area and dive-bombing the waters! It was an awesome sight!! We saw whales and dolphins around and Cam said that they were herding the baitfish and feeding on them.
Cam tied a Catch Beta Bug on my leader and I dropped it over. From what I understand, I'm supposed to make short lifts with the rod to imitate a fish that has nabbed a squid. This in turn, attracts the bigger fish to the inchiku.
A few minutes later, I had a hit. Hooked up and I slowly reeled the fish in. It was a Pink Snapper but below the legal size. So it was released and I continued fishing. The other anglers were beginning to catch snappers and soon enough, my lure was hit again. Reeled it up and this time the fish was a keeper. Everyone was bringing fish up, the smaller ones were released and those of legal size, went into the chilly bin. Just as I was reeling up my lure, something hard hit the lure in mid-water. It was giving quite a fight and began to come up to the surface. It was a Kahawai and did some jumps. This fella was feisty. Finally boated it and Cam said this was one of the bigger ones!
Dropped my inchiku back down and did a few jigs. Then quite suddenly, a fish grabbed the lure and powered off! This guy was tough and fights deep. Every wind I make, it will pull out the same amount of line. Left my drag as it is and continued to fight the fish. I had a feeling it was the fish that I longed to hook up. A few minutes later, the fish surfaced and it was the fish I wanted, the Yellowtail Kingfish! This was a small version but it sure put up an awesome fight! The legal size is 75cm and this guy was only probably 50cm. After some pics, I speared it back into the water to grow bigger!
The birds moved so we began chasing them. When we reached the baitfish, we just drifted next to the diving birds and dropped our lures over. This time, I had changed my lure to the Shimano Lucanus jig Chartreuse Shrimp. The action for this jig is to touch bottom and slowly make gentle lifts while winding. A few times, I could feel the fish nibbling. The trick is to let it nibble and 'chase' the skirts until it grabs the hooks hiding in amongst the skirts. Soon enough I had hooked up a few more keeper Pink Snapper. When the Snappers are hooked, I can feel them doing some 'head-shakes' as I reel them in. At this time, we had hooked up a total of 25 Snappers. Our bag limit was 7 per angler.
We continued to search for the baitfish school by following the birds. Hooked up a few more as the baitfish school dispersed. By lunch time, the action had quietened down. After our lunch, Cam continued to search for the birds and we zoomed to the birds location. Dropped our jigs over and caught a few more Snappers. I was holding my rod and just when I started to reel, I felt a heavy weight on it. I thought I had snagged the bottom but a quick lift of the rod told me I had hooked up! I didn't feel any nibbles so I just continued to reel up. This time, I didn't feel any head-shakes like Snappers do so Cam said maybe I had foul-hooked the fish. I thought that it was possible, as it felt like reeling up dead weight. When the fish surfaced, it was not a Pink Snapper but a John Dory! I've never caught this fish before and just as it reached the surface, it began flapping about. The first net scoop was unsuccessful and just as the net was placed below the fish a second time, the fish flapped hard and threw the jig out! Phew..luckily the net was below to catch the fish!!
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| It has a humongous mouth! |
We moved out from Coromandel and continued to look for the birds. We spotted another baitfish school but the fish below weren't interested in our jigs. So around 3:30pm, we began our journey back to the pier. In total, we caught 31 Pink Snappers, 5 Kahawai and my John Dory. So I took home my John Dory and 5 Pink Snappers. What a great day fishing, even though it was freaking cold!!
Gear used:
Rod - Shimano TCurve Tropical PE1-2
Reel - Shimano Stradic Ci4 3000
Line - YGK G-Soul Super Jigman X8 35lb
Rig - Shimano Lucanus Chartreuse Shrimp 100g
- Catch Beta bug 80g
Fish ID - Pink Snapper (Pagrus auratus)
- Kahawai aka Australian Salmon (Arripis trutta)
- Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola Ialandi)
- John Dory (Zeus faber)
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