Hi Guys I am starting a new thread in this section because the Whagarei Heads thread in "Saltwater Fishing" is becoming a fishing log which would be better here. Anyway - Out to no 7 buoy this afternoon. Fished for just over an hour with tide half ebb with mullet bait. Two pannies - 35 partially spent male, and 33 very ripe female.
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crayfish5
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #1 - Dec 14th, 2007 at 9:32pm
The weather hasn't been too good. I went out to No 7 buoy on Friday and fished the last of the flood and the first hour and a half of the ebb. No snapper, but some excitement with a 1.2-1.5m Bronze Whaler. I was fishing two heavy tackle rods - heavily swivelled 8oz sinkers and a 20m heavy trace 6/0 circle mutsu and mullet. One went off and stripped off 20m not particularly fast, but against heavy drag. Then, just as the other rod went off the first went slack. I fought the second rod for about 15 mins, and I thought I had a big snapper. Powerful rushes with big nods and lotsa weight on the line in between. Eventually brought the sinker aboard. By that time the fish was done -still nodding but mainly a big weight. Handed the last 20m almost straight up. The shark was absolutely beautiful! It glowed. It looked as if it had been sprayed delicate bronzy pink with a metalic flake in it. I would have loved to have seen what it would taste like, but there was no way I was bringing it into the dinghy, so I kept shortening up on the trace to get as much of it as I could back before I cut it. As the shark was rolled onto its back by the pull of the trace I was surprised how small the teeth were. The gape was about what I expected (say 200-250mm) but the teeth seemed much smaller than the cleaned jaws of that size I have seen - perhaps the gums hide them until they try to bite. White pointers jaws seem to swivel to expose the teeth. Both the hooks were in the top jaw, and I could see the trace from the first rod was trailing. I was thinking about making a grab for that when the shark moved its head and the second trace went across the teeth and that was that. Neat The trace from the first rod had been cut clean a metre from the sinker, but I got almost all of the second one back. The only other excitement was when a guy in a tinny "Rampage" alongside hooked into a big ray which went around both my sets of gear. I had a rod in each hand with the line zapping off at a great rate, and no chance of doing anything except holding the rod tips up and hoping he would stop it before I was spooled. He was eventually broken off, and my lines went slack, but they were both intact, baita and all (unfortunately).
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cb
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #3 - Dec 17th, 2007 at 7:32am
bloody hell. i was at no7 on fri afternnoon till about 7. caught endless snapper and a small kingi. also a very nice blue cod. Took out some work associates from down south who were blown away and got to take home about ten fish. lovin it. hard case picking up a bronzy.
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davflaws
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #4 - Dec 17th, 2007 at 10:27am
I was in the right place at the wrong time. Bugger. So you fished the last half of the ebb and the first hour and a half of the flood? Have you found positioning at no 7 critical? I have been fishing about 70m inshore of the buoy and about 100 m seaward of it. Should I have been further into the channel?
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cb
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #5 - Dec 17th, 2007 at 2:19pm
i find anywhere within 50mtrs of it is fine, however when that current starts wrecking your efforts i go in towards home point just off the current. i'll probably be out there tonight after work.
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #6 - Dec 17th, 2007 at 9:27pm
Thanks for the info on positioning. I'm busy as tonite, hope you did well. If I am a good boy and work hard I will maybe get out for a few hours late tomorrow.
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #7 - Dec 26th, 2007 at 11:21pm
Fished No 7 for an hour and a half Xmas morning - Three quarters flood, heavy gear with salted bonito for pannie snapper - 34 ripening male, 33 partially spent female, and 30 immature female. A 27 went back. I think the foul that emerges as Home Pt reef must go nearly to the buoy, I got picked to death, which often indicates cover for small fish where there is lotsa tide, and left my little danforth buoyed when it became hopelessly fouled. I'll have a dive there at slack water tomorrow. I used to cray dive the area in the 70s and spear kingies round the buoys, but I don't remember the reef going out that far towards No 7. Perhaps an isolated rock with my anchor wrapped round it. Lets hope it also has a shallow cave lined with feelers!
