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Fishing Articles and News from Fishingreminder

Welcome to the Fishing Reminder Article Blog. Here you can find interesting articles about fishing in general. If you are looking for specific fishing knowledge and tutorials check out the Tutorials Section

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Snapper everywhere in New Zealands Hauraki Gulf

Written by markt

Saturday, 13 February 2010 14:34

The Snapper are back!
It was difficult to catch some decent snapper during winter and spring.
Even early summer didn't turn out to be so productive.
New Zealands snapper season had a late start this year, but its in full swing now.
Snapper are everywhere - lots of them - and they are close to shore in shallow water. Beautiful conditioned spawning fish.
And they are feeding like crazy. Good fishing reports are heard from everywhere.
As usual during this time of year the fish are not super big but therefore come plentiful.
Nevertheless one of my friends just caught a nice 22 pound snapper in deeper water at around 30 meters.

I've only been fishing very close to Auckland city lately.
After my holiday I need to catch up with lots of things and don't want to waste so much time driving too far away to go fishing.
Even so close to the city there are plenty of fish around.
I caught many snapper in the 3-4 pound range - a perfect size for my smoker.
But I also had a few takes that left my reel spinning for some time.
The biggies are clever and they get away easily. Especially when fishing with super light tackle.

Anyway the beauties on the picture below were caught at a reef near St Heliers from my Kayak in a water depth of about 3-8 meters, again during Major Times.
I was on the water an hour before the major times started and had a few bites - but only small fish, that were released right away.
When the major times started - during an outgoing tide the bigger fish went crazy.
I had to stop fishing cause every time I dropped my soft baits (gulp nuclear chicken) I had a take straight away.
I have also been experimenting with the new Gulp crazy legs soft baits. They also work awesome.
But the crazy legs are bitten off by small fish in no time, leaving only the body of the soft baits intact. So I switched back to normal 5 inch jerk shads - they seem to be a bit more economic and attract fish the same way.

Last Updated on Sunday, 14 February 2010 16:40

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Trout fishing holiday

Written by Administrator

Saturday, 13 February 2010 13:06

This year I had a great fishing holiday and I thought I'd share some of my experiences.
I traveled the south island of New Zealand in pursuit of trout.
Normally I'm not much of a trout fisherman cause I live close the the coast and enjoy saltwater fishing from my kayak.
But no doubt - trout fishing in New Zealand is absolutely fantastic. There are some really big fish in New Zealands streams and lakes.
I haven't really mastered the art of fly fishing yet. All I took with me was a spinning rod.
Actually I didn't even buy a specific rod but instead used my berkley drop shot soft bait rod, that I use for saltwater fishing.
All I did was attaching a couple of meters of 10 pound trace to my braided line.

During the course of my holiday I tried all sorts of different lures and found Rapalas to be the most efficient.
But that said I caught my biggest trout on a black and gold toby in lake Moeraki on the west coast (see images below).

It was in the morning around 10 and exactly during the predicted major times. I was happy to see how well the solunar
theory work on trout. Most people gave me the advice to fish either early morning or evening at the change of light which I
did with some success. But the biggest fish were caught during major times - sometimes in the middle of the day.
Being able to access fishingremiders bite times from my mobile phone was a great help during my travels.

This is the biggest brown trout that I caught this year (60cm ~ 23inches). Unfortunately I didn't have scales with me that day to measure it's weight. It was an absolute beauty and tasted fantastic.
I fried it in butter, soy sauce and a bit of lemon right after catching it.

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 February 2010 15:05

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Another site award for Fishingreminder

Written by markt
Wednesday, 04 November 2009 07:39
Great news - Fishingreminder received another fishing web site award today. The Fishing Reporters Master Angler Top Site Award is given for outstanding fishing websites. Award winners show their professionalism through their top quality website design and or content, clean layout, and user friendly navigation.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 November 2009 07:57

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Howto print PDF fishing calendars

Written by markt
Monday, 02 November 2009 12:57
Did you know that you can download and print lunar fishing calendars for any location you like and for up to one year in advance from Fishingreminder? This feature is available for all advanced subscribers. Advanced subscriptions are available for only $10 per year. You can subscribe after you created a free account. With your subscription you also support any future development of Fishingreminder and you will be treated like family :-) The PDF print feature is available in the 30day forecast tab. You will find a print button near the upper right corner of the screen. After clicking on the print button you can choose any start date you like and any end date for up to 12 months ahead. You can then download the solunar fishing calendar for this time range as PDF document. Each Fishing Month fits onto one page. The calendar contains the day rating, major and minor times, sunrise, sunset, moonphase and illumination, moonrise, moonset, and a section to add notes of your fishing trip. It is ideal to plan fishing trips in advance, to leave a copy in your car, to hang one up in your garage and to scribble notes on it after each fishing trip. See image below for an example of the first few fishing days in October 2009.
Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 13:19

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City Fishing - tips for fishing near cities

Written by markt

Monday, 19 October 2009 14:55

Fishing in or near cities and populated areas can be quite difficult. The simple reason is that there are just not enough fish around. Because of the high population density many popular spots near cities are just overfished. In order to catch fish near a city it is essential to know good spots that hold fish.
Just as important is the type of bait and the bait presentation. City fish are cautious and wont take anything. Only bait that is fresh and presented in a irresistable way has a chance to be taken. Also berley would be highly recommended to draw the few fish to your spot.

Fishing wharf near Auckland

I have fished around cities and only really had notable success when drifting on a boat near reefs that were a bit further out from the harbor.
While watching fishermen on wharfs and rocks around the city, I never saw anyone catching anything, except some small bait fish.
From my experience people fishing in cities need an enormous amount of patience and skill to score a fish in the crowds.
It might be easier to fish in city park lakes that are frequently stocked up with fish - I have never tried that.

Because of frequent boat traffic, noise, lights and temperature differences the bite behaviour and bite times might differ from normal fishing times.
Although whenever I fish near a city, I still get most strikes (if any) during the major times. I tried to fish from wharfs at night time to avoid the crowds and had a few bites then.

But in summary there are a few things to increase the chances to catch fish near cities