The Fishing Archive, updated weekly
SATURDAY JANUARY 07, 2012
7 January 2012
Today is northern declination and tomorrow is full moon and again the moon is low in the sky at the moment as it's over the other hemisphere. It means heat, and moist tropical air in the form of northerlies. It means rain for most in the early part of the week. Full moon at northern declination is also earthquake risk time. In the summer we get shallower anticyclones around N dec, and the full moon brings changeability; hot one minute then cold as soon as the sun hides behind a cloud. N dec+summer full moon always brings a change in humidity levels. The best bite times today are 11.30 and 5.30, and that's am and pm, and it means in the west just before lunch on the outgoing tide, and this evening in the east just before full tide. So it's both sides of the country today that offer opportunities. Starting with today and continuing until Wednesday, bite chances should be excellent. With the full moon we always get a kingtide, meaning more water coming in bringing greater influx of fish, so fishing picks up. This month both kingtides are about equal in size. Same height kingtides in the same month is what happens as the kingtides cross from being perigee+new moon (end of July - mid January) to perigee+full moon (second week February to beginning of August. Full moon kingtides in summer months tend to bring warmer sea surface temperatures, which lead to more rain and warmer temperatures, indicating a warm autumn. New moon summer kingtides are associated with cooler and drier summer weather. Wetter conditions are better for fishing. Weatherwise, it is likely that rain may come today, but pass quickly. The coming week does not bring a lot of rain except perhaps in the Central Plateau. The South Island fares wetter though, but with the top and N Canterbury least affected..
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24 December 2011
Remember that Thursday was the perigee, today the moon is right in the southern declination and overhead of us, and tomorrow is new moon. All the larger earthquakes happen on the perigee and the kingtides in the land actually cause the kingtides in the sea.
Today til Monday will be generally excellent in terms of bite chances, then it'll go average until Friday. The best bite times today are 12 and 6, and that means in the west around lunchtime just after hightide, and that's about it, so once today in the west. And in the east it's good around 6pm coming up to their hightide, so that's ideal and that's about it today, because around lunchtime will be the low tide on the east coast, which means much less water in. So it's the west just after lunch and the east around dinner time for the best to be fishing at. Its kingtides until about 27th, and that's ideal for diving on the lowtide times at the moment.. Most places stay dry this coming week in the NI. So Auckland should stay mostly dry until about Wednesday.
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17 December 2011
Today til Monday will be generally good in terms of bite chances, then it'll go average until Friday. The best bite times today are 6 and 12, and that means in the west around lunchtime on the incoming tide, and there again at teatime on the outgoing tide, so two times today in the west. And in the east it's lunchtime on the full tide, so that's ideal and that's about it today, because around 6pm will be the low tide on the east coast, which means much less water in. So it's the west side today is best to be fishing on. Tomorrow the moon changes to last Q, and it crosses the equator heading south. The change of phase typically brings a change in weather patterns, that is why it's going to dry up in most places the following day. We'll be coming up to a neap tide on Monday, and then we have the kigtides happening next weekend, and that's when fishing should be really good. Plus the weather should be kinder next weekend as well. I have the whole country going dry after this weekend, around the 20th, and most places stay dry this coming week after this weekend is over. And that's because there should be southerlies and SWs in the north until the end of the month, with just a couple of NEs interrupting that about the middle of next week with the perigee that arrives on Thursday. It's not a powerful perigee, it's the 10th closest for the year. So the southerlies will clear the Christchurch skies but the NEs will cloud them up again, and it means that Christchurch is in for some overnight rain about Xmas day. But with Auckland skies because there'll probably only be one or two NE days, it won't make any difference - you have to have three or four NE days for cloud and rain to start rolling in to the Waitemata and trying to separate the boats from their moorings. So Auckland should stay mostly dry until the end of the month.
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10 December 2011
The best bite times today are 12.30 and 6.30, and that means in the west just after lunch on the outgoing tide, and at the same time in the east, but that will be low tide so it won't be as good as this evening in the east just before full tide. So it's the east side today that offers the most opportunities. Starting with yesterday and continuing until Monday, bite chances should be excellent. After Monday it's a lull until next Saturday. Tonight the moon is in a straight line with the earth and the sun and it's called the node of the moon, and when it's full moon as it is tonight we get a total lunar eclipse. You'll see this eclipse from anywhere in NZ between W and NW about 3am. The eclipse will last about 52 minutes and the moon will set during the final stages of the eclipse. And it will be the last lunar eclipse until 2014. The node is a focussing phenomenon when it comes to weather, if there's a front around that day, which is today, it'll certainly rain and not hold off. You get everything going. As well as the full moon today is the northern declination, furthest latitude north for the month, that's why the moon is so low in the sky at the moment, it's because it is over the other hemisphere. Therefore it's quite far away, we had the apogee (moon furthest from earth for the month) last Tuesday, so that has been reflected in the tides, they've been neap for most of the week. But with the full moon we always get a small kingtide, it only gets to be a big one if the perigee is around and that will be over Xmas. So more water is coming in and bringing fish which means fishing picks up.
Weatherwise, today all should be mostly clear apart from odd showers from East Cape down to about Ashburton, tomorrow some showers move into Southland and the West Coast of the SI and a bit around Wanganui but everyone in the east has a bit more settled weather. Monday's rain builds up in the SI West Coast and spreads onto the whole SI by Tuesday except maybe Christchurch and also affects the west and south of the NI. Wednesday rain moves up to cover Canterbury to Taupo and maybe even further north. Thursday rain is confined to the SI west coast, and Friday rain covers the whole SI and the west and south of the NI. So over the next week there's a bit of rain coming, just as you always get about 2 days after a full moon, and the west and south of the NI and the whole of the SI doesn't fare very well. It doesn't really clear for the whole country until the 19th or 20th.
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3 December 2011
Today the moon crosses the equator heading north, so the air is a lot cooler on account of southerly systems coming up over the past few days. It was 1stQ on Friday and 1stQ moon heading north brings cooler mornings.
We're getting into neap tide territory over the next few days, and the next biggest kingtide won't be until around Boxing Day.
Best bite times today are 8 and 2, that's both am and pm, which means right now in the west on the outgoing tide and until about 9am, and also in the west this afternoon around 2pm on the next incoming tide. If you're fishing in the east then best time today is just after lunch around 2pm which will be around the full tide. So again you've got two chances on the Manukau and the rest of the west but only one time on the east side of the country. So as usual the west is the best. Bite chances are favourable today and tomorrow due to the 1stQ moon phase, but the next excellent bite chances time is Friday when we enter the full moon period. We have December weather now, and I feel there will be some cooler conditions than is usual for the time of year because of an increase in southerly systems, which will make it a fairly pleasant month. The SI won't really go dry for a good run of days until around the 20th.
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26 November 2011
Today is the southern declination, moon highest in the sky because it's in our hemisphere overhead, which explains the cold southerlies. Last week I said we'd be getting another lot of cold and that would be why. Yesterday was new moon and the day before that was the perigee and both new moons and perigees bring windier conditions and I think that's why there have been such powerful winds around the place. They have been strong enough in the far south to have cancelled the Bert Munro Challenge. And I feel maybe it was a freak gust that got the wire that brought that helicopter down on the viaduct. It's kingtide today, quite a big one, biggest for the month and the biggest until boxing day, so better for diving today than for fishing because of the big low tides, and the times for that will be around 2.45pm in the east and about 6pm in the west. If you are intent on fishing, then the best bite times today are 12 and 6, that's both am and pm, but that only leaves you in the east on the incoming tide this evening and until about 7pm, and in the west at lunchtime today on the high tide. That makes the west the most realistic of the two options because of all the fish coming in on the volume of water, whereas in the east the tide will be half out at lunchtime and going down fast. Bite chances are excellent til tomorrow because of the new moon, then they drop back to average, and come back better than average again on Thursday and continues until Sunday. Weatherwise a bit of rain early in the week but not really much until next Thursday. Then we're into December, and in December the driest period is likely to be 19th-27th in the NI, and 19th-24th in the SI. Most of December's rain should be from the lower NI to most of the SI, and in the second half of the month. There's a chance of hail and thunderstorms in the last week of the year in Canterbury. The winds may be mainly SWs and Ss over December, so Motueka and Nelson may not get as much. And once again I feel there'll be cooler than average minimums, except for the SI WC and Kerikeri and Rotorua. In the east it may be a month of unusual cold for the time of year.
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19 November 2011
It's lastQ moon today, which is a change of phase. LastQ is the D-shaped moon you see overhead at sunrise. It is the moon always seen in the morning. LastQ brings cloud in the afternoon and evening, if there's cloud it can go unusually cold. LastQ moon is usually not too bad for fishing, because of leftover activity from the full moon period, extra electrical activity in the sky bringing a pressure change, and because the moon is high in the sky in the early morning there's a first light effect combining with right moon position overhead which is the right fishing time. Some fish like to emerge and see what's to eat when the sunlight first hits the water. Best bite times today are 7 and 1, that's both am and pm, which means right now in the west on the outgoing tide and until about 8.30am, and also in the west this evening on the next outgoing tide. If fishing in the east then best time today is just after lunch which will be just before the full tide there. So today; two chances on the Manukau and the rest of the west, but only one time on the east side of the country. As usual the west is the best. It's a neap tide, therefore low tidal variation, so no trouble launching a boat and returning, also turbulance and swell is quite low on a neap, meaning fish come in closer.. So good for bites tomorrow, but then drops back and doesn't come better than average again until 24th which is Thursday. Weatherwise, a bit unsettled, perigee coming on Thursday, and at 6th closest to earth for the year it's quite punchy. It'll also bring next kingtide. And 25th/26th is next earthquake risk period. Previously it was 18th/19th, now just gone, and we had a 6 mag near Gisborne yesterday(18th). The fisherman always needs to make special note of perigees, always a big part of the Maori Fishing Calendar. A couple of days before perigee is usually good for fishing. These SWs are because of the high pressure system out west and that isn't going to move off for perhaps a week, it'll be really cold again this time next week, but in the first week of December temps will warm up into the 20s.
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12 November 2011
At the moment we're in kingtide mode but not as big as the kingtides at the end of the month, they'll be about half a metre higher. Still, there's more water coming in right now than a week ago, which is why the fishing is better. Best bite times today are 1.30 and 7.30, that's both am and pm, which means right now in the east on the incoming tide and until about 9am, and in the west this afternoon just after the full tide. And I hear some people are hauling them in right now as we speak. Bite chances are excellent, and will also be tomorrow, because of the full moon on Thursday. The moon's in the north tomorrow, and still in apogee which means furthest from the earth for the month, and a northern apogee full moon brings warmer days, because when the moon's out of the sky in the daytime the air tide doesn't go so far below the horizon, which means the colder air doesn't make it lower and what is there gets warmed by the sun, so in the next few days it's good to be outside. Today is a waning and adescending moon, which tends to send fish further below, so I don't think the lack of bird activity around the surface is any indication of what amounts of fish might be underneath. Weatherwise, some NWs bringing rain this week, so you want to do oudoors things right now whilst the sun is shining.
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5 November 2011
Best bite times today are 9 and 3, that's both am and pm, which means right now in the west on the outgoing tide and until about 10am, and in the east this afternoon just before and leading up to full tide. Bite chances are only average, but they pick up from Wednesday to next Sunday with the full moon coming next Friday. At the moment we're in neap tide mode and 1stQ moon phase, with the moon crossing the equator heading north tomorrow, which is why it's gone cooler in the past few days, because it has taken that time for the airflows to come north bringing cooler southerly air streams from the polar regions up and over the country, mainly affecting the far south with snow. We'll be in apogee mode on Wednesday, which is the moon furthest away for the month, and that creates calmer seas and brings the fish in closer. So after today you could say things are building up in the fishing world, more water coming in, smoother seas, more active moon and water going from cool to warmer which all improve fishing prospects. As regards longrange for the November, it's going to go wet again about the 9th just before full moon. That's for both islands and there could be some minor localised flooding in some places because of higher full moon tides. However November rain should mainly be in the second week and overall it could be a fairly dry month in the NI and in Canterbury. But the rest of the SI can expect some big dumps of rain in the second and last weeks. NIWA have just come out with their predictions for summer. Every year around this time they say what is in my almanac as regards the coming cyclone season. The cyclone frequency is fizzling out, there won't be anything significant until March and April, and beyond becoming tropical lows they won't even affect Australia much. It's a 8.85-yr cycle determined by how close perigees are to the equator, which has been relevant over the past 2 years but after 2012 no longer so. February should be hot and dry apart from some big dumps in the first week in the SI and on 3 particular days (4th, 14th and 27th) in the NI, so I'd say plan your big summer fishing trips to avoid those dates.