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cb
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #8 - Dec 27th, 2007 at 10:51am
we've been having a hard time of it. getting a few but mostly small as. a couple of trevs of reasonable size and four?!?!? octipus. we fished 7 for ages the other day for crap results then near dark moved over between the two red bouys and out into the bay a bit adn started getting nice pannies. bit bloody windy at the moment.
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #9 - Dec 28th, 2007 at 12:36am
Went out to get my anchor from 50m on the Hope Pt side of No 7 buoy last night at 5pm slack water.. About 15m of very dirty water. Went down the fouled anchor line to really unusual territory. Medium relief foul. Bommies 3-4m high on a broken rocky bottom. Shitloads of butterfly perch (probably saw 200 in the 5 mins I was down there in 3m vis) I have never seen such numbers this far north (except 3 kings where the water temp is lower). Also saw about a dozen red moki, and spectacular sponges and hydroids all over the place. There would be 1-2kt of current there most of the time, so it is only diveable at slack water. My little danforth was fouled on a loop of 30mm diameter terylene that hadn't been there too long and which had been left wrapped around the bommies by some larger vessel. Once I had cleared my anchor, I found there was nowhere to put it where it would hold but not foul, so there wasn't really any opportunity for any exploration. Next time! Came in to the inner channel inside Calliope Is and fished the rising tide in about 6m with light gear til dusk. 12 snapper from legal to 33, most spent or immature (probably put another dozen back), a couple of small trevs and a ripe female trev 38cm. Me and Ellen got spooled and busted off four times between us. Thought it was big trevs or kahawai , but when we finally got to see one before being broken it was hoodlum kingis. Probably not quite legal, but still a pissoff.
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #10 - Dec 31st, 2007 at 10:21am
My partner got skunked last night in the inner channel despite fishing til almost dusk. She still had a nice time. We need some raw fish for the New Year so I went out early this am to no 7 for the last two hours of the ebb. Heavy Gear, mullet, then over to the Mair Bank side for a drift up harbour for the first hour of the flood. Not even a bite. A guy in a Zego was fishing a nuclear chicken on the drift up the main channel, and I saw him take one reasonable fish, and I passed a guy on the Mair Bank side who claimed to have a binful to 4kg on squid. Bummer aye!
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cb
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #11 - Dec 31st, 2007 at 1:47pm
tough life. we fished parua bay entrance night before last to fill up with yellow tails for bait. ended up using half of them. big baits(to beat the tiddlers and yellow tails), bit of a wait but some nice snapper.
jigged the bouys at the entrance a coupkle days back but just stacks of ratties.
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crayfish5
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #12 - Dec 31st, 2007 at 8:08pm
Been out at the hen and chicks last couple of days,bugger all snapper to be found but been having a ball with the kingi's.Lost a lot of gear to better fish but have managed to catch a couple around 11kg time to get some heavier gear.
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #13 - Jan 3rd, 2008 at 12:39pm
Lovely day yesterday - fished Peach cove and the shore between Smugglers and Peach most of the afternoon without anything but Jacks and had a most unproductive scallop dive on my usual marks in Smugglers. Then stopped off in the inner channel inside Calliope Is and fished for two hours until dark. Thirteen pannie snapper from 28 to 42cm and a JD on mulllet and fresh jack. Five smaller went back. No Kahawai or Trevs and the little kingis that took lotsa gear last time were elsewhere. V light gear (2.5kg). The 42cm snapper would have broken me off last week, but I have just started using the method of tying braid that is shown on the Paul's Fishing Kites site - feeding the braid inside a sleeve made from dacron line before knotting. Works a treat!
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iceman
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Re: Whangarei Heads Reply #14 - Jan 3rd, 2008 at 9:04pm