We have certainly ended up with much better weather this January than last. The fishing however was much harder overall, with a plague of small snapper nearly everywhere. Many of the snapper have not yet spawned or not yet fully spawned which is highly unusual and puts the season at least 4 weeks behind last year. 

Softbaiting in the harbour and channels has been a mixed bag, with the fish there one day and completely absent the next. On really still days of which there have been a few, inchiku lures have provided more movement and better results. If there is very little wind and very little current, fishing has been tough indeed. The fishing has certainly been better on the good moon phases a couple of days after new and full moon, and has usually been much more productive at the change of light. Recently we enjoyed really good fishing from 6 am to 9am before that dreaded SE wind got up, which is the worst wind direction in the gulf. The exceptions to these trends have been if you can find the birds and the work ups. All the rules go out the window in these situations and some of the results we have had have been spectacular, for the amount a fish caught, the size of the fish and how savagely they strike. Softbaits and inchiku jigs have worked as well as any lure can in these situations. 

If you are using soft plastics, make sure it is rigged nice and straight to avoid spinning. 

As we go to print, we are starting to see the work ups return in the middle gulf, which is good news indeed. Most days have rewarded us with good numbers of fish, the largest being about 8kg. 

9th of Feb was the date for the Nauti Girls fishing contest from Whangamata. This is one of the biggest fishing contests in New Zealand with over 700 contestants in 210 boats. Sally Grey and five of her friends: two Karens, two Mels and a Julia, decided to do the contest in style this year. . In addition, to make the trip even better for the girls, they invited along their own "bait bitch", Mark, to do all the dirty work. In past years they've gone out in their own boats but this year they decided to focus on the fishing and not worry about the boat. That's why they contacted Wave Dancer, and Peter, skipper of Wave Dancer Midnight Rider transported the boat down to Whangamata. 

As soon as he arrived, Peter the skipper called on Bubba, the local fishing shop owner and holder of all local knowledge. Go south he whispered. 

The next morning Wave Dancer left the harbour and turned right, while everyone else went left to the Aldermans or out to Mayor Island. 

Drifting across a sandy bottom at 40m off Whiritoa we were straight into snapper, kingies and gurnard. Sally caught a decent sized kingie on 3kg soft bait rod and showed these girls were serious contenders in the competition. Unfortunately, we were plagued by sharks and often when fish were being brought in, lines would suddenly go from vertical to horizontal and a 6 foot mako would get airborne with a snapper in its chops. 

The rest of the day was spent around Mayor Island in hot, calm conditions, so much so that for a while the girls forgot about fishing and swam with passing dolphins. 

The girls caught loads of fish and many varieties, including snapper, terekihi, kingfish, gurnard, porae and ling. They just missed out on the prizes for the largest gurnard but would have gone close for terekihi. Overall, it was a great day, and the Wave Dancer was the ideal boat for the job. We'll be back next year, no worries. 

Remember there are 3 identical Wave Dancer boats, 2 based in Westhaven, and the other in Sandspit. Visit www.wavedancer.co.nz and click on our booking calendar to make a booking, or for more personal service, call BJ, our friendly booking coordinator on 021 880 464 

The Team from Wave Dancer

Happy New Year from the team at Wave Dancer

The fishing in December was generally good, there were still plenty of work ups out wide with Brydes whales, dolphins, snapper, kahawai, gannets and kingfish all chasing the pilchard schools.

Towards the end of the month the snapper had moved into the Waitamata Harbour, into water as shallow as 7 to 9 metres and right under the harbour bridge.

Traditionally in the holiday time of year, the fishing can be quite patchy. It's predominantly due to a few factors: Increased boat traffic, and spawning. The fish are spawning right now, and when the snapper have pro creation on their minds, it can be a challenge to get them interested in biting our lures. This can make for frustrating days, but the fish do turn their attention away from spawning and onto food periodically. This creates some days that have slim pickings with the next day being full on.