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19 November 2011
It's lastQ moon today, which is a change of phase. LastQ is the D-shaped moon you see overhead at sunrise. It is the moon always seen in the morning. LastQ brings cloud in the afternoon and evening, it can bring electrical storms, and if there's cloud it can go unusually cold. LastQ moon is usually not too bad for fishing, because of the leftover activity from the full moon period, the extra electrical activity in the sky bringing lower pressure systems, and because the moon is high in the sky in the early morning you're getting that first light effect combining with that right moon position overhead which is the right fishing time. Some fish do like to come out and see what's there to eat when the sunlight first hits the water. Best bite times today are 7 and 1, that's both am and pm, which means right now in the west on the outgoing tide and until about 8.30am, and also in the west this evening on the next outgoing tide. If you're fishing in the east then best time today is just after lunch which will be just before the full tide. So you've got two chances on the Manukau and the rest of the west but only one time on the east side of the country. As usual the west is the best. It's a neap tide, so low tidal variation, there'll be no trouble launching a boat and returning, and also turbulance and swell is quite low on a neap, which means the fish can come in closer. So it's also good for bites tomorrow, but then drops back a bit and doesn't come better than average again until the 24th which is Thursday. Weatherwise, a bit unsettled, we have a perigee coming on Thursday and at 6th closest to earth for the year it's quite a punchy one. It'll also of course bring the next kingtide, because that's what perigee always does. And the 25/26 is the next earthquake risk day. Previously it was 18/19, well, that's now gone, and we had a 6 near Gisborne yesterday. The fisherman always needs to make special note of the perigees, it always played a big part in the Maori Fisdhing Calendar. A couple of days before perigee is usually good for fishing. These SWs are because of this high pressure system out west and it isn't going to move off for a while, so we just have to put up with it, it'll be REALLY cold again this time NEXT week, but in the first week of December it'll finally move away and then temps will warm up into the 20s.
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12 November 2011
At the moment we're in kingtide mode but not as big as the kingtides at the end of the month, they'll be about half a metre higher. Still, there's more water coming in right now than a week ago, which is why the fishing is better. Best bite times today are 1.30 and 7.30, that's both am and pm, which means right now in the east on the incoming tide and until about 9am, and in the west this afternoon just after the full tide. And I hear some people are hauling them in right now as we speak. Bite chances are excellent, and will also be tomorrow, because of the full moon on Thursday. The moon's in the north tomorrow, and still in apogee which means furthest from the earth for the month, and a northern apogee full moon brings warmer days, because when the moon's out of the sky in the daytime the air tide doesn't go so far below the horizon, which means the colder air doesn't make it lower and what is there gets warmed by the sun, so in the next few days it's good to be outside. Today is a waning AND adescending moon, which tends to send fish further below, so I don't think the lack of bird activity around the surface is any indication of what amounts of fish might be underneath. Weatherwise, some NWs bringing rain this week, so you want to do oudoors things right now whilst the sun is shining.
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29 October 2011
It's a time of high kingtides right now because the moon was the second closest for the year on Thursday as well as being new moon. Tomorrow the moon is furthest south for the month and that's why it's getting a bit cooler at the moment and cool air brings rain. The southern declination means the moon is highest in our sky, and that exerts a bigger pull on the currents in air, land and sea than if the moon was over the north, and so it's a time of heightened earthquake risk and whale strandings and a stranding happened at Papamoa yesterday. I would guess that the Taranaki gas pipeline was dislodged by an earthquake, because the leak happened early on Tuesday morning which was exactly the same time as a 4.5mag earthquake in the area and there was a 5.2 mag earthquake there the next day on Wednesday, which indicates the locality was rocking and rolling for a couple of days. The best bite times today are around 3 and 9 and that's am and pm, and that means 9 in the morning in the east and 3 this afternoon in the west on the outgoing tide. Because of the new moon two days ago, up till Friday it was excellent for fishing, but we're just starting the wind down now, as the waters start to go down and the moon starts to move away. But there's still a lot of water coming in with the bigger tides and bringing the fish, so it hasn't gone completely quiet yet. As regards weather, rain should clear up early in the week after the 1st but comes again briefly around Thursday. Next weekend won't be too bad, but Tuesday week brings unsettled weather just leading up to full moon.
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22 October 2011
Bite times 8 and 2, am and pm, best in the west this morning and in the east this afternoon. Kingtides are arriving on Thursday and better fishing conditions Wednesday to Friday, and of course Friday is both new moon and second closest perigee for the year. New moon kingtides clicked in at the end of August and with full moon kingtides warming the sea over the winter months up to August, warmer water means less oxygen dissolving in the water which means less activity which in turn means fish want to feed less, so the fishing in recent months with the milder winter has suffered. Fish need the oxygen and colder water has more, and so the better fishing around new moon kingtide times is where shallow water is close to deeper areas, like reefs and channels. Over the longer nights of winter the cooler places have been the back of coves, up creeks, or shallower staging areas, because the further inland you go the cooler it gets, and that's because the sea is a big insulator and tends to even out temperatures, warming the coast over winter nights and cooling it over summer nights. So now that we have new moon kingtides up to December the La Nina effects have stabilised and are not progressing past September levels, and despite the seaonal warming anyway, I'm expecting sea temperatures to drop slightly for the time of year, and consequently the fishing could pick up between now and the end of the year and that should carry over summer and swap around again around March, when the full moon kingtides come back. That's not to say full moon is not as good as new moon, because both are better bite-chance times, it just makes a difference to where they fish are, so you could say full moon kingtides mean the fishing is better closer to the coast and over new moon kingtides it's better further inland. It's probably why eeling was always recommended around new moon in the Maori Fishing Calendar, because over the years they found by trial and error that that's what worked, and that's because the eeling is always well inland. Now that the warmer temperatures are starting to arrive, now that the last wintry cold snap has occurred, we could be looking ahead to the summer. Auckland should be dry from mid October to mid November, with only about 3 rain days. Mid January may be a bit wet. Auckland may be mostly dry from mid January to the end of February, with the second half of Feb the best time to take a holiday. I think we'll get heatwaves in the last week of January and the second half of February, particularly the east of the NI. Much of the country should be sunny from February to June, and warm until March. In Christchurch the 6-19 February is good for a Canterbury holiday. They'll also get a second dose of dry weather during April, once the wet first week has passed over. And I think easterlies may prevail in the South Island for much of February and March.
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15 October 2011
Weatherwise we're coming into a relatively dry week in the BoP and Canterbury, still the odd shower in most other places. But I'd be going for fairly high pressure until next weekend and because the moon is in the north on Monday, milder temperatures. There also could be a bit of an earthquake risk on the 18th due to that higher pressure and the moon's northern declination, and it's also a time of possible whale stranding. Today the fishing bite times are 2 and 8, and that's am and pm. The bite chances are average this weekend. Chances improve from Wednesday to Friday with the lastQ moon and neap tide. So that means fishing should pick up during the week. Today at 8am the tide is coming up to high on the east side so it'd be good to be fishing this morning. The afternoon's no good because at 2pm the tide'll be nearly out. And it's low tide right now in the west, so around 2pm will be just after full tide which is ideal, and so it's best to fish in the east this morning and on the west coast this afternoon.
The container ship Rena stranded a week before apogee and full moon on a coastline with long rolling waves, which is why the area is so popular with surfers. Driving those underwater currents is an active system of underwater volcanoes and earthquakes, close to the fault line that passes through White Island to the Kermadec islands. And of course coming up to full moon you always get more of this underwater action, so it was potentially going to get rough just before full moon. Also, if they were waiting for a higher tide to come and float Rena off it was never going to happen, because it stranded just after full tide that day. Because it had just been kingtide a few days before, the waterlevel is not going to get higher than what it was at the time of stranding, until the 24th which is the date of the next kingtide. It means that given the positioning of the tide levels in the month, the ship had no choice but to be stuck fast for two weeks and could not be floated off, even if it was floatable. So they should have towed it off as soon as it stranded, and not a moment later, and the sea was like a millpond at the time. But I understand that it's not the oil that's the problem, because the sea breaks that up and disperses it as it always does, but it's the detergents they have been using on the oil which sinks and destroys the crustaceans at the bottom of that reef which in turn could destroy the fish life there for some months, that is the recreational fallout for fishermen. At risk also are all the shellfish on the shore for a while, particularly the large triangular Papamoa tuatuas that I think only the locals know the whereabouts of..
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8 October 2011
Today the fishing bite times are back to 9 and 3, and that's am and pm, which is just about the same as it was two weeks ago. People may notice that the whole system repeats roughly every two weeks just like the tide times. The bite chances are average for the weekend and this will be the case for weekends from now right up until 12 November. It's just the way the calendar works in with the tidal cycle. We've got a full moon coming up on Wednesday along with a min-kingtide, and that means fishing will pick up during the week, so Tuesday to Friday should be excellent for bite chances. Today at 9am the tide is just starting to go out on the Manukau so it'd be good to be fishing this morning. The afternoon's no good. It's the same all the way down the west side of NZ, Wanganui, Westport, all the way down to Bruce Bay, and it's the reverse on the other side of the country. For instance on the Waitemata the low tide is just after 11am so really the afternoon is better in the east as the tide is coming up to full. That's the same for Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington, Christchurch and Timaru, all the way down. Small variations of course, but basically it's fishing on the west coast this morning and on the east coast this afternoon. The wintry blast we had at the beginning of last week was shortlived, but we did get some heavy rain, and this week there's going to be another lot threatening just before Wednesday's full moon but then a week of dry weather after it. I think it'll be more the look of rain early in the week rather than actual falls. There'll be a fair bit of wind, but suddenly dying on Wednesday and going calm. The main thing may be a sudden hike in air pressure over the next couple of days, which is an earthquake indicator, and earthquakes at sea make the fish go to the bottom and hang around the ocean floor. I would be bearing that in mind which means trolling may not be as effective as putting out those deeper traces. We have full moon Wednesday and also the day of apogee, so if seas are calm it'd be a great day to go out in a boat. It's also great to take the family beachcombing just after a kingtide that is preceded by strong wind, because interesting things get washed up and dumped at the highwater mark. Apogee was always a big part of the Maori Fishing calendar because calmer waters allow fish to come in close to shore, so it was always spoken of as a good fishing day, particularly for netting. So a fairly calm week weatherwise, the moon is on its way north so the arc is descending each day, which means cooler morning temperatures until Monday week and then as the moon comes southwards from above the equator everything may start to noticeably warm up. For the month I have only two rain phases to come, and that's not next weekend but the following weekend and the one after that. Otherwise, mostly dry weather.
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1 October 2011
Today we have only average fishing bite chances. The best bite times are 3 and 9, that's am and pm, and as to which harbour to go to in the Auckland region, probably it's the 9am this morning slot in the east because the water is incoming on the Waitemata Harbour bringing the fish in which makes that ideal, with high tide around 11am. Low tide on the Waitemata is at 5pm so the 3pm fishing tide is getting a bit late. So this morning on the Waitemata is okay but not this afternoon. On the Manukau it's the other way around, low tide right now, so there's no point going out in an hour's time. But with high tide at 2pm it means the 3pm slot could be on the Manukau's outgoing tide. It means Waitemata before lunch and Manukau mid afternoon and you'll be hitting it exactly right. We're pretty lucky in Auckland to have two harbour options like that to choose from. In terms of bite chances the next most favourable days would be Monday to Thursday because of the 1stQ moon on Tuesday. At the moment the moon is getting higher and will be at its southern declination peak on Monday. That will bring a colder spell to the country, even a wintry blast in some places, probably affecting the C Plateau and Otago the most. Being 1stQ means the moon is out of the sky in the morning so we can expect some frosts and fogs and mists in some places. We're still in kingtide from the perigee and new moon of last week so there's plenty of water in the rivers, and that will start to lessen after today as the waters drain out gradually for the neap which is around Thursday. We have about two weeks of spring weather still to go and then there'll be a sudden upsurge of temperature maximums, but the minimums will take longer to get fully out of the single digits. It does look like soil temperatures will remain on the low side throughout spring, and that will affect some crops and put the price of them up on the supermarket shelves if some have to imported. Finally a bit of rain for everyone this coming week and the good news is that after next weekend there's a dry spell coming of about 2 weeks for most of us - exceptions would be the west and south of the South Island.
