Winter has certainly arrived with a hiss and a roar, making it harder to get out and catch a feed. It has also been playing havoc with the seabirds and as you may have read, some birds dying of starvation as it has been too windy and rough to feed. When there is a day of settled weather, the birds are going for it and making the most of the weather windows to feed up on pilchards and anchovies.

The bad news for birds is good news for fishermen. What could be easier than following the hungry birds straight to active areas of feeding fish? The Wave Dancer captains are generally finding the baitfish and work ups with ease, and as you all know, work up fishing is what we strive to bring you. It's the best fun you can have as far is we are concerned. If you can get out fishing between the storms, it is well worth the effort because fresh snapper fillets in the middle of winter just seem to taste better.

Make sure you get out fishing whenever the weather allows as the fishing can be red hot. The fish don't go away during summer, they just move out to deeper water. The other good thing about fishing in winter is the size of the fish you catch. The snapper are on average much bigger than in summer. Just yesterday we hooked into a school from a small work-up and they were all big fish averaging 5 kg with the larger ones around 7kg. The exhilaration on Wave Dancer was amazing each time one of these whoppers smashed our Zman Paddle tails!

We have a small favour to ask: If you are able to take a weekday off work at short notice, and would like us to drop you an email when we are going fishing, the weather is mint and the fish are on fire, please can you email Laetitia on info@wavedancer.co.nz and put "Short Notice" in the subject line. She will add your name to a special list of lucky people...

Our favourite rig this time of year out in the deep is the Zman SwimmerZ rigged on a 4oz Cyclops deepwater rig. It's truly a dynamite rig to use around bait schools and is our go-to rig when charter fishing - it's rarely beaten. Now that we have Secret Sauce also available, this rig can be scented by applying a bead of the sticky gel in the belly flap of the soft bait. The scent certainly works extremely well with this rig and onboard Wave Dancer we have noticed its use generally results in the biggest fish.

Come and see for yourself what we are talking about. To make a booking, visit our website, www.wavedancer.co.nz or call Laetitia on 021 880 464
See you onboard

Paul and John

WAVEDANCER PRODUCT REVIEW
We use Ocean Anglers Power Flex Lite multi-purpose rods onboard Wave Dancer. They're multi-purpose because you can use them for deepwater soft baiting, jigging, slow jigging, stray lining and drifting ledger rigs with bait. It's such a relief not to carry around a swag of rods anymore. The Powerflex rod is ideal for catching snapper and the odd kingfish in New Zealand waters. It has been thoroughly tested onboard Wave Dancer charters and we rate it highly.

Winter is also making the Top Catch chain of fishing stores hungry for sales, so they are running a sensational special on an Ocean Angler Power! Flex Lite combined with a Shimano Tyrnos 8 lever drag reel - the perfect match for this rod. This rig is light and powerful and incorporates the best technology available, which will greatly improve your catch rate and enjoyment when you're fishing. Hard to believe, but for a limited time, this combo is available for the red hot price of $449.00. You will save over $350.00, so don't miss out.

Top Catch also stocks the full range of Ocean Angler, Zman softbaits and Secret Sauce to compliment your Powerflex/Shimano combo and will have you catching fish like a pro. Now, where are those hungry birds?

WAVEDANCER CREW CLUB
If you want to go fishing, but don't have enough people to make up a crew,
our crew club is ideal.

Visit www.wavedancer.co.nz and click on booking calendar, and you will see the dates marked in as Crew Club. We also show you how many seats are available on each day so you can make a booking. At the moment, we have seats available on Sunday 14th, 21st, and Monday 22nd August.

To come along call the lovely Laetitia on 021 880 464, or email info@wavedancer.co.nz