Snapper in shallow waters are put off by the noise of boat traffic, however by drifting quietly and casting softbaits a distance from the boat can give good results. . Silence is important the snapper are easily spooked.

None of this applies out wide of course, with the best results having been from anglers who have found workups, and the Jitterbug Inchiku style jigs are deadly. Even without work ups the fishing has been generally good at around 35 metres right across to Coromandel. Saying that, we tend to find the inshore fishing is mostly better than the out wide work up chasing during the spawn. On a few recent charters, we stopped just off Westhaven Marina and received few strange looks, however these strange looks soon turn to smiles when the fish start coming aboard. There is an old saying that says “fish your feet first” and this saying really comes in to its own at the moment. If you want to have a good chance of catching a feed fish inshore, then don't go past North Head.

When planning to go fishing inshore, the two most important factors are tide and wind. Ideally you want to have the tide and wind going in the same direction. For example in a South West wind, fishing the outgoing tide is best and in a Northerly or Easterly wind fishing the incoming tide is best. The fish feed when there is current, and quite simply when there is no current flow, you will catch zilch. There also seems to be a bite just after peak flow on each tide, when the fish have one last feed up before the tide stops.

We never use bait inshore. We predominantly use soft baits as our number one choice and you need to use enough weight to get them dragging through the mud along the sea floor. If you can't feel your lure dragging along the bottom, put on more weight or maybe you need to let out more line out until you feel the lure bouncing along the sea floor. Our favourite lures are Zman 4" Curly Tail soft baits in the colours New Penny and Shiner. The inshore fishing is a lot of fun for the whole family. The fish fight like they're on steroids and are awesome to eat.

All three of The Wave Dancer boats are out everyday, offering a day charter and an evening charter commencing at 4pm. Give our friendly booking coordinator a call on 021 880 464 or email info@wavedancer.co.nz to make a booking

Hope to see you soon

Fishing the Windows
What's the best part about bad weather? It really does protect our fish stocks. Going by the weather this summer the gulf should be chocker full of fish. That sure seems to be the case the few times we have managed to out over the past month. The sea temps have started to fall and the Snapper are on the move back out to the deeper waters of the gulf. This just happens to coincide with a huge influx of anchovies moving in to the harbour which makes for a decent collision of hungry snapper and fleeing anchovies. The water depths from 10-30M in the gulf are absolutely full of anchovies and we have been catching plenty of fish chasing this annual event. Terns and shearwaters make the anchovy schools easy to find and the kahawai and snapper have been having a good chew on these tasty baitfish. We have been targeting the snapper amongst this mayhem by using heavier Jitterbugs in the 80g size to get down quickly through the kahawai and into the snapper. This technique works we! ll at this time of the year.

Even better news is the start of the autumn work ups. We have been testing the outer gulf as often as we can between weather bombs, and have generally had success finding work ups on most trips. The cooling of the water does trigger the workups back in to action. We look forward to this seasonal change because the summer usually means inshore fishing. Getting out wide to the spectacular areas like Coromandel, Anchorite Rock, Firth of Thames and West Coast of Great Barrier is where our operation gets to shine. Our boats go fast which means we get you into the action quicker. So, time to dust off the work up gear and catch some big snapper. For anyone that hasn't experienced work up fishing, put it on your bucket list, and come and join us to see this amazing experience for yourself.
Our recommended lure for the upcoming month would have to be 80g Jitterbug which gives you the option of getting down below the Kahawai inshore to the snapper and is also dynamite out in the offshore work up action.
Lastly, we still have some spots available for our marlin charters in April, (despite the fact our booking calendar shows us to be fully booked). Please give BJ a call to check which spots are still available.

To make a booking, call BJ on 021 880 464, or email info@wavedancer.co.nz

John, Paul and the Wave Dancer team

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

Big Fat Snapper

If you like feasting on fat snapper in prime condition, now is your time. The snapper have been feeding hard for the upcoming spawn and they're in fantastic condition. They are fat, and the taste is superb.

