100 Boating New Zealand
with JOHN EICHELSHEIMTHECATCH
A
fter a spring and summer of incredibly
warm sea surface temperatures, there’s
a good chance late summer/autumn
ishing patterns will extend into June or
even July this year. Game ishing, which
has been very good so far, is certainly
showing no sign of tapering of.
As I write in early April, coastal water temperatures
around New Zealand are still two to ive degrees warmer
than historical averages (air temperatures remain above
average too). And since water takes much longer to cool
than air, it could be a while before the onset of typical
winter ishing.
his seems to be the case in my local ishery, where
marauding kingish continue to patrol the Hauraki Gulf ’s
harbours, estuaries and inshore reefs as though it were mid-
summer, and school snapper are still spread far and wide.TOO WARM FOR ANCHOVIES?
Locally, the normal autumn pattern is for snapper,
kingish, kahawai – and to a lesser extent, predators like
jack mackerel, trevally and john dory – to shadow the
anchovy schools that come inshore at this time.
here’s not much known about anchovy migrations,
but it’s thought they move inshore in response to
changes in water temperature which afect plankton
abundance and may trigger spawning.
Scientists think anchovies need water temperatures of
between 15 and 20°C to successfully spawn; in Australia
anchovies spawn in the open water of sheltered bays,Winter
on hold
According to the calendar
summer is well and truly over,
but in fishing terms it’s still
hanging in there.LEFT Snapper shadow
the anchovy schools
and can be targeted
using a variety of lure
fishing techniques,
including fly fishing.
RIGHT Most kingfish
are under the legal
minimum size, but
still present quite a
challenge on a fly rod.
Photo: Mark Kitteridge