Two Waters Fishing NZ

Shallow offshore and harbour fishing rigs

Just like there are many ways to skin a cat there are also many ways to catch a dog 😅

Here a few examples of my go to harbour fishing rigs

Picture number 1, the Two Waters Fishing NZ harbour special, this rig is my go to for fishing shallow areas within the Tauranga harbour, it's an easy to tie no fuss rig. Changes can be made to sinker size depending on current flow and depth, (more current and depth calls for more weight as to keep that bait right in the lower section of the water column) I like to cast as far as I can out into the berley trail . A small clip on sinker can be added to the main line if you feel the bait isn't staying nicely along the bottom, the existing ball sinker will act as a stopper so the sinker doesn't slide all the way to the hook.

Picture number 2, the traditional strayline rig

This example is a classic , tried and tested trace,great with both mono and braided main line however with braid I always increase my trace line by a couple of metres, this adds a little stretch in the line and reduces transference of noise from boat to bait as braid can act much like a phone line and send vibrations and noise down the line directly to the fish (mono can do the same but braid is much worse) this rig is particularly good when coastal fishing in water from 1m to 10m+ it allows you to free line a bait directly down your falling berley trail. A nice big chunk of pilchard free falling down a berley trail is sure to get picked up by something 👌

Picture number 3 ,

this is a bit of a mix of the two above methods , some people call it a running rig. This rig serves well in a range of depths and currents , cast the mainline with bait out let the current pull your line out to about 30-35m then clip a clip on sinker on to the mainline, the sinker will slide down the line to the bottom and allow main line to move freely through the clip, this allows the bait to flow nicely along the bottom and move freely in the lower section of the water column where the big snaps like to cruise along searching for an easy snack, by having the sinker up the line and the line free flowing through the clip the fish is more likely to take the bait and not spit due to feeling minimal resistance from line rod and sinker

Recommended clip on sinker size per water depth for the running rig

1-2.5m *1oz clip on
2.5-4m *2oz clip on
4m-6m *3oz clip on

For deeper water and higher current up the sinker size

All these rigs work well with baitrunner/feeder reels but is not crucial to use this style of reel

Overview,

The rigs are all designed to give minimal resistance from rod to bait and keep the bait looking natural in the current

A bit of mucking around with these styles of rigs and you'll soon work out what works best for you and you'll get a feel for sinker sizes etc, there is no one "CORRECT" way to catch fish and I'm sure others have many other ways to go about it but this is what works well for me and I hope it's helpful to you as well,

Feel free to comment how you go about doing your rigs as I'm always keen to learn some new tricks and hear others experiences

Tight lines everyone 👌🍻

Shout out to my newest followers! Excited to have you onboard! Ian McNickle, Russell Berryman, Sarah Headley, Warren Thompson, Daniel Randall, William Stirling, Leon Hill, William Wright, Gary Newland, Hekemaru Haerehuka Brown, Lee Cowdery, Jamie Bowmar, Brad Gillespie, Keith Paton, Riley Eccleshall, Gershom Peter Mathai, Ethan Tait, Jono Francis, Sam Leef, Shane Wolfe, Harawira Smith, Jack Mortensen, Bob Harris, Nikki MacDonald, Theo Kleynhans, Von Alvin Caranza Gulla, Riley Delaveau, Paul Guitink, Tex Masters, Luke Walker, Te Rohe Ngatai, Ian Leslie, Leo Smith, Paul McCluskey, Rodney Logan, Daniel Parnwell, Neil P***y Lures Nicholls, Regan Ashton, Grant Simpson, Markus Kratzer, Ben Mendoza, Phil Cameron, Kalarn Mark, Akashdeep Singh, Kiefer Bland, Brian Martin, Anton Hopping, Jacson Shirlow, Ben Kevin, Aaron Moore

We're pretty lucky in this country to have such amazing spots right on our doorstep

Where's your happy place in nature??

Can't beat a flick for a mud fish(trout to the loyalists)

We have some amazing spots in the Bay of plenty

Tauranga Harbour

A massive kai basket right on our doorstep

If you're not catching in this amazing resource then it might be time to change things up, especially jan through March

My go to rig for harbour fishing is a 1.2m 40-50lb trace with a single 5-6/0 circle hook, I attach the mainline to the trace with a small swivel and have a running ball sinker around half an ounce above the swivel. This rig serves me well in water from 1m up to about 3m, over 3m I tend to add a little bit more weight in the way of a small clip on sinker added to the main line

In shallow water I find the further you have your line out the back the better the odds and the bigger the fish, large snapper Iove to sit behind the schooling size fish ready to ambush and steal any tucker the smaller fish may locate, this is where fishing larger baits can come in handy. The smaller fish will locate and pick away at the bait which will in turn get the attention of the big sucker who will swoop in and steal it from his smaller friend, this is where bait runners are great as from the size and speed of the run you can generally tell when that bigger fish has picked it up.

The last few hours of the incoming tide is my go to fishing the shallow areas on mid harbour sandbanks.
My theory is for the fish channels are the highways and the sandbanks (especially ones with sea grass beds) are the supermarkets , with this theory you can usually work out where the fish will be according to the tide, low tide they will be pulled into the channels and high will make their way onto sandbanks to fill up on their favorite tucker like crabs and shellfish

I often use berley but it is not essential, however it is definitely beneficial when it comes two turning the fish's heads and bringing them to you

Squid ,mullet and fresh kahawai are my favorite harbour baits , but the best bait is any bait that's in the water, snapper are scavengers and will generally take most things , it is however good to have a couple of options just in case they are picky that day

I will have some videos to come in the near future of how I rig my traces and methods for finding good areas to fish in shallow waters

Tight lines everyone