What's been happening out in the Hauraki Gulf? We are starting to sound like a stuck record; it's still on fire big-time and just keeps getting better. We have been getting limit bags on just about every trip, and we sometimes find ourselves driving away from the schools of snapper to make the fishing a bit more challenging for our anglers. Now that just does not sound right.

We have a great network of people out on the water combined with our team's passion to keep tabs on where the fish are holding and it equates to Wave Dancer constantly being fed information to where the fish are holding. Most days we can take you straight to the action as we already know where the fish are before we leave the dock.

The average size of our catches is excellent at the moment with the largest fish this month going to Mike Jenkins with a beauty of 22 pounds which nailed a 100 gram pink/white Jitter bug. Speaking of Jitterbugs they are now in stock at all good tackle retailers and they have been absolutely deadly effective. These lures are so good it's almost unfair.

We have a new captain who has joined us and like all the Wave Dancer captains, he is full of passion and his life style is based around fishing. James Brown has joined the Wave Dancer team. You may recognize the name as he is writing for NZ Fishing News and is also on the front cover of the latest fishing magazine. James has already proven himself with a fine catch rate and a very professional attitude to ensure you receive top notch service on your charter. Welcome James. Also welcome to BJ Rhodes, our new booking coordinator. BJ is the friendly and knowledge voice at the end of 021 880 464 when you call to make a booking.

As you know, Wave Dancer has 2 identical vessels, and we have had quite a few double boat bookings which are proving to be a lot of fun. There is always a lot of boat to boat banter in the air, and we can arrange a match fishing contest if you wish. The format we have been using is this: both teams get a brief on what the fishing has been like and a few clues to what lures have been working. We then lay a few lures on the table and the teams take it in turns to select their lures. We then fish the same area for an allocated amount of time, and then each team will present their 4 longest fish to be judged. The team with the total combined length of the fish wins. It creates an intense sense of competition between the boats and our captains try that little bit harder as they also want win. If this is something that interests you, give BJ a call on 021 880 464 and let him know, and let the games begin.!

The fishing remains hot, our boats are kept finely tuned and our tackle and lures are the best we can get. The Snapper season is peaking right now, if you want to come for a fishing experience in the beautiful Hauraki Gulf, we would love to hear from you. Regardless if you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, we will cater for your needs.

We have had lots of enquiries for bookings over the holiday period. Our boats will be working all through the holidays, and we run a day charter and an evening charter every day. We will also be running some parent and child fishing days during January. Dates for these days will be advised shortly.

As 2011 draws to an end, we would like to thank all our customers who have supported us, and look forward to welcoming readers of the newsletter we haven't met yet. Everyone that has been on a Wave Dancer charter knows that we do our best to provide an awesome fishing experience, and the ever growing list of regular clients proves we must be delivering.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and be safe on the water if you are going fishing.

John, Paul and the Wave Dancer team

Big news this month is our second boat has been launched. It's brand new and super shiny, with a hot new graphics on the hull to match her twin sister. We have been busy this week getting her into survey and we will be ready to go late September. More good news being we have a new skipper in the team. His name is Grant Bittle, and this man breathes Snapper, is a softbait fanatic and has caught thousands of Snapper on lures around Auckland. He has also spent hundreds of days in the Hauraki Gulf sniffing out work ups. Grants passion is contagious and you will feel the excitement he has for fishing when you meet him.



