Talk about busy times: we have been flat out at Wave Dancer with our 2 boats boat doing day and evening charters most days. All our skippers have a genuine passion for fishing and know the Hauraki Gulf very well. What this means is you have a better chance of catching that fish of a lifetime. This is what happened a couple of times recently during the tail end of the work up season. The best fish to come on board was just shy of 27 pounds which is a great size snapper, especially being caught on a lure and light tackle. The fish took a 100g Jitterbug between Tiri and Kawau, and skipper Grant Bittle was grinning from ear to ear like a possum in a pear tree.

The new Ocean Angler Jitterbugs have fast become one of our most used lures. We rate lures on results, and the two largest snapper to be caught on Wave Dancer were both caught on Jitterbugs in different locations on different days. It does not take much to figure out these lures are attractive to larger fish. We don't know why, but we do know they work very well.

Currently the fishing in Auckland has changed somewhat. Although we test the Gulf every few days, the bulk of the fish have been located around Auckland Harbour for a number of weeks now. We do get a few strange looks when we pull out of Westhaven to motor for a few minutes then invite customers to try their luck. The strange looks we get soon turn to smiles when the reels start screaming with angry snapper on the ends of their lines. These inshore pannie snapper fight well above their weight and give a great tussle on our light soft baiting sets. To maximise your sports fishing experience with these fish, we down size the gear we use to ensure you have a battle on your hands. If you like light tackle lure fishing it doesn't get much better than now. We have also discovered smaller soft baits are working better than the standard 5 inch Jerk Shads. The outstanding lures for us fishing the Auckland channels by far have been the new Zman PaddlerZ in 4" size and the Zman StreakZ Curly tail also in the smaller 4" size. These perfect table fish are in prime condition and they taste much better than larger snapper

We have recently been cooking fresh fillets coated with the new Fogdog Panko Japanese breadcrumbs. If you have not tried fish coated with Panko breadcrumbs, make sure you do because it is superb. Fogdog is available at most good tackle stores and supermarkets.

If you would like to book a charter, visit our website, www.wavedancer.co.nz and click on booking calendar, or call our friendly booking coordinator, BJ, on 021 880 464

MARLIN FISHING
One of our new skippers, John Tiffin has been fishing the Nationals on Wave Dancer Taranui, and bagged a nice stripy yesterday.

Our boat is available for Marlin Fishing out of Tutakaka for a week towards the end of March. Cost is $350 per person with all tackle provided, (4 anglers only).

If you are interested to fish for a day or 2, please contactjohn@wavedancer.co.nz or call 021 564 669