It’s an Autumn feast with anchovies on the menu at the moment.

Anchovies are being chased down by hungry kahawai. You’ll see the tell-tale ‘kahawai birds’ the white tern hovering above giving away their underwater position. Both kahawai and mackerel (some of which are huge) are splashing the surface over wide areas. It’s exciting to spot the frantic game of catch me, the anchovy, if you can.

This action-station style of fast paced fishing is within eyesight or perhaps binocular sight of many shorelines. Even right out into 25-30m all along the Whangaparaoa peninsula, out from the North Shore bays, right around Tiritiri Matangi and in very close in to northern Waiheke. There’s not a great deal of snapper with them in terms of numbers, especially when compared to the kahawai and mackerel. There are still some good snapper around however, trolling along will show them up on your sounder. Be ready to stop and drop a small ‘anchovy-like’ lure and you’ll hook into them.

It seems the bigger snapper are generally out wider in the gulf at present in 47-50m or more. However the inner gulf and outer Waitemata Harbour areas within fast easy reach of every size of boat are a superb place to be fishing right now.

Even with windy weather forecasts, there’s almost always a sheltered lee-side of land with the fish going crazy, and with light tackle a fun fish filled day is on the cards.

Enjoy.