August is traditionally one of the slowest months for fishing in the Hauraki Gulf, which means some days have been tough going. We experienced good and bad fishing throughout August with catch results ranging from limit bags to a handful of fish being caught. The bite times can be short and the fish can be finicky, which gives the thinking anglers good opportunities to hone their skills with rod technique and selecting the right lure for the job. Small changes to your technique, switching to a different lure, adding a smear of Secret Sauce and going down in line and leader size can all make a huge difference when the fishing is tough. We use 8lb braid and 15lb fluorocarbon on our Jerk Shading rods, which is light but also very strong; I would suggest you check your line sizes and go light, it can be key to getting fussy fish to bite. You can also go down in lure size and jig head weight to get more of a fluttering action on the drop. Be aware it will take longer to get do! wn and you will need to be patient getting your lure to the sea floor. Once it is down there you don’t want to be winding up to check if your softbait is in one piece, the best tip I can give for this technique is to use strong and durable softbaits.
We have been using ZMans new lure called the PaddlerZ which is a 5”bait with a slim line paddle on the tail, this gives the lure added action and also creates a bit more drag on the drop giving this lure more hang time on the way to the seafloor, it has been deadly on tough days and has truly raised the bar in softbait design. We use ZMan Softbaits onboard Wavedancer Charters and have found them ideal for this style of light tackle fishing. Other lures that are ideal for light line fishing are Inchiku jigs (Bottom Ships, Pirates and Prowlers) up to 60 g and smaller slow jigs(Lucanus) up to 60 g. Speaking of Inchiku jigs we have been testing and tweaking our own Inchiku Jig onboard Wavedancer with good results. We have ! tested the hooks to make sure they don’t bend and break, and of course refined them so they catch our local fish. They are super high quality Inchiku Jigs designed by Paul Senior and tested on Wave Dancer are called Ocean Angler Jitterbugs .

We have been spending more time closer to Auckland fishing in 15-20M as this seems to be where the fish are holding , I have experienced good fishing as close in as the worm beds between the Noises and Tiri with gannets, dolphins and snapper in attendance. The middle ground (40-50m) has been quiet for fishing, and out real wide by Coromandel being hot or cold.

Spring is just round the corner, last year the spring run began at the end of September and the fishing was spectacular with massive work ups and big fish. The big males are the first to show their presence over the next few weeks. You may be lucky enough to find a school of big hungry males feeding up on a work up. When this happens its bent rods and peeling reels and big smiles all round. Spring is the best time to catch big fish in work ups. We specialize in this type of fishing; our rods and tackle are designed for these types of situations. We also have the right boats to chase the work ups: fast with a top speed of 40 knots and now with two boats to search the Gulf for action, our chances of finding work ups has doubled.

Make a booking for spring fishing and take advantage of the fish feeding up for the spawning season. A good tip is to look for a good fishing day on the Wave Dancer calendar and make a booking to coincide with one of these days.

If you want to blast around the gulf at high speed, chase work ups with good Captains and catch big fish on high quality tackle, visit www.wavedancer.co.nz or call Laetitia on 021 880 464 to make a booking

Paul and John

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

This year has just been amazing. We are still consistency catching good hauls of snapper on most trips. The old wives tale of fish slowing down in winter time has been proven to be a myth. It seems the fish need to eat more to counteract the extra energy they need to burn to stay warm during our winter months. I know the mammals living out in the gulf seem to be more active over the winter months, with dolphins zooming all over the place chasing pilchards and whales smashing the schools apart.

We recently had Andy off the Dolphin Explorer boat come out for a fish, and what a wealth of knowledge he has on work ups, whales, dolphins and seabirds. All the Wave Dancer captains listened to what he had to say about the language of the mammals which can be used to sniff out schools of pilchards and work ups. For example, did you know that some of the whales we see in the Gulf do not use sonar to find their prey, but rather listen for the sound of dive-bombing gannets to hone in on the bait school. When they get close enough they use their eyes to find the pilchards to feed on. We also found out that dolphins bow ride the pressure waves created by whales swimming along which we often see but never paid close attention to what they were doing. The knowledge Andy has is incredible and it was a humbling experience to have him onboard educating the Wave Dancer crew on how to find more work ups. The amazing thing was that the day he was onboard was the best day of fishing we have ever experienced onboard Wave Dancer.Although most were released back into the water, we caught more than 12 snapper in excess of 20lb.

Although Wave Dancer is not licensed as a whale and dolphin watching boat, we see dolphins most times we go fishing, and often see whales.

