This is the haul from the morning fishing in Vanuatu . The big yellowfin
were slow but the skip jack and rainbow runners were constant . We used
micro jigs , PE 2-4 rods and 6000 reels . Great fun .
Read MoreOver in New Zealand for a few days , the three of us managed to get out for a fish on one day . We went out from Waiheke island , just off Auckland for snapper and a king fish if possible .
The wind was up and it was very choppy but the 6 metre boat handled it well . On our way to a reef we saw the birds working so after them we went . Never go past birds working ! Well it was the right decision . For the next 3 1/2 hours we caught fish after fish . Paul was on bait , Chris on soft plastics and I was on a micro jig 40 gram . All of us had light gear ,1-3 PE rods and 2500 reels with either 10 lb or 15 lb leader .
Just about every cast we each pulled up a Kawai ( don’t know the spelling but it is the same as an Australian salmon ) . We must have caught over 60 of these . They were making it hard to get to the bottom to hit the snapper but who’s complaining . It was a lot of fun .
In amongst that we did catch a lot of small snapper , but some ice size ones for the table also were boated . The micro jig caught the biggest one . Just as we were about to change spots I hooked a great fish thinking it was s big snapper . The fight was too great for the snapper and in came a niece big kingie on the 40 g micro jig . On my little 1-3 rod and 2500 reel this was a great fight . The fish of the day .
All in all we must have caught and released more than 100 fish . Worth the effort , a lot of fun . Then back to land and off to the wineries for the afternoon . See the photos below .
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For light flathead gear I go down to a 1000 reel , 1-3 kg rod , 4 lb line and 8 lb leader , #2 hook on 1-12th oz jig head . I then put on a 2″ soft plastic Berkeley gulp prawn in new penny colour or peppered prawn colour ( green) . These colours are deadly . Another one is the 3″ Berkeley gulp jerk shad in watermelon or light brown . Any lures that are similar will do ok , I just like these ones .Don’t worry about catching some weed , just clear it off and throw out again. The flathead will be there .
If the flats are reasonably sandy with little weed and rock then troll . If the water is running fast then only troll with the current , not against it as the fish will be facing the current . If the current is little or nothing like in Pittwater then troll up and down and in circles as it stirs up the sand and the flathead come and have a look to see if there is any food .
Here I use the normal flathead gear with the soft plastic . Troll at 3 knots max and hold the rod and jig , jig the lure like it is a wounded bait fish , work the tip of the rod jigging so it comes up towards the front of the boat and then drop the rod tip back behind you so the lure drops to the bottom and sits for a second or two . If it is a bit deeper just use the 3/8 jig head .If the lure goes past s flathead it will get nailed .
At the moment I am talking flathead , but we will talk bream , snapper , kingfish , jewfish ,tailor salmon ,and many others as we go . Also micro jigging, soft plastics , hard body , trolling , popping , deep water jigging , vibes , sometimes live bait , but never never smelly old bait or dead bait !
let me knew your success stories also , but make sure you include , rod , reel , line weight , leader , jig sizes , hook sizes and lure .
this way we will all learn .