Swarms of snapper

Sun and awesome conditions made for a top afternoon out in a combined sightseeing and fishing trip for a group of guests, with a keen photographer on board.

After a glassy smooth bar crossing, we headed up the coast to take in Anderson’s Cove – only accessible to the public by sea – then out to see Sail Rock up close, the first time our passengers had been out on the water in this area.

Time to get fishing and we found ourselves a sheltered spot on the northern side of Taranga Island, where there were swarms of baby snapper that went on to swim another day!

We got the burley going to attract some bigger fish and that did the trick, resulting in a good haul of snapper as well as a kahawai. Turns out we had a big enough catch that nobody wanted the parrot fish who was keen to come on board, so he went back as well!

It was a fast trip back to Mangawhai and the breeze had come up just a bit so our passengers got to see waves over the bar in action before heading home with bags full of fish.

All in all, an excellent afternoon out in one of our favourite fishing spots.