Terry Vernon joined the Wave Dancer team as an additional captain a while ago. His background being a super keen fisho since he was a young fella and skippering large vessels around the world as well as driving Dolphin Watch boats and fishing charter boats, Terry is a likeable good fun guy to go fishing with. He has an uncanny knack of finding fish because he has been doing it for many years and often uses the dolphins help. His fun style of skippering is a laugh a minute.

The new boat is underway, which is very exciting. We will have two identical boats running out each day looking for fish. The booking calendar will be on our website shortly, and from the huge amount of comments we have received, it is going to be popular, especially from September onwards. You can even have your own private match fishing contest amongst your mates. On that note, we will be running a fishing league this season and there will be some awesome prizes up for grabs If you like fishing and want to have a few boat versus boat fishing matches, start to get a team together and start sorting out your game plan...

Thursday 30th of this month is our special night at the Auckland Seafood School. It is a great opportunity to learn more about soft baiting, with Mark Kitteridge, Paul Senior and the other Wave Dancer captains speaking and teaching the finer points of fishing. This is a prime opportunity to ask questions or hone your knot tying skills and anything else you want to ask. It is not often you get this many pro fishermen together for your own tuition. The night will also feature a knife sharpening and filleting demonstration by Auckland chef, Scott Limbrick, owner of the acclaimed Billfish Cafe. In addition we will be teaching how to cook 2 seafood dishes, before it is through to the work stations to cook what you have just learned. The night concludes by sitting down to dine on your own creations with a glass of wine or a beer. Firstl the bad news: We received a lot more bookings than we have space for. Now the good news: we are going to schedule a 2nd night. We will advise of the date shortly.

This season has been one out of the hat and it continues to be good fishing. Forget about hanging your rods up for winter. Come out for a charter and you will see firsthand what we are talking about. Winter fishing can be spectacular: there are fewer boats to compete with and the fish are hungry.

If you would like to fishing during the week, we have a special offer for you that is valid for July and August only. For all Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday full boat bookings, you till receive a Wave Dancer Soft Bait Pro rod, valued at $299.00 for FREE. To make a booking, visit our website www.wavedancer.co.nz and click on booking calendar. Alternatively, you can call 021 880464 and speak to Laetitia, our friendly and helpful booking coordinator.

Paul and John

The snapper season truly has been one out of the box so far. The good fishing continues onboard Wave Dancer. Most days have been very successful on the fishing front, although I must say we have experienced two hard days over the past month fishing inshore.

We have been fishing in either the Motohuie or Rangitoto channels, drift fishing with soft baits. The fish in the shallow water really do put up one hell of a fight and pull like crazy once you hook them. It's a lot of fun, especially watching anglers faces as their reel is screaming with a decent snapper on the end.

We have recently upgraded the rods and reels onboard Wave Dancer and in true Wave Dancer style we have gone for the latest, best quality tackle on the market and ooohhh... how good it is to use.

The sets we are using for Jerk shading in the shallows are super light weight and powerful. We have purchased the new Shimano Ci4 Stradic spinning reels which are made from carbon so there incredibly lightweight. We have paired this reel with the new Wave Dancer soft bait rod, (Paul Senior designed of course). The rod weighs in at 150 grams and features lightweight Alps guides with a Fuji reel seat. This pairing makes for a very light set and it's an absolute delight to use soft baiting for Snapper. This is the same set I use personally.

For fishing the work ups in the deeper water we have paired up the Ocean Angler Powerflex Rod (lite version), with the recently released Shimano Trinidad 10a, being the latest gear out for this type of fishing. Once again these sets are super lightweight with heaps of power. Having the latest quality gear onboard will make your fishing experience more enjoyable. Come on a charter and have a go with our new toys...

News just in today from our friends who drive the whale watching boats is the workups are starting back up again. They are not in full force yet but we expect the deep water workup fishing to be back on any day now.