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24 September 2011
Best fishing times today are 9 and 3, and that's am and pm. On the Waitemata it'll be nearly low tide at 9am so nothing much happening then. But 3pm will be almost high tide there, so that means this afternoon is the time to fish in the east. In Cornwallis the outgoing tide in the Manukau is at around 9am, so that's okay, and the incoming tide around 3pm so its the Manukau that has the most possibilities today and that'll be both before and after lunch. So only this morning on the Auckland harbour side and the Hauraki Gulf, and on the Manukau mid morning and mid afternoon with the mid-tides. It's a perfect day to be out fishing, although chances are only classed as average, but if you go at the right times it should be worthwhile. The tides are getting higher at quite a rapid rate over the next few days. The kingtide is on Thursday and the new moon on Tuesday, so from Monday onward most of this coming week should be excellent fishing. However there's a rough week coming in terms of waves and wind, because of new moon on Tuesday crossing the equator heading south, but also in powerful perigee, third closest moon to earth for the whole year on Wednesday. Those three factors each on their own make the moon move faster relative to the earth, and that induces earthquake action, and those three factors were in place in the first week of last September. We've also just had the equinox two days ago, so that also puts stress into the atmosphere by twisting and distorting the air, which is always why they used to call them equinox winds, but the stress also gets into the sea and the land under the sea. Usually the new moon brings westerlies, solid at water level, but new moon also typically brings pleasant weather days in terms of rain or no rain. There may be some some overnight showers in the next couple of days in some places, because over new moon if there is any about, most of the rain arrives overnight when the moon is out of the sky. Some real turbulence especially in the open sea where there's nothing to stop it gathering should arrive in slightly less than a week's time. And after next weekend on the first week of October I'm expecting a wintry blast, probably the last big one for the season. And looking right ahead, we'll get a sudden upward rise in maximum temperatures from mid October onwards which is about 3 weeks away. Clocks go forward tonight, daylight saving begins tomorrow.
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7 September 2011
Best fishing times today are 3 and 9, and that's am and pm. That means the incoming tide at the Manukau in an hour's time or the outgoing tide this afternoon there, which means the Manukau has possibilities today both before and after lunch. On the Waitemata it'll be nearly full tide at 9am but 3pm will be almost low tide with nothing much happening then. That means mid morning and mid afternoon which favours the Manukau for the day, but only this morning on the Auckland side. Northern declination comes up on Monday which means the moon is in the other hemisphere as far north from NZ as it gets in the month, and why winds are lessening, and some brief warmer temperatures should start coming this way as soon as the moon changes direction and coming south. That'll be around the end of the coming week, and there'll be some further showers with that due to warm air mixing with cold. We've got a dying kingtide, still good for fishing because plenty of fish means competition for food, and although we're in an average period as far as fish bite chances go, Wednesday's last quarter moon overhead moon in the morning and evening favours morning and evening because the fish are hungry in the morning, and in the evening dopey enough not to know what they're biting. It's even better if these times correspond with favourable tides. Northern moon at last quarter means winds drop, especially as neap tide approaches midweek, so expect a big lull over the week with higher air pressures before the next lot of weather action in the last week of the month which will bring more wild and extreme weather, big winds, a cold wintry blast, and the next big earthquake risk time. Sea-surface temps stayed quite high this winter despite La Nina because kingtides came on full moons until June. That swapped over to new moon kingtides in August. When kingtides on new moon happens sea surface temperatures tend to lose heat, and that gets transferred to the land. It means you get a cooler late winter in the southern hemisphere which will extend almost to November in places. And that's because we’ve got new moon kingtides until December. After that, spring will extend into January so this coming summer will be late, and next autumn will be warm and dry like a late summer, so that's what's much further down the line.
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10 September 2011
Tomorrow the moon is crossing the equator heading north and that usually means stronger winds and a temperature drop. Then on Monday we have the full moon, that means clear nights, cloudy days and some overnight frosts in places, and on the actual day of full moon the winds go quite still but it's a temporary lull.. On Tuesday it's the kingtide but not highest in month, that one is at the end of the month and that means we have a fair bit of water coming in at the moment. The winter full moon phase brings excellent fishing for about 4 days starting tomorrow and continuing til midweek and after that the chances of bites drops back to average until about the end of next weekend. Today your best times are 10.30 and 4.30, am and pm, which means for the Manukau before lunch on the outgoing high tide or before dinner there on the incoming tide, or if you're on the Auckland side, the Gulf, it's just before dinner this afternoon when the tide will be almost fully in. I wouldn't fish on the east coast for that 10.30am option because the tide will be almost fully out and there won't be much fish about. So I'd say it's this morning on the Manukau or later this afternoon in the Gulf. Weatherwise we've got a front coming this weekend, I actually expected it last night but there's a 1-2 day error in all forecasting. However you may have noticed cirrus cloud in the sky for much of yesterday, that's sign of rain arriving in about 36-hrs. Therefore it may be a bit unsettled tomorrow and I think again around about the end of the coming week. The moon's energies are downwards after Tuesday which means there won't be that much feeding action happening at the surface, more fish will be down deep. When the moon is above the horizon if you're watching it you'll see the arc getting lower and lower each day until it reaches the rock bottom position on 19th which is a week away. So it's a descending moon and a waning one as well, it means later on this week it's a time when nature around our part of the world is retiring and the other hemisphere is getting stressed rather than us. But in that retiring phase stress and pressure sometimes comes through as ground movement I think it'll be quite a high barometer for a few days, but the needle could suddenly drop around Wed and Thurs and that may cause snow or the odd earthquake. The risk time for that is 14th-17th which is Wed to Sat, and as it's the apogee as well, I think around Wednesday would probably be a good time to go fishing.
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3 September 2011
Tomorrow the moon is at the southernmost point for the month which is why temps have dropped, and Monday it is 1stQ. 1stQ means the moon is out of the sky in the morning from midnight to lunchtime and it brings cooler mornings, and southern declination brings even more coolness and at this time of the year 1stQ happens when the moon is right in the south, i.e the highest point of its daily arc is right overhead. Because we are 3 days after the perigee wind should be dying down after today, calm but getting cold due to 1stQ+S dec, bringing the next lot of unsettled weather about Wednesday or Thursday around the neap tide. There is a chance of snow and rain in the NI but little or no chance of flooding due to neap tide. The barometer should be rising today and may reach about 1028, then as soon as the needle starts to fall rain should come. But it may only be a slight dip and the needle should rise again around 12th which is full moon and when a small round of earthquakes is expected, but not expected to be as serious as at the end of the month. Neap tide approaching means plenty of fish from now till Tuesday leaving inlets on outgoing tides because more water is going out each time than coming in. At the moment the moon's arc is still rising, so surface feeding should predominate. Winds should be from S and SW till midweek then some SEs until about Thursday or Friday, and you may as well stay home then. September should not be a settled month. Just before next weekend, just prior to full moon there is the chance of some rough weather for Auckland and the east coast of the SI. The equinox is on 22 September and following that in the last week of the month a lot of turbulence is expected, a big earthquake risk, extra kingtides, rough seas and some heavy rain and snow dumps. There'll be gales, thunderstorms and chances of flooding in the top half of the NI. Boats should be securely moored at the end of this month. Today the moon is in its best position at 4 and 10, and 5 and 11 tomorrow, so fishing will be best on the east today just after lunch or just before dinnertime on the west.
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27 August 2011
We've got the new moon on Monday and the perigee on Wednesday, and there's quite a bit of unsettlement around with those two, and I think there'll be the chance of some overnight tain maybe Sunday or just after the weekend, more in the west than the east, whereas the days should still be quite sunny. The winds are south and SW, and the barometer is falling and could reach a low point about tomorrow, or thereabouts, then start going back up again The falling barometer is the time to go fishing, and actually the fishing comes very good from tomorrow until Tuesday. After that the fishing doesn't come good again till next Sunday. There should be a bit of wind from that perigee which arrives around Tuesday, it's the seventh closest moon distance for the month, and along with that the waves will be whipped up a bit. The moon is also crossing the equator around Monday and heading south, and that's bringing wet conditions, with the warmer air mixing with the cold still coming from the south, but once the weekend is over there's not that much actual rain in it. It's also an earthquake-rich period this week with the new moon and the perigee, so a few shakes might worry some people. At the moment the focus for earthquakes is the North island, and north of Taupo. It means better coastal fishing because the fish make for the shallower waters in times of increased numbers of undersea eruptions, and because new moon is often the time of eruptions it may be why the new moon is considered so good for fishing in ancient traditions such as the Maori Fishing Calendar. But the end of September is the next date for the next largest earthquake event in Christchurch, in my opinion. So then next Thursday we're into September, and despite some nicer days lately the winter is not over, there'll be some icy cold conditions returning in this coming month, especially in the second week of September and the first week of October. And it won't be till mid October that spring temperatures will finally be here. I know waters have been warmer on average this winter, and the summer is going to bring some heatwaves so that may work out well for fishing because the insects will stay in the shade and not go onto the water, and so insect lures may be just the thing to entice the fish. The next kingtides are on the 30th which is Tuesday, and the tide heights are actually getting bigger now each month as the pergiees get closer over the next few months. The moon is second closest for the year in the last days of October and starts to move away again around the end of November. Best bite times today are 10.30 and 4,30 and that's am and pm.
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20 August 2011
Yesterday the moon was in apogee, furthest from earth for the month, apogee is always good fishing day because of the calm currents and so fish come in close. Monday is the northern declination. Between apogee and northern declination the moon starts to come back towards Earth and drift to the northern hemisphere. It means that the moon is both far away from earth and also in the opposite hemisphere, as far as it can get from us here, so it's like a double calm. The tide is also half way from king to being neap, so that is also a waning force. Weatherwise, currents-wise, everything is going into rest mode, the release of energies. That also makes it a time for earthquakes, because release is actually what earthquakes are about, and there was a 6.8 in Japan yesterday. There was also an above-4 in Christchurch today just after low tide, the first one that size in 2 weeks, and we did predict that last week (see transcript). But it makes it a good time for fishing, because fish like the calmer waters that come after a storm. I imagine it's just like us walking down the shoreline after a big storm to see if anything interesting has washed up. Stronger currents turn over debri in the ocean and more fish-food gets released. So I think this is a good time to go out in a boat, and you could have some good success at the right bite times. On the weather front, it's going to be mainly dry til next weekend, although the South Island may get some rain about Thursday. The temperatures will start to drop again around midweek and then we'll be feeling the cold again around next weekend and so from now till then a bit of snow may start to thaw, which means there'll be a bit of ice around which will make driving pretty hazardous in those places where the sun can't get in, like the Takaka Hill. Also the skiers may find the snow's a little hard. After tomorrow the moon's energies will no longer be coming downwards, so there'll be more movement in the water and the fish will be roaming between bottom and surface, and because we're coming up to neap more water is leaving than coming in and that means more fish will be leaving the estuaries on the outgoing tide. Fishing then could be fortuitous, and considering where the moon will be that means west coast fishing will probably be better than the east coast for a few days, for instance the Manukau or the Kaipara just after high tide. I have very good bite chances until Tuesday, then it goes average until being excellent again next Sunday. And best bite times today should around 4.30 that's am and pm, and second best 10.30, also am and pm. You give a half hour or so either side of those times. so that means there's time for some breakfast now and then just head out there and you'll be bringing home fresh fish for lunch.