We have recently appointed two more Captains so I can have a few days off. This has opened up our availability somewhat, and allowed us to extend our charter portfolio to now offer evening charters from 5pm-9pm everyday. We are also offering a dedicated Kingfish trip to Channel Island for a limited time. Give John a call on 021 564 669 to arrange charter, or visit our website www.wavedancer.co.nz and click booking calendar to view availability.

We have lots of exciting initiatives happening on Wave Dancer charters. Our mission is:

• To give you a top notch fishing charter using new fast boats to get you on the fish quickly.
• Hunt fish, (as opposed to waiting for them to come to us).
• Knowledgeable fish-crazy Captains using the latest fishing tackle we can get our hands on to give you an amazing fishing experience.
• Share our knowledge. Even if you are a total beginner, we will teach you what you need to know.
• Have fun

We are out most days the weather allows which means we can keep tabs on where the fish are holding.

We have been fishing the new Zman jerk shads over the past 6 weeks on Wave dancer and the results have been fantastic. The natural colors baits like Shiner and New Penny have been consistent performers close to Auckland. Gone are the days of using tubs and tubs of expensive soft baits on each trip. The Zmans are super tough and last and stay on the jig head well and don't rip or tear. The scent actually wears out before bait. These are super soft baits that have raised the bar in the soft bait market. Give them a try and you will see for yourself how effective they are.

Paul and John

The influx of Snapper and Kingfish in to the auckland Harbour is in full swing. Theres heaps of fish close to Downtown auckland and we have been getting stuck in to catching them. The Snapper fight like there on steriods in the shallow waters and are a lot of fun on the Light Tackle which is available for your use onboard Wavedancer. We are especially impressed with the new Shimano Stradid Ci Carbon Fibre Spinning reel which is ultra lightweight with a superb drag system, its a fantastic reel. We have one onboard that you can have a go with and see for yourself how good this reel is. I am also getting setup with a couple of light popper sets to cast mini poppers at the local buoys and poles around the Channels that are holding Kingfish. Its proving to be a lot of fun on the light tackle, we have been fishing a bit to light so I am having to upgrade our braid. The kingfish are generally smaller versions but with the right tackle they are proving to be a lot of fun on Wavedancer. There are a few bigger specimums around which have Smoked us on the light tackle, its still a few moments of good fun with light braid whistling off the reel. we will be doing more of this type of fishing throughout summer it makes a nice mix for a days fishing. we can spend time catching a feed of Snapper on Softbaits then catch a few Kingfish throwing mini poppers and stickbaits at the poles and buoys. The inshore snapper are here in big numbers and we have been catching limit bags on most trips. These warm NE winds have really pushed the fish in very close and we have been taking advantage of this. Less time travelling means more time fishing so targeting more than one species in a day becomes more possible.We have been using the new Zman Scented 5"Jerkshads with a lot of success these baits are deadly for fishing around Auckland for Snapper they have been outfishing all other brands of softbaits on just about every trip, which is exciting as they dont tear or rip very easily and we are catching at least 10 fish per bait which is saving us money as we dont go through tubs of softbaits any longer. They will be in a few retail shops this week including all Topcatch stores and WS Lauries.

The calender is looking full again so if you want to come for a blast in Wavedancer give John a call 021 564669 or book online its the easiest and fastest way to make a booking just click here  

www.wavedancer.co.nz.

The fishing is really hot in the Hauraki Gulf , today was no exception the fish came on the bite hard and we limited out fairly quickly on snapper to 12 pounds. Everyone was getting smashed on the drop with not many baits making it to the bottom. the best rig today was a Zman creature bait rigged on a Pink Cyclops 4oz wind up and down slowly in the bottom quarter of the water column

The crew all took home a limit bag

12 Pounder taken on a Zman Creature Soft Plastic rigged on a 4oz Cyclops Deep water rig

The new Scented Zman 5"Jershads are very promising in testing.

The crew all took home a limit bag

We left early this morning to catch the incoming tide onboard Wavedancer with light northerly winds which in my experience tends to get the fished rarked up and feed hard. Today was no different and the big Boys were on the bite also. Most places we stopped for a drop produced a good size Snap. Biggest going a touch over 20 lbs with quite a few around the 15 pound mark. Bright Pink grubs were the flavour of the day rigged on 4 Oz Pink Cyclops, which caught the bigger fish

Multiple hook ups on big fish were happening throughout the day.

Ocean Angler Powerflex Rod loaded p

This guy was a virgin angler reckon he might have the bug now

Biggest fish went over 20 lbs welcome to the 20 pound club Sven

It took a 9"Zman grub in Nepn Pink rigged on a 4oz Pink Cyclops

Had a late start around 10 left westhaven out to spot where work-ups have happened last time he went out. Arrived at the spot waiting for the call from the guy upstairs again so we dropped in our lines with jigs he uses for snapper within a few mins first snap was onboard but went back.

After that had a steady steam of decent sized snaps coming on board with the jigs being so i stuck it out with sb but didn't hook up any after a few drift it quiet so headed off to find the work-ups and as we were heading off in the distance i spot a big group of gannets so out come the binoculars. It's a work up, good spotting uncle ping with no boats around us off we headed.

Once we got there bite time really heated up every drop would result in good size snaps up to 62 cm about 10pnd which i caught and i know not that big but is still a pb for me i also noticed that the snaps today were quite a bit bigger than tues snaps under work ups which was great fun hearing all 4 reels screaming away.

After a few hours we had enough for a feed so we headed back  really slowly as wind had picked up.

Winter is almost here, which means BIG snapper time.

The school snapper are moving out to the deeper waters, however some of the large snappers with a greater biomass that can handle the colder waters remain behind and take up residence around reefy systems about the gulf. These snapper tend to forage around foul ground feeding on kina and shellfish. They smash open things with there head and often form ugly bumps and scars, this is obvious on Kens fish in the photo. We have been targeting these snapper by soft baiting in the shallows.

The best fish so far was caught by Ken Brown-Bayliss and weighed in at 10.05 kg after a great battle in the shallows. The fishing has been fantastic the past few weeks. On our full day trips we have been targeting Big Snappers in the shallows in the mornings, and then moving out to the 50M area to load up on good eating sized fish.

There have also been work ups out in these deeper areas. If you want to have a crack at catching a large snapper on soft bait give John a call and we will do our best to put you on that fish of a lifetime.  

The water temperature is dropping which triggers the Snapper in to a feeding frenzy. With cold water temps just around the corner the fish are feeding up big time, to put on condition for winter time.

The areas we target on WAVEDANCER out in the sand in 40-50M depths are full of hungry fish. They have been hammering almost anything put in front of them. Soft baits on Cyclops rigs and the new Shimano Lucunus lures have been our go to rigs.

There’s Dolphins and Whales rounding up massive schools of baitfish which in turn are getting devoured by Gannets on the surface and Kahawai and good sized Snapper from below.

Now and right through to spring can be spectacular fishing out in the middle gulf, limit bags are common. Book a charter now and come and see for yourself. 

Winter is almost here, which means BIG snapper time.

The school snapper are moving out to the deeper waters, however some of the large snappers with a greater biomass that can handle the colder waters remain behind and take up residence around reefy systems about the gulf.

These snapper tend to forage around foul ground feeding on kina and shellfish. They smash open things with there head and often form ugly bumps and scars, this is obvious on Kens fish in the photo. We have been targeting these snapper by soft baiting in the shallows. The best fish so far was caught by Ken Brown-Bayliss and weighed in at 10.05 kg after a great battle in the shallows.

The fishing has been fantastic the past few weeks. On our full day trips we have been targeting Big Snappers in the shallows in the mornings, and then moving out to the 50M area to load up on good eating sized fish. There have also been work ups out in these deeper areas. If you want to have a crack at catching a large snapper on soft bait give John a call and we will do our best to put you on that fish of a lifetime.