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13 August 2011
We have the full moon tomorrow and it's crossing the equator heading north on Monday. It portends an unsettled period, because firstly full moon brings extra gravitation, and secondly moon rising on the equator adds turbulence, because it is travelling faster relative to the earth as it crosses latitudes - e.g. the midpoint of a pendulum is when the pendulum is travelling fastest. The situation means increased winds and general unsettlement in earth, sea and air, so there's the risk of some ground movement which means chances for something significant in Christchurch in this full moon phase period, although the focus of the activity has moved north in recent months. Why I mention the potential for earthquakes on a fishing show is that most seismic activity is usually under the sea because there's 75% more surface area of sea than of land, and I think underwater shakes increase the force in the currents and in turn that makes fish swim harder just to stay in the same place, so they expend energy and get hungrier. It's just a question of taking everything into account. If you hear about whale or dolphin strandings and earthquakes in your region of ocean I think that's a pointer to grab the tackle box and head out. We've also got kingtides kicking in tomorrow, and although they are lesser kingtides compared with those at the start and end of this month, they're still a good factor in fishing because increased amounts of water bring fish further into estuaries and means they are going to hang around for longer periods in places that are more accessible to anglers. The moon's energies are heading downwards from Monday on, as the moon's daily arc works its way lower and lower in the sky, and that means more bottom feeding going on. As for weather, I think after the weekend it clears up for a few days until more rain next weekend. Some places like Northland may not get much of a clearing, but Taranaki and most of the South Island should get a bigger clear interval, could be about a week and a half after tomorrow or Monday. In terms of fishing chances; they are excellent from today to Monday and then there's a dropoff to average from Tuesday to Friday, then very good again next Saturday. So all-in-all a good period right now. Best bite times today 11.30 and 5.30 and that's am and pm.
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6 August 2011
Today's the day of 1st Quarter moon, meaning it rises around lunchtime and sets around midnight and so it's out of the sky overnight and in the morning. After the moon sets it's about halfway but edging closer to, the horizon. If the moon went far below the horizon it would let in more cold air from higher up in the atmosphere, but because the moon is just below the horizon we have the situation where the night air can't get entirely cold because the moon is keeping the previous day's warmth in, and stopping the cold from space from coming too close, and the result is that the nights are not as cold.as it was two weeks ago when the nights went really cold because everything was opposite - the moon went way below the horizon after it set and more colder air could get in from higher up in the atmosphere. That will come again in a fortnight around the last week in August. So because we have nearly a week of relatively milder nights coming up the fish being cold blooded means they move faster in milder water so they get hungrier. The moon's energies are still going upwards and with the decreasing tide size it means fish will be nearer the surface than the deep. The moon will be at its southernmost point on Monday the southern declination, that's the highest in our sky, but after next weekend the second half of the month will see the return of much cooler nights. There's another bunch of rain in the middle of the month around this coming Friday onwards and that will be for both islands. There's a week of dry weather for the South Island after next weekend but a bit more rain then up here in the north. And everybody gets a wintry blast in the last few days in the month. Winds are mostly from the west at the moment, and not so much from the south. They'll briefly turn S on Monday with the southern declination, but that should be short-lived, maybe only for a day or so. Neap tides always arrive in the 1st quarter period, and the tides are dead on the neap on the 9th which is Tuesday, so the tidal variation is decreasing at the moment. I have best bite times today at 6 and 12, that's am and pm and very good chances of bites now till Tuesday, then average during the week until becoming excellent again on Friday which is the start of the next full moon period.
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30 July 2011
There are 3 moon factors coming in the next few days and that adds up to earthquake risk. They had a 6.2 mag yesterday in Fiji, a 4.1mag in Cook Strait and a 3.7mag in Christchurch this morning and they would have been felt. Tomorrow is new moon, on Monday the moon crosses the equator heading south and on Wednesday it's perigee returning (moon closest for a month). The new moon + perigee is the cold engine of winter. Whenever winters have that combination then that time will be the coldest in a season. However not yet. With new moon tomorrow and perigee on Wednesday that's still not close enough for real sustained cold. The reason we had a freezing spell recently was because the moon was travelling north causing southerlies but that wasn't lasting. Real sustained cold won't come until N+P are less than a day apart, which will be end of September to last week in November. It means that the end of winter and spring will be much cooler. The exception may be October, because it'll suddenly warm up mid October for the SI. So until N+P sets in around September, August should be average for temperatures. September is the killer - an unusually cold autumn. In September around southern declination on 4th should close down much of NZ, and an icy winter blast during first week of October may affect some late lambs. We don't have to worry about that yet, maybe a month or so off. August brings easterly winds onshore bringing cloud to eastern coastlines. People are going to be expecting southerlies in August but it's not going to happen. For Auckland I've only got 2 days of direct Ss, around 5th and 30th. For Christchurch only about 6-7 days of fairly direct Ss, and Wellington only 4 days of direct Ss and all of them in the last 10 days of August. That's not saying it won't be cool, after all it's winter, but the extreme drops aren't until til the end of August and then September. All that has implications for fishing. August should be changeable, sometimes no wind at all. It means the water may be clearer and that's not good because then fish go away and stick more to the underwater rock shelters so that they're not seen by birds and other fish predators. It's the kingtide over the next few days until Tuesday so lots of fish around right now and good diving on the low tides. From Monday onwards energies are bottom to surface, so fish may be near the surface checking out your bait if there's the cover of surface ripples. I do have excellent prospects today till Monday because of new moon, next good time is 5th-8th and next excellent period is the 12th-15th. Bite times today are 11.30 and 5.30 and that's am and pm.
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23 July 2011
Change to LastQ moon today, and the last q means the moon is gone by lunchtime and is out of the sky all afternoon, and rises again after midnight. So you only see it in the morning for a couple of days and most rain if it's around is in the afternoon and evening.. Also yesterday was apogee, meaning moon furthest away for a month and brings calmer winds and seas. Around apogees you get extra gravitation from the earth because the moon isn't as close, that's why things go calm, and apogees often bring earthqake activity. Yesterday there was a 5.1 in Christchurch and 5s in both the Kermadecs and Tonga, and a 6 in Fiji. At 5.39am which was the time of the shake the moon was exactly over Christchurch. The moon reaches its northerly point on Tuesday and as well the water will be right on the neap tide, so not much tidal variation and not much water movement going on. When northern declination combines with apogee, currents go extra quieter and that in turn means winds will drop. Fish do get out and get more active in rough weather because to combat faster currents they work harder just to stay in the same place, and expend energy which means they replenish it by eating, and so they bite more often. And also unsettled weather churns up interesting things for them to feed on. But we have HAD that so they could be out there and let's hope they are for the tournament. And fishing chances are usually very good anyway over a last Q moon, but those better chances should cease about Tuesday. Then it should pick up again around Friday because that will be 2 days before new moon. And the apogee means they come right in closer to the shore because the sand doesn't get churned up by wave action and get in their gills. Apogee is always mentioned as a good fishing time in the Maori fishing calendar. I've got a cloudy week, but mostly dry from about Monday on. I've got some rain is coming through about Friday, also lower barometric pressures, and that's always a good sign to go fishing. There'll be some southerlies this week so dress kids up warm especially after lunch when the moon goes way below the horizon this time, and lets in more cooler air from higher up, down to our ground level. Remember that colder winter air is more dense and falls, as against warmer air which is lighter, rises and causes more evaporation. The bite times today are 6 and 12, and that's am and pm, and the 6am/pm time is the best and the 12am/pm the second best.
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16 July 2011
It was full moon last night and we're entering a dry spell that I think will keep going for another two weeks. The full moon heats the earth by about a quarter of a degree. The moon crosses the equator heading north on Monday the 18th, and it's been cold because southerlies have been going northwards along with the moon. We often get dry cold clear skies around winter full moons. Between full moon and last quarter is the time in winter when the sun can apply most heat to the wintry ground, because the moon is out of the sky in the afternoon and takes the air lower which lets the sun in closer to the ground, that's why it usually warms up a bit in this phase, whereas it usually cools before winter full moon. It means some snow may disappear over coming days, which may not be good for the school holidays. Over the next 10 days we see the moon in a descending arc in the sky. It reaches the northerly point on the 26th and then we'll see northerlies bringing more rain at the end of the month. In summer it's the other way around, the summer full moon skirts around low on the horizon. So it's exactly opposite to the sun, because the sun is high above us in summer and around the horizon in winter. Because of the higher pressure around full moon people often get headaches and have trouble getting to sleep. The earth also gets the pressure and releases it as higher earthquake frequency. But as the moon descends, so does pressure, and that contributes to lower clouds and warmer temperatures. That is good for fishing, because fish don't like that higher pressure either. It's a kingtide right now, best bite times are 1 and 7, and that's am and pm, 1 being the best and 7 the second best. Excellent fishing chances today and tomorrow because of the full moon and the warmer water temperatures, and the next fishing good time is next Friday to the following Monday. There's a bit of an earthquake risk around 22-23, so surfcasters at the bottom of cliffs always need an exit if they need it. Chances of trouble are remote but a place like NZ has plenty of coastal erosion and ground movement.
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9 July 2011
We've just had a perigee yesterday, that brings wind, the moon's also been in the sign of Libra which is a windy sign, but it moves out of that this evening, and yesterday the moon went into the 1stQ phase, that's the C-shape you see in the afternoon when it rises at lunchtime and sets at midnight. It's moving and changing position all the time of course, but some things always stay the same. The rule for the Auckland region is, watch the moon from a hilltop or wherever, because the exact moment the moon rises add one hour and that'll be hightide on the Waitemata. It climbs of course from the east and heads to the left; and when the moon's exactly in the NE it's high tide on the Manukau and half-tide-out on the Waitemata. So you can set a little marker in your garden - you don't need tide tables. If you're in Auckland, for fishing on either coast, you want to set out from home right when that moon is in the NE, because an hour later, that's an hour after the Manukau high tide, that's your best fishing time there. Any day of the year. For the Waitemata, moon in NE means you're setting out exactly at the tide half-out, because an hour later that's your best fishing time there. It means you've only got 3 hours before low tide on the Waitemata, so you have to get cracking. That's why the Manukau is always a better harbour to catch more fish, because relatively more water in the inlets means there's more fish still around at the time the moon's in that best position.
We have a rising barometer right now, and with the full moon on Friday I think the barometer is just going to keep rising this coming week and it could easily get up into the 1030s near the end of the week. Right when it reaches its highest point, next Saturday, it'll be a minikingtide, but Thursday to Sunday the needle is going to plunge and it's going to be an excellent time for fishing. It's also going to be an earthquake risk time again too, unfortunately, and that short risk period from about Thursday-on will abate around the following Monday. Just bear that in mind if you plan to go surfcasting around the rocks. You never know exactly where these events concentrate themselves but they usually occur more near the foot of ranges, because they are big land masses to rise and fall as part of the Land Tide. And after the full moon period the 21st-23rd is the next risk date - that'll be a neap tide. Weatherwise, I think from about Monday or Tuesday onwards we'll be lucky to see any more rain until the last two days of the month, although it'll still be cold until a northerly change in the last few days. Best bite times today are 7 and 1, and that's am and pm, and your chances are very good today and tomorrow.
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July 2011
The Auckland shake was near Waiheke, close to the Coromandel Ranges, the place in the Auckland Region with the greatest land mass - same as in the Waikato, any shakes there occur on the Matamata side close to the hills. For sure there would have been more shakes out at sea, so I'm wondering if fish would have come into the harbour to shelter. If so, despite those easterlies, it could be good for fishing. Last night the Waitemata high tide was 7.30pm and the Manukau 10.30pm, so 9pm was the halfway point. So you could say the Auckland earthquake happened averagely when the tide was the highest in the Auckland region. Most earthquakes happen either around high or low tides. Also, the new moon was over Auckland at 5 to 9. The air pressure went up almost to 1040 millibars in places. The higher air pressure has made the seatide lower in height at both high and low tide times, and some may have noticed that as they have launched boats, and I'm talking about roughly 8 inches or so. And that's just one example of how the air and sea work in together. So we had the new moon yesterday and the moon is still coming down from the north. New moons in winter bring calm pleasant days. It crosses the equator in the middle of this week and because it's crossing the equator I'm expecting some extra winds about Wednesday, probably northerly, and because it's coming down from the north I'm expecting a bit of rain as well. So it'll be at the southern declination overhead in the 12th. Apart from Wednesday's northerlies all the rest of the month are westerlies and southwesterlies, but there's the odd southeasterly in there and that's not a good fishing prospect. And from next weekend onwards I've got mostly dry weather for the rest of the month. Now after tomorrow and for the next 10 days we have what we call an ascending and a waxing moon. It means the moon's energies are directed upwards from below the ground. It means a lot of heaving coming from the ground and because the land tide will be both higher and lower, that results in a kingtide from Monday to Wednesday and that will bring those fish in, and on Thursday they'll start feeding up because they'll be looking around their new neighborhoods that they find themsleves in, and being curious they'll be on the prowl for tasty morsels. The new moon of course brings excellent fishing chances and that's from yesterday until tomorrow, and the next good time should be from Thursday till Sunday, and after that from the 14th-17th. And the best bite times today are 1 and 7, and that's am and pm.
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25 June 2011
It was the apogee yesterday, which means moon furthest away for the month and before that the moon crossed the equator, and as well it was last Q phase, and these three happened in a short space of time, and when you get a kind of threesome like that it creates unsettled conditions and quite changeable. The lastQ on its own can bring electrical storms because the moon is dragging electrically-charged particles from the sun across the earth. When the moon is crossing the equator it is also a potential time for thunderstorms, because it is one magnetic field (moon) crossing another, being that of the Earth, and as well the moon moves faster and consequently weather systems can speed up. The good thing about thunderstorms is that they are mainly noise and wind and not too much rain, they can zoom in quickly and depart just as quickly. The winter lastQ moon always rises on the equator which is due east. The sun is rising in the NE because of the solstice. The moon is coming up the latitudes and the moon as well as the sun will be around their furthest points north for this winter next Wednesday. You often get bad weather when moon and sun occupy different hemispheres, and better weather when both are in the same hemisphere. The barometer has been rising since last night and weather could clear a bit today, so in the short term higher barometric pressures are coming. The moon is still both waning and descending (good time for pruning) which means there's still a bit of heat around even though snow fell yesterday in the central NI (see Predict Weather Almanac for NZ on p518 which lists first good snows for Ruapehu on 23rd, which bodes well for the rest of the winter forecast). Expect milder temperatures around the end of June, that could bring more rain. Then possibly wet for the first 9 days of July and then two weeks of relative dry from 10-29 July. We're on a neap tide right now, and the fish are nearer the bottom of the ocean than the surface. Anyone in an active earthquake zone right may keep an eye on the barometer because if the barometer suddenly swings one way or another it points to more turbulence both above and below where you're standing. There's more of that potential around 1 July. The next kingtides are 4-5 July. As for today, some good fishing expectations, then bite chances go back to being average for a few days, but then we're back into excellent fishing conditions again around Thursday which will be the new moon period. Best biite times today are 7.30 and 1.30 and that's am and pm.
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18 June 2010
It was the full moon on Thursday, and the old rule about rain two days after full moon has come true. The barometer has suddenly dropped but it should rise from now and especially around Tuesday as the moon crosses the equator heading north on Wednesday. The lastQ moon is Thursday and winter lastQ moon accompanies moon crossing equator heading north, which means a weakening of southerly blasts as the moon's arc descends, and the waning moon heading towards new moon on 1 July. The moon's energies are dropping in intensity after a big expansion last week which brought our earthquake. Where before things were uplifting now it has changed and it means lower pressures, pruning if you're a gardner, hiding in the deep if you're a fish away from those nasty surface currents. The idea is things closing down and moon energies diminishing. It means for weather, low pressure and systems from the north providing a bunch of northerlies taking over about midweek, and then more rain at the end of next week. Today's rain should lessen later today but not stop yet. Look in the almanac on p261 and you'll see our weather map there is a match to what's in this morning's paper and last night's news, with that great big "L" on the low pressure system that's currently sitting off to our northwest. At times of low pressure warmer air is allowed to rise, this makes for evaporation from the sea, it forms clouds and the clouds then drop as rain a few days later. Remermber that the powerful systems for us are the southerly blasts and SWs, which have a lot of wind in them, which hit Fiordland and the Alps first and then start to weaken as they get deflected up the west side of the country and then go overland to the east. Anything southerly is usually more wind-generated, whereas systems with most rain usually come from northerly systems. So it's a week of northerlies with the odd westerly, but not much southerly action so quite mild in temperatures, we have a neap tide coming up around Thursday, so I'm picking some good fishing after Wednesday. So today, best bite times are 1.30 and 7.30, that's am and pm, and chances only average. Quite a good picture for both the fisherman and the farmer at the moment and in fact for the winter generally, because of the warmer temperatures, but a headache for ski operators.
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11 June 2011
Coming up we have a clearing after tonight and I think we'll wake up tomorrow to dry but still fairly cloudy skies. There'll be a rising of the barometer along with southerlies. And then there's a few days of that dryness. Around Friday, which will be the next phase change with the next full moon, we can expect more rain with or following the kingtide, that's around the 16th. I have a barometer drop midweek, and that'll bring more unsettled conditions and in the third week of the month we may get a heap more rain and I wouldn't rule out a bit of flooding in some low-lying areas. Along with that barometer drop about Wednesday the fish will suddenly start taking bait. Tomorrow it's the perigee, which means the day that the moon is the closest for the month, and as months go this time the moon is the 12th closest distance away for the year which means the perigee this time is not a powerful one. But I'm still expecting a bit of earthquake risk around or on Monday to come from that in the Christchurch to Wellington region, plus or minus a day or so. And the reason is that the extra gravitation that comes from every perigee produces a kingtide in the land which then shows up as the kingtide of the water that sits on top of the land. There's also a Mercury-Sun-Earth alignment and that comes every two months, but when it joins a full moon there's added strain on the earth. It's an ascending and a waxing moon between now and Tuesday, and you usually get that combination just before or during the kingtides around this time of the year, and that means that in a sense everything is going upwards, there is extra growth, kingtides, lots of feeding and rushing around, anticyclones take charge because they are the heavier air masses, all building up to the southern declination which is on Wednesday and it means that's the moon's highest arc for the month in its daily transit across the sky, and the next day it's the full moon. That closeness of full moon plus southern declination in terms of how far apart they are occurs every June or early July, it's the mid winter combination according to the moon. But anyone looking for sunshine this month won't find it, it's going to be a cloudy month just about all the way and that will keep the heat in between ground and cloud layer and that's why we're going to have these milder temperatures for a while yet - probably right until the second week of July. Bad news for skiers, good news for farmers and fishermen. So the good bite times today are 8 and 2, that's am and pm. Fishing conditions will be excellent from Wednesday to Friday and that's the kingtide, but perhaps watch out for some big daytime downpours around the end of the week.
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4 June 2011
On Thursday we had new moon and northern declination (moon rising at furthest north latitude for the month) both together. The change of phase (to new moon) brings a weather change, because we hadn't really had significant rain for about a week since around the last phase change which was lastQ moon 26th-27th. Winter new moon typically brings rain at night. While the moon is either at N or S declination or crossing the equator, the barometer tends to drop a couple of days soon after, which means that the air pressures are governed at all times by the latitude of the moon. So that's what we're getting now and the barometer is still on the way down. The northern moon for us means that the moon is driving winds from the north of us which means northerlies, and they are not too cold, but they are wet. Nothing much happens right on northern declination, the moon goes slowly and the metservices are more accurate then because the weather tends to be the same from one day to the next, but as the moon picks up speed and treks back this way, winds increase and that brings the rain and the metservices don't recognise these changing speeds of weather systems. Around Tuesday you'll find things will start to dry up, there'll be a change to southerlies, the barometer will turn around and go up, and temperatures will go cool again. As for tides, what we've got right now is a mini-kingtide, and this month the two kingtides are not that much different from each other because the moon isn't close. When these not-so-close perigees click in, the following month or so you get a change to perigees occurring on the new moon, if before it was the full moon, or vice versa. Between full moon biggest kingtides and new moon ones you get a couple of in-between changeover months which this year are June and July, and that's when the two kingtides of the month are about the same heights and they average a little lower than, say, the beginning and end of August when we'll get those higher tides and the closer moons starting to return. And that's also likely to be when earthquake activity picks up again around the world. You'll notice that things have gone quiet lately on that score and that's the reason. So in terms of fishing it means not so much water coming in, not so many fish. The really good fishing associated with the new moon ended yesterday and today we're back to average biting chances. It'll pick up again from Wednesday to Friday with the quarter moon change. Best bite times today are 1.30 and 7.30 and that's am and pm and about 45minutes on either side. And if anyone's into skiing, our snow reports for all NZ skifields are now available from the website. As for winter, the season should be dry and starting to go cooler after July, so will be late kicking in. For example there'll be hardly any precipitation during the whole of the second half of July. And spring will have a cold sting to it.
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28 May 2011
The heavy rain has been and gone, just as we thought it might around the 25th-26th which was midweek. It is mainly because there were 3 significant things going on for the moon; and its worth looking at as a classic little cameo of what the moon's patterns are about.
Firstly we had last Q moon on the 25th and typically with the change in phase you get a change in weather pattern and that happened on the day, that's when the rain arrived. Then secondly the moon crossed the equator heading north on the 26th and with the crossing of the equator you get winds and that blows the rain in that came from the phase change. Thirdly it was apogee on 27th (moon furthest drom earth for the month) and with apogee you get the wind dropping and that always causes rain to actually fall if it's about, because otherwise wind keeps blowing and blows the rain away. The moon reaches its northernmost point for the month on Thursday and that's the new moon day. That's the next rain time. There isn't much rain expected from now until then. There's a waning and descending moon till mid week which is bringing these milder northerlies but around Tuesday a few things happen: the wind changes to southerly over the following few days, the last of the rain eases, the fish start to return and fishing suddenly improves from Tuesday to Friday. Then from about the 11 June onward it goes warm again for about a month and that'll delay the onset of winter. In terms of the tide at the moment it's just past neap so fishing will start to pick up until the arrival of the mini-kingtide next Friday. Best bite times today are 8.30 and 2.30 and that's am and pm and about 45 minutes on either side.
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21 May 2011
Over the past couple of days the full moon has been just about overhead around midnight, and that's because it was over the southernmost point for the month on Thursday and now it's beginning to arc lower. When the winter full moon is in the south like that, we get the colder temperatures in the daytime, because when during daylight hours the winter full moon goes below the horizon, it sits only just below the horizon until it rises again at sunset, and that means the airtide doesn't go right out, which in turn means the air height above our ground remains fairly high which in turn means that the daytime sun's heat can't come that close to the ground because there's still a quantity of air in the way that is of a generally cooler temperature because it has been cooled down by the night before. So when it comes to fishing, you get warmer nights and cooler days around the winter full moon which tends to even up the day-and-night temperatures which brings the fish in closer. You get higher pressure because cooler air descends and that creates anticyclones and that brings more settled weather for a time, you get the higher tides because of the full moon's increased gravitation and that means more water coming in which brings more fish, and incidentally that's why you get various creatures that spawn by full moon and spread eggs around - it's because the even-ing up of the winter-full-moon temperatures gives them more chances of survival for that crucial day or two - and so winter full moon means a more productive time ecologically in the sea for all of the creatures, which also brings more fish because they all know where to be. It's kind of like a big sale day on, down at The Warehouse. Then humans come along and a dangling hook is attractive because it adds to what's on offer. The barometer's on the way down now, so good time to be out there. A better time is Tuesday to Thursday with the last quarter moon clicking in, but the moon's energies are descending all week which brings winter warmth to the water. The best bite times today are 3 and 9, and that's am and pm. And weatherwise should continue to be mostly dry until about midweek. And then we've got some heavy weather coming.
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14 May 2011
The moon crossed equator yesterday heading south, it means the Moon is now in our hemisphere and it will be bringing less rain down from the tropics than it has been doing over recent days. When it gets to the southern hemisphere in winter it usually means the weather turns colder. A southern declination winter moon usually causes big anticyclones too, and that means higher air pressures between 18th-25th around the times of the next neap tide and that's on the 26th. The colder water is good for some types of fishing, especially trout, it's something to do with the fact of colder water holding more oxygen. But the crossing of the equator brings winds too, so with the perigee tomorrow, number 8 in terms of closeness to Earth for the year, also means that some winds may start to get up in some places. It's the kingtide from Monday to Thursday and full moon on Tuesday, and then on Thursday it's the southern declination, which is the southernmost point of the moon this month. That means a good load of fish coming in this week, so Monday-Thursday should be excellent fishing. Weather wise, looking ahead, a bit of rain tomorrow but quickly passing because of a lot of wind aloft, and then clearing during the week, after the 25th there's some stormy weather for all. Between the 17th-20th looks mainly dry in the north and around the 18th-20th it could turn cold for some, especially in the deep south. The barometer goes up this week, probably reach a high point for the month next weekend, so there could be some earthquake action midweek that's around the 17th, that means agitation under the seafloor, and that drives fish into the shallows which is good news for the fisherman, and around the end of the month the barometer reaches an estimated low point around the 29th, which will be new moon and another good fishing time to plan for. But right now the best bite times today are 9 and 3 that's am and pm, bite chances are only average today, but chances should pick up after tomorrow.
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7 May 2011
We had the new moon on Tuesday, and that tornado, and you always get extra turbulence on new moon day, solid easterlies at water level fairly commonly around new moon in Auckland. One would imagine the winds get twisted back by the jutting Whangaparoa headland into the Okura Inlet and then onto Albany because tornadoes have happened there about once every 10 years, it's a bit of a tornado alley. We've got a couple around Auckland, there's another tornado alley around Onehunga when westerlies are sometimes extra strong. But the interesting thing was, this tornado happened right in the time frame of 2.30pm-4.30pm, which was when the barometer was the lowest for the day, and that causes the maximum uplift. But you need a lot of gravitational pull such as you get on a new moon day, and tornadoes don't come back and revisit within a week, so I can't see another one happening today, despite the metservice forecasts for the risk of one. Winds are still coming from the north, that's because it was the northern declination yesterday, means it's been rising over the northern hemisphere, and that means milder temperatures. So now the moon is on its way back up to our southern skies. It's called an ascending moon to us, coming up to the southern declination on 19th, and it's also waxing which means it's coming up to full moon, that's on the 17th.. That's also the next kingtide, and quite a big one too between 16th-19th. The ascending moon and waxing means energies are tending upwards, good for farmers who are planting, but also good for fishing. Fish come nearer the surface around S dec. We're coming up to a neap tide, Tuesday 11th, so fish volumes will be dwindling at the moment, but around the quarter moons are always good fishing days because it's a lull in the currents, and we've got the 1stQ moon on Wednesday. It is going to mean that Tuesday to Thursday the bite chances are going to pick up. The barometer's on the way down now, and that's good for fishing. I think today could be good because things would have been churned up a bit earlier in the week and of course fish are curious creatures. I think could be a bit of rain about Monday or Tuesday then no rain till the end of the week. Then the next big rain is in the last week of the month, I have a storm coming around then, so you may want to bring the boat into shelter from 23rd onwards. Best bite times today are 3.30 and 9.30, that's am and pm.
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30 April 2011
We're back in kingtide mode now, and cooler temperatures.The waterlevel will peak around the 4th, that's about Wednesday. It's not the biggest kingtide of the month, that'll be on the full moon day the 17th. So this kingtide we're coming into is new moon-related, but as it's the apogee today it's a lesser height. Apogee, of course, means the moon furthest from earth for the month. Apogee is a powerful earthquake time, because of extra high pressure, and they've just had a 5.1 in Chch at their low tide. Apogee is good for fishing according to the old Maori Fishing Calendar, because the sea is usually calmer because of that higher pressure, and the fish can come right in. Plus, the new moon is always one of the best fishing periods, weil, new moon arrives Tuesday, and I think you'll find the fishing picks up on Monday and it should be good for bites until Thursday. The moon also crossed the equator yesterday heading north. It means the rain in Gisborne should ease, because what that was, was the last of the tropical lows for the season - that's what they call a cyclone when it becomes a fizzer! So these systems come down when the moon comes in this hemisphere, that was over the past week. The new moon is always in this hemisphere in our summer, but it's a sign of autumn when both new moon and full moon rise on the equator. The full moon did two weeks ago. We're into May, I think it'll be a wet time in the last week just like this month has been, but you do get that month-similarity cycle happening. It's a sign of winter when full moon rises on southern declination and new moon rises on northern declination. And that'll be June for both of those. But this year it won't be too cold just yet, because the perigees are less powerful meaning the moon is averagely further away, meaning the height of the air-tide doesn't go real high or low, so the cold of space that normally gets close to the ground at night if the moon is absent, which is over new moon phase, doesn't come as close to the ground as it would if a closer perigee was around, because the close perigee drags the night air away to the other hemisphere over the winter new moon. Anyway, bite times today are 10 and 4, am and pm. And next weekend starts clear for the duckshooters but rain develops over the North island, mostly from Auckland to Hawkes Bay, as a result of the northern declination.
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23 April 2011
Lately the moon has been in the south, that's right above us, but the moon's arc is getting lower day by day. Last Tuesday was the peak of the kingtide and water levels have stayed fairly high, but starting to go down right now this weekend as we start to get away from the kingtides. Then we have the neap tide on Tuesday. So there's a lot of fish leaving and that could present some good netting opportunities after the high tides. One cycle is new moon to full moon and back and that's called waxing and waning moon. Monday will be the lastQ moon which is between full and new. LastQ is the D-shape and you only see the D-shape in a morning, never in an afternoon. From now on through the year as the months progress, that D-morning-moon gets lower and lower, and in winter you'll find it occurs about halfway down the sky and when it gets to its lowest point, that's the northern declination, it'll be the springtime. But of course every month the moon goes between N and S hemispheres anyway, and we call that ascending and descending. So whether or not it's waxing, waning and ascending or descending, these combinations change through the month, and month by month. There are times the waxing+ascending days combine, or waxing and descending, and of course the waning+descending days. Over the next week we have both a waning and a descending moon. The gardeners follow this because waxing+ascending means moon energies maximum upwards, so good for planting. The ground is slowly warming then, which helps the baby plant. Waning+descending means moon energies maximum downwards, so good for pruning. When it comes to fishing, energies upwards means currents are drawn upwards, meaning cooler water, and energies downwards means warmer water. The longest streches of waning+descending moon intervals and also waxing+ascending moon intervals maximise between Feb and August, and the kingtides are sandwiched almost exactly between these intervals. Kingtides usually bring cooler temperatures, during or just before or just after, which we've just been through. And right now we have waning+descending days just kicking-in and they'll be with us right to the end of April, so the air will get warmer and the water also will be warmer. So I have the possibility of warmer temperatures from now on till the end of April. Therefore I'd say better fishing, especially deep water and big game fish and it could delay that northward snapper migration. The best bite times are, for today, 4 and 10, that's am and pm, but only average chances today, but tomorrow things'll improve and it'll be 5 and 11 am and pm and it'll be better fishing at least from tomorrow until Wednesday.
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16 April 2011
The moon will be the 4th closest for the year tomorrow, and the next day is full moon, and it'll be a big kingtide, and it'll be the biggest at the start of the week, Monday and Tuesday, and most of the coming week will be controlled by kingtide. So it should be really good for diving on the low side of kingtide. The low tides will be just after lunchtime and just after midnight in Auckland and just before lunch and midnight in Christchurch. On the west, whether its Cornwallis or Raglan it's 3 hrs later which is about 4pm. Actually there's not as much tide time variation as people think, for NZ. For example for the east, on FM day on 18th in Whangarei, LT is just after midnight and just after lunch, and in Dunedin the low tide on FM day is just before midnight and just before lunch. Today is the day the moon crosses the equator heading south, and that means quite a potential bad weather mix arriving sometime within the next couple of days. There's also a whole lot of sunspots occurring and they take about two days to get to Earth and so right now it's the calm before the storm. At night over full moon its usually in a clear sky because of the way full moon clears the night sky. I do think we may get bad weather this weekend, more in the centre of the NI to Manawatu, then early in the week the lower NI, then maybe around Wednesday some stronger winds, plenty of sunshine as well. I think we've seen the last of the cyclones for the year, and we won't be getting any further ones until December. This coming week may see temperatures drop again, because of the southern declination on Thursday, and especially the far south, they could get a bit of snow in places as they go into Easter arrives. Anyway the fishing turns excellent tomorrow, you're looking at 11 and 5 as best bite times, and that's am and pm. And it stays excellent until Tuesday.
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9 April 2011
Today's the day of northern declination, the day the moon is furthest north for the month. It's a turnaround day in temperatures because being in the north over the next few days we'll get winds from the north, probably NEs, and they'll bring both warmth, and rain to some parts especially NI. The rain should arrive tomorrow and Monday. It should be all over by Tuesday and the whole week should be fine from Tuesday onwards, from Auckland to HB, and Canterbury through to inland Otago. If there is rain it should be mostly before lunchtime because that's typical of the 1stQ moon. As to where, I think it'll be mainly Northland and the S and W of the SI who should get the rain this week. Meanwhile the barometer should take a dive between now and Monday and the fishing should pick up, so tomorrow till Wednesday should be better than average. From now till Wednesday the best times will be just before dawn and just before midday, and on each day, that gets repeated later, as just before dusk and just before midnight. There'll be a bit of wind out on the water Sunday and Monday but I don't think it'll be long-lasting. It'll come down to neap tide on Tuesday and the fact that we're coming to neap usually means we're losing the water from the estuaries and losing the fish as well, but it's not a big neap, not as significant as the one in the last week of April so it may not make that much difference. And then next weekend you've got this month's kingtides and the fish numbers will be back. There could be some increase in seismic activity on Tuesday then again around next weekend and lastly around the 26th. But after that I think the seismic sequence should start to settle down again at long last. As we said last week exactly a week from now may see some of the best fishing days this month. So that could be something to plan for. It'll be perigee and there'll be a lot going on in the air and in the sea, not to mention the land.So bite times this weekend are around 4 and 10, and that's am and pm.
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2 April 2011
The moon's crossing the equator today heading north, and also it's apogee, which means moon furthest away for the month. Crossing the equator heading north shows you why it's been so cool lately; it's been dragging southerlies from the south northwards and over us. The cold usually abates when the moon is in the other hemisphere. When the moon is coming up from the south the cyclones wither away to nothing too. We only get the brunt of cyclones in the season when the moon is coming this way, dragging the wind systems from just this side of the equator, where the cyclones form, southwards. So we've got cold water coming up, we've got the end of a cyclone coming down, with some warm water in tow, it's a cocktail of temperatures. The fish seem to like that, several temperatures side by side. The tides are rising again too, up to the mini kingtide, so that's more fish coming in, so everything's in the fishermans' favour at the moment. It's an interesting month ahead for fishing, because as well as these few days, the other really good time in April is going to be in the third week. The next and the biggest kingtides are around 18th/19th, which will also be a falling barometer. The 17th(P#4) and 18th(FM) will be some of the best fishing days this month. The overnight air temps will stay warm because of the full moon in perigee. There'll be some warm sunny days around the 19th due to NWs so the surface will be warm. Then a change on 22nd to SWs will mix that warm surface water with lower layers. So I reckon that third week is ideal for a fishing competition. Weatherwise I'm expecting anywhere N of Matamata to be drier than average for April even though there are 3 rain dumps this month - in the first few days, the middle, and around the 23rd. And for Auckland the period from 4th-13th is reasonably dry. Excellent chances today til Tuesday, times 11`-1 and 5-7, and that's am and pm.
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26 March 2011
Well, the tides are right back now, going into neap in 3 days time, which means the fish volumes are decreasing. All that water's still emptying out the flooded estuaries, so the fish won't have time to hang around, they'll be swept out. It was warm about 4 days ago as the moon was dragging warm air down from the equator and the moon reached its southernmost point yesterday, so morning temperatures may drop quite quickly over the next few days, and that could be good for fishing, fish swim faster in cooler waters and to replenish spent energy they tend to eat more. Weatherwise we're looking ahead to some more wet weather tomorrow, but generally the skies should be clearing by about Monday, and then a fairly dry week. Whenever you get the full moon it often means wind and rain about two - four days later, and when you have the full moon and perigee less than 36 hours apart as it was on the 20th, it usually means a fairly dry fortnight on either side, and any rain that's around comes in, does its thing and goes out again. There's a SW change due this week and next Saturday I think maybe the chance of first snow around the Desert Rd - people will get all excited but it doesn't mean an early winter. Winter is actually going to be quite late. Some places, like the Remarkables may not get any real snow in good amounts until the end of July. Tomorrow is last quarter, that means you'll only see the moon in the morning, and it'll be arcing quite high in the sky. Should be okay for net-fishing. Fishing stays good until Wedneday, and bite times are 6.30 and 12.30 at the moment, but they gain about 48-50 minutes per day. Things to look forward to are a dryish April but rain in May and June.
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19 March 2011
This is one of the biggest if not the biggest tide this year as kingtides go. It'll be amazing for fishing because of the volume of water but also because of it being full moon and perigee on Sunday. Unfortunately a perigee day is quite often too turbulent to be useful, because fish stay away from the extra currents that might take them onto the rocks, so a few days before and after is best, but the tide will stay high until about the 25th. The main days are 20-23, that's Sunday to Wednesday. That means those days will be really good for diving too, on the low tides. The highest tide should be on the 21st, and I'm expecting the barometer to stay high over that period and start to drop about the 23rd and 24th but then come up again and stay up until around the 28th. It's both a waxing and ascending moon today, which means there's a lot of upward energy around, which means surface feeding, and it's also the day the moon crosses the equator heading S, so you'll see the full moon rising due east if you're in a position to see it. The moon will look bigger because it is, by about 14%. It's also about 30% brighter than normal. The crossing of the equator brings quite windy conditions, usually, and coupled with perigee there should be a fair amount of wind in the open sea, which might create some chop. Next weekend we've got the energies all going the other way, downwards, waning and descending moon, so a different situation entirely next Saturday. So best bite times are 12.30 and 6.30, that's am and pm, and by Monday it will have increased to 2 and 8, because it gains about 50 minutes per day.
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12 March 2011
It's the northern declination today, and the one before closest perigee for the year which is exactly a week away. This is a lunar pulse, like a musical harmonic. Northern declinations are common earthquake times. The sunspot count is amazingly high at the moment. It was 137 on 9th, which was the highest since Oct 2003, then on 10th, 132 and these take 2 days to reach Earth. Normally the high levels of solar activity causing EQs have been coming around full moons, but this has come early, because of such a big FM next week. And it's what some call the supermoon. Even when it goes down in the late evening as it is doing at the moment in the NW in the halfmoon position, it is looking like a huge banana. I'm expecting very big kingtides 20th-23rd, because the moon will be closer to Earth at its closest point over that interval than it will be again until 2016. That will provide amazing diving opportunities when the tide goes out. It means more work for fisheries inspectors because there'll be more people looking for those diving opportunities and a lot more people taking more than they should because it's going to be more tempting. There could be flooding in some areas and it's also an earthquake risk time from about Friday onwards. There'll be a lot of fish coming in not only because of the high kingtides but also they'll be coming down here for shelter from some more violent current movements, and some underwater EQs, and I think they'll make for the shelter of the estuaries and up the rivers in this country. Weatherwise expect wind to be generated in places and then showers about the middle of this coming week. The barometer may go deeply up and down at times. And the fish should be biting well now until Monday, bite times 7 and 1 and that's am and pm.
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19 February 2011
There's a lot happening at the moment. It was full moon yesterday, perigee today, the fifth closest moon distance from earth for the year, and crossing the equator heading south tomorrow. As usual full moon brings really clear nights because any rain comes during the day. You only have to look at the size of the tide to see something's going on, of course you always get the kingtides around the perigees, eirher full moon or new moon whichever is closer to perigee for that month, and this year it will be full moons until after July when it'll be new moons. So what do we get when we have full moons in perigee crossing the equator? Well, everything. There's a cyclone brewing up in the Pacific, rain from that should get here early next week, there's earthquakes, BoP had 5 yesterday and Chch had 3, one an 8-tonner. In terms of fish it means more around of course with the bigger tides and greater volumes of daily water, full moon in summer is always one of the best fishing periods, and our almanac has it excellent from last Thursday until tomorrow, and bite times should be 1.30-2.30 and 7.30-8.30 and that's am and pm. The barometer's coming down a bit too, after today, and should keep going down til abouit Thursday. After tomorrow the fishing goes average and doesn't come good again till next Thursday to Saturday.
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12 February 2011
The moon has been dropping in the sky and tomorrow it reaches the northern declination, which means it's rising on the opposite hemisphere above the equator. yesterday was the first quarter moon phase change. It means the moon is setting around midnight and rising around lunchtime. Any rain should be from midnight to noon. The barometer has gone right up as the tidal variation has gone right down. But as of last night the barometer has started to drop which brought last night's rain, almost on the second the moon set, and after the weekend the barometer should start rising again. It's a bit cooler right now, there's a SW swell on the W coast even though the winds are NEly. The tides are right on the neap at the moment, and next weekend they'll be kingtide again. So it's the lower tides right now, with more fish along the bottom seafloor than in the other layers of the ocean. Now I think that that may mean it's a good day for marlin fishing because marlin herd the schools off the bottom and into the higher waters so the schools have nowhere left to go. That means the marlin may see your lures running on the surface. Of course as always look for birds sitting on the surface ready to pick up the debris. So it should be an okay day for fishing, particularly with these slightly cooler temperatures. The best bite times are 8 and 2, that's am and pm, and ratings in the very good range until tomorrow, and it'll be in the excellent range from Thursday till next Sunday what with that kingtide and full moon that happens next weekend.
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5 February 2011
It was the new moon on Thursday which means W winds in the main, also it's the apogee tomorrow, that's when the moon is furthest away for the month, and tomorrow's also the day the moon crosses the equator heading north. The apogee means calm waters but the combination of new moon and apogee means very warm conditions. Crossing equator heading north means a continuation of SWs and anticyclonic systems. It should be good time for fishing with the slightly bigger tides and the fish coming in with them. But the barometer is staying high and that seems to discourages fish. Some say it gives them a headache, some say it makes them sleepy. Most fishermen agree that a lower or dropping barometer is best. Well, I'm not expecting it to drop until about Wednesday. I was up at Tutukaka yesterday and we were trolling all day, and all we got was a skippy and a near-marlin - it took the hook off the lure and went off with it. But at least these episodes happened in the best bite times hour which was about 9 oclock. Other than that there wasn't much bird action, no seas boiling, just flat. We were around the back of the Poor Knights and it was a bit disappointing, but it was a lovely day on the water so that made up for it. I've got cloud coming up today and maybe the look of rain tomorrow but it won't amount to anything and a bit of rain passing over the NI about Tuesday or Wednesday but once again it won't be particularly noteworthy. Mainly February is going to be a dry month and some will soon be talking drought again. It's worth noting that last Thursday's new moon that brought the Cyclone Yasi on that exact day, and it also brought more earthquake activity in this part of the world, namley Tonga and Fiji and also Christchurch, in the 4 and 5+ magnitudes, and you always get earthquake activity associated with cyclones. You may remember the Te Anau earthquake a couple of years ago, that was accompanied by a massive low pressure system sitting in the Tasman between Tasmania and the SI. We can assume earthquakes on land indicate activity also under the sea, and so its logical that the 80 whales that stranded in the past 24 hours on Golden Bay were probably victims of underwater earthquake activity that shell-shocks them. Time and time again we get strandings at the same time as earthquakes around the place. Bite times today 2 to 3 and 8.to 9, excellent today and average tomorrow. But it comes good again in terms of bite chances around Thursday.
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28 January 2011
We have the situation of the southern declination on Sunday and the new moon this coming Thursday. Whenever the summer moon comes into our hemisphere again there's usually some unsettled weather around the place. I was the same around the 1st of January, if you remember, there was a southerly change and heavy rain a couple of days before at the end of December. Well, this cyclone is a shortlived one, and they all will be until the first week in March, in my opinion. Still, you should take the metservice marine warnings seriously if you're out in a boat, but I think the warnings about the amounts of expected rain over land are all overblown. Down here we tend not to get both wind and rain together, You get the wind THEN the rain, because the wind BLOWS the rain here. But then the wind will equally blow it offshore again because we're so narrow. So we get most rain when the wind drops, and because we have a lot of ranges, where the wind gets blocked by hills it gives up and loses strength and the rain just falls out. The tides are pretty high still, and they've only dropped a few centimeters, but still that is enough to make the difference when it comes to flooding. The higher tides mean there's still a lot of fish coming in so it's a good time to be out there.There's a couple of things to note. The earthquakes come with both the higher tides and the cyclones. For instance there was a volcano yesterday in Japan. It's because there's a kingtide everywhere at the same time, in air, land and sea. If you remember at the time of the Te Anau earthquake there was an almighty low parked between us and Tasmania. So there's an earthquake risk until the tides start to drop. It's both a waning moon and a descending one on Tuesday and Wednesday. That means the moon's energies have a combined downward vertical component. Gardeners love this time because it's good for pruning because when everything is going towards the roots the cut branches above ground tend not to bleed or regenerate. But in the sea the currents tend to descend which take fish lower, which means during the coming week you might want to try fishing with longer traces and set line fishing rather than surfcasting. It also means setting a net would be a good idea, because nets catch the bottom feeders. And after this low passes, the southerlies kick in and we get big anticyclones in the summer just after southern declination, so a whole lot of fine weather coming in February. In fact I've only got 3 days of possible showers in the Rotorua and BoP for the whole month. So the pattern coming up is February dry but March wet. And bite times this weekend are 9-10 and 3-4 that's am and pm. Only average ratings but Wednesday - Saturday are better chances.
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22 January 2011
This week's full moon and the perigee today has caused all sorts of havoc around the world. We've had cyclones in the air, kingtides in the sea, and earthquakes from the kingtides in the land. We had a big group of whales stranded themselves in Wellington yesterday, which just show you how many more earthquakes must have been happening out at sea probably in those deep Kermadec trenches and underwater canyons, where the whales and dolphins go to chase big schools of fish. Tomorrow the moon crosses the equator heading south, and it's now dragging cyclonic weather that's happening in the islands, down to where we are. Not a whole lot, but just enough to wake us up, fill some of those coastal rivers, and rough the sea up offshore. Last Monday the moon was right in the north, and that's why we didn't get much storm action - the moon had slowed right down to nothing which it always does on northern declination. That's why Brisbane got it all, because it was closer to the moon's latitude.
The barometer is falling, that's good for fishing, should bottom out Tuesday or Thursday, then start rising again, along with a clearing of the weather. Anybody who looked up yesterday morning would have seen some beautiful cirrus formations in the clouds, well that is the sign of a front or a depression approaching, and that's any time in the next 36 hours. I was driving to Matamata, and it covered the whole Waikato sky. The excellent fishing time would have ended yesterday as the fish were coming in for the kingtide, so things are now getting quieter because the kingtide is in, today and tomorrow. and the fish will be there but they won't be as enthusastic. They thing is, they would have been fighting the tides, because the tides are full of increased currents just before a kingtide, and they would have gotten hungrier more often. So I'm not saying don't put the line in the water, and the bite times are 3 and 9, am and pm, but I'd say it's a great time to be at the beach to see what's been washed in. You never know what you're going to find. It would be an idea to stay away from the mountains and where the rivers end up because there could be some overlarge tides for a couple of days, especially if you have kids on a mountain camping trip people want to take care of sudden river level changes. In the North Island the rough weather will probably hang around until midweek then clear. And I'm expecting some much warmer temperatures at the end of next week, but the end of February will bring the hottest for the year. So today’s, the perigee, the ninth closest for the year. Next month at around the same time it'll be the 5th closest, and March it'll be the closest. In fact in 19 March the moon will be the closest it has come to Earth since 2008 and won't be as close again until 2016.
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15 January 2011
Northern declination next Monday and full moon next Thursday. We have kingtides, 3rd biggest of the year, happening at the end of next week as the moon gradually gets closer between now and May, with the closest point and biggest tide of the year in March, and the second biggest tide of the year in February. As you look at the moon you'll see that the shape is beginning to close up to full moon and it's getting bigger, which means closer to earth which means perigee, and that will be next Saturday. Because it's at its lowest arc on Monday, it'll start climbing higher in the sky as the week progresses and when you see that, it also means getting warmer because it's coming down from the northern latitudes. So a moon getting bigger and fuller in summer equals developing warmer temperatures, potential for cyclones, for bigger tides, and for better fishing. The arc climbing, adds to the warmth, so even though SWs are prevailing, you'll get a few days of winds coming from the north. Warmer seas means fish coming in closer to shore, and the big fellas come in closer because they're chasing the smaller ones. That's why I always think full moon in summer is better for fishing, but it can go the other way in winter, because a winter full moon is a southern hemisphere one, generating southerlies, and fish don't come in very much to shore because it isn't any warmer there than in the deep, and those who think the full moon is lousy have probably gone out in the middle of winter and wondered why they haven't caught anything, and made up a rule for themselves for all year. But the summer full moon is an exact opposite one to the winter full moon. There are cyclones brewing in the islands, this is an earthquake week coming up, you may see whale strandings and at least a 7+ earthquake somewhere. So it's an interim week, a speeding up one, next weekend there should be a bit of wind, choppy seas, you'll just feel the air is energised more. People who already have trouble sleeping around full moon have another period like that coming. So, get the tackle and all that ready for next week. The surfies will love it too, plenty of good swell coming our way. At the moment fishing has dropped back to average, after being above average up to yesterday. Over the weekend fishing times are 10-11 and 4-5 am and pm. Down in this part of the world, the highest tides of the day occur usually in morning in the summer time and in afternoon or evening in the wintertime. So if you fish by the tide, just before high or just before the next low on the Waitemata, better to go in the morning in summer. For the Manukau it’s 3 hours later, so it’s just after the high and the next low. Same in Brisbane, but they don’t seem to know that, and that is, if the tide height doesn’t get to a certain height in the morning tide then it certainly won’t on the afternoon tide. And so if there are storms that occur in the summer time, it's in the morning that we have to be alert to this, because it's during this period of peak tide that those storms can do the most damage. And so if there are storms that occur in the winter, it's in the early evening that we have to watch.
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8 January 2011
Regarding the thousands of fish that lay all over Coromandel beaches on Tuesday, you can't blame fishing trawlers. Flight instruments went haywire in Florida and the pilots had to manually land the planes. 5,000 birds fell to their deaths in Arkansas on the 1st. There were mass fish deaths in Brazil, millions of dead fish in Chesapeake Bay, birds falling out of the sky in Sweden. In England 40,000 swimming crabs wound up dead on beaches. Shorelines were littered with crabs, dead starfish, lobsters, sponges and anemones. You had this across the US, Sweden, England, Brazil, and New Zealand. It's hard to see how a couple of trawlers out in our Gulf could have caused all that. It is more likely to be geo-magnetic activity from the Sun because on December 31st, a gigantic coronal hole opened up allowing a massive charge of particles to reach Earth over this past week. Migrant birds have GPS genes, as do whales and dolphins. Regarding the fish, it could be tremors resulting in seaquakes delivering knockout blows. Perhaps the sea suffered sudden oxygen deficits where the fish were. Then there was the partial solar eclipse on January 4th and eclipses are accompanied by quakes. Much as I don't like trawlers all that much, on this occasion I think they're off the hook.
On Monday the moon crosses the equator heading north, and it's apogee - moon furthest away for the month. Apogee in the Maori Fishing calendar means good fishing. Crossing equator heading north brings cooler water northwards, also a falling barometer until Monday, coming up a bit Tuesday then dropping over the rest of the week. Tides are gradually getting lower as the moon goes north, they reach a low variation point 7 days from now. Kingtide ended yesterday so there's still a lot of fish held up in estuaries. It wasn't the biggest kingtide of the month- that will be the full moon one between the 21-24 around perigee. But tidal variation will get lower and fish a bit scarcer overall from now onwards and then things should pick up after 18th. Fishing was good up till yesterday because of new moon phase, and goes closer to average now til Monday, then better Tuesday to Friday. Weatherwise, there may be some rain around as the moon crosses the equator between now and Tuesday and then again 22nd-24th, but that's probably all for January. On the whole this is the beginning of the warned-of drought, heavy falls are unlikely before mid March, finally relief in May. We've got winds going back to SWs between 10th-16th and only 13th with SEs this month. Over the weekend fishing times are 4-5 and 10-11 am and pm.
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1 January 2011
The moon is in southern declination tomorrow, and summer southern declinations bring anticyclones to the north. I think it's mainly southerlies now till end of February. It’ll mean a cooler than average month, and no long runs of hot weather. The warmest times in summer are always around full moon to last quarter, so keep your eye on the moon size for your guide as to when things will heat up. But the sun is still inactive, which is why it's so cold in Europe. If you are contemplating going to Ireland, February won't be too bad. If you're going to Australia, avoid March, because that will be the cyclone month. There will be some hot spells, like the end of this month, and the beginning and end of January. Some places, like Gisborne, Chch and S Cant should get over 30°C in the last weeks of Jan and February, even Timaru, Tekapo and maybe Queenstown. January and December may be cloudier than normal, but expect average sunshine in the other months. The news stories in 2011 will probably be tropical cyclones in the Pacific, returning after an absence, about 12 forming in all, with half reaching and affecting NZ, mainly with wind. The drought should go all summer, all autumn, and winter will also be drier just about everywhere. Only late autumn, specifically May and June could be wetter for the country, with the rest of the months drier than average. There may be relief rains for Northland in May, June, Sept, Oct and Nov. For other districts most rain comes March to June, with all other months drier than average. The 2011 overall outlook is for a drier than average year for NZ. In the NI, only Coromandel may have a wetter year than average, and in the SI only the lower west coast, and perhaps inland Otago. The rest should be drier than average. January should be drier than average for the NI. We've got higher kingtides in the middle of the week, Wed and Thurs, and they're associated with the new moon. The perigee this year swaps over to new moon in July, but up till then all the kingtides will be around full moons. We've got bite times 10 and 4 and an average rating, but better fishing from Monday onwards.
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25 December, 2010
It’s the perigee tomorrow and the moon’s crossing the equator the next day. The perigee’s the reason there’s a kingtide yesterday and today. The kingtides always come on the perigee and within a week of either the full moon or new moon, whichever is the closest to the perigee. We’ve got some SWs kicking in now and they’ll go through now for most of January and February. It’ll mean a cooler than average month, and no long runs of hot weather. There will be some hot spells, like the end of the month, and the beginning and end of January. Some places, like Gisborne, Chch and S Cant should get over 30C at the ends of Jan and Feb. Even Timaru, Tekapo and maybe Queenstown. It’ll be SWs that’ll bring the bit of rain that’s about the far SW at the moment over the SI and then parts of the NI about the 28th-30th. But then it’s a fairly good run of holiday weather in the NI, but not so good in the SI. They should have a wetter than average January. I’ve got NY day mostly fine everywhere. Auckland is mostly good weather until 24 January, and that includes the Gulf and Coromandel. And Tauranga’s got good weather until about 2 March. But in terms of fishing this weekend, just average, bite times 4-5 and 10-11, am and pm. The next better-than-average time for fishing will be Monday-Wednesday because of lastQ moon on Wednesday.
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18 December 2010
We're right between 1stQ, and Full moon which is on Tuesday, and which means the moon is out of the sky all day from 2.30am until it rises about 4.30pm. You won't see it until about 8pm over the north. It crossed the equator on the 13th so it’s now in the other hemisphere and making its way north so its arc is descending day by day. If you’re tracking it, from the day it crosses the equator till it crosses the equator coming the other way, the pattern is a z tipped slightly to the left, such that the barometer goes up, down and up again in very regular intervals. And when it crosses back into the southern hemisphere the barometer goes evenly down up and down again. Right now the barometer is peaking and going to start coming down again after Sunday, the mid part of that z tipped to the left. The moon goes deeper below the horizon after it sets at the moment, day by day, and it'll keep doing that until it reaches its northernmost point on the 21st which is next Tuesday. And broadly speaking when the moon's out of the daytime sky there's always more chance of rain. And it'll be out of the daytime sky now until after Xmas, when it'll be in the sky in the morning, and then over the first week of the new year it'll be in the sky all day, and in the second week of the new year it'll be in the sky all afternoon. So now we have a week of the moon out of the daytime sky, and rain, and that's all very typical. That's one reason why after Xmas when the daytime moon is again above the horizon a lot of fine weather is coming. The temperatures should be up again by the middle of next week, but they'll be really up in the first week of January and really really up in the last week of January, and that should be the hottest it should get in this summer season down in this part of the world. In terms of mugginess, the week before Xmas which is now should be the worse it gets in the whole season until another belt of it in the first week in March. In terms of sunshine, we have to wait until Xmas is over for the sun in that last week of December, then it goes cloudy in the first week of the new year, but then from mid Jan to mid Feb there's a whole lot of sunny days. I have southwesterlies kicking in after Xmas and going right through Jan and Feb. There'll be another kingtide in the days around Xmas day. Now til then the kingtide is building, the fish are coming in, and so it's all building up slowly on the fishing front. From next Monday to Thursday would be the best time to go fishing, over that full moon phase, from 1 to 2.30 and 7 to 8.30, am and pm, and it should also be a falling barometer then. But right now your chances are only average, but if you had your line in the water this weekend from about 9.30 to 11, and 3.30 to 5 you could do okay.
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11 December 2010
We're right between New moon and 1stQ which means the moon is out of the sky all night from midnight until about 10am. It's over the southern hemisphere but making its way north. Because it’s still over our hemisphere it doesn't go below the horizon very far after it sets. That means it keeps the cold night air away. So it prevents too much colder night air from coming closer to earth than it would, if it was, say, a winter new moon, which during our night goes as far below the horizon as it can go, and which makes the winter air very much colder. e.g. the Christchurch earthquake was on 4 Sept, that was the exact day in that month that the moon was furthest below the horizon at night and the lowest temp average for the month and also the stillest night. So right now it means temperatures stay quite warm overnight which make for milder days and that’s better for fishing because the warmth makes insects more active, and that makes the whole food chain busier. You'll notice that even when the sun's out its not really burning hot at the moment, and that's because the moon is in the sky most of the day even though we can't see it, and the rule is, when the moon is in the sky, it's usually drier, milder, generally more pleasant all round, and more pleasant to be out fishing, and there's less danger of being burned to a crisp although you should still do the old slip slap and slop just to be safe. The kingtide is going out, so some fish are leaving, but a few fish will be in mid channel, we're coming up to apogee on Monday (moon furthest away for month) and that keeps the fish around because waters are quite settled, not too turbulent, and the smaller creatures venture out more on apogees from their nooks and crannies. So fishing picks up a bit on Sunday through to Wednesday, because on Tuesday we have a 1stQ moon. So Sunday till Tuesday at least, you’ve got better than average fishing chances. The best bite times over the next few days are around 5-6 and 11-12 and that's am and pm. Today on the Waitemata we have a midday tide and on the Manukau a 3 oclock high tide. Weatherwise, I'm expecting some showers in the Waikato on the weekend, for Auckland at the end of the weekend and for Northland about Monday or Tuesday, but then not again for the dry north until a couple of days before Xmas, so there's a continuing problem there. As we've said before, there's a good camping time straight after Xmas and until 8 Jan. And the next good time is 28 Jan-11 Feb.
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4 December 2010
The moon is nearly at its furthest point south for the month, that will be Monday and it'll also be new moon. It was perigee last Wednesday, and the reason for the heat was that it was a last quarter perigee, and they always bring warmer afternoons, in the spring and summer, because the moon is out of the sky in the afternoon in this phase, and the air height is therefore lower, and so the sun's warmth comes closer to ground level without the thickness of the air to block it. There's always a fairly marked change in conditions when the moon goes from lastQ to new moon phase. It's because now the moon is setting around 7pm, instead of lunchtime, and so it is the cool evening air that comes closer to earth without the air in the way, rather than the warm afternoon air, and the cooler air cools the night down and that lasts well into the next day, because the moon rises around 4am and so has allowed most of the night's colder air to come down here. The moon is firmly in the south, back to our skies, southern declination Monday, which means the arc it makes is highest in the sky then, and it's also a kingtide. It has been cloudier and cooler because the moon is in the south now, and still coming down from the north but beginning to blow cooler SWs onto that warmer northern air that's still hanging around. It's generally like that on an ascending moon, more settled, and southerlies spelling clearer skies. Anything from the north generally has cloud in it. It's also good for fishing when the warmer temperatures start coming this way again and also with those bigger volumes of water, and usually new moon days are pleasant and not too warm or cold. The big kingtides happen on Sunday and Monday and this month they are about equal in height to each other, that's the new moon tides on Monday and the full moon tides in 2 weeks time, and it's because the perigee isn't a strong one this time. The first week of December should be mostly fine and dry, but rain next Friday, enough O hope to fill some tanks. Saturday till Tuesday is better than average fishing chances because Monday is the new moon. The bite times are 11-1 and 5-7 over the next few days and that's am and pm.
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7 November 2010
The moon is heading south, back to our skies, which means the arc it makes is getting higher and higher in the sky, an ascending moon, I always think that's good for fishing because the warmer temperatures start coming this way again and also bigger volumes of water. I expected some rain for either yesterday or today because of the warmer temperatures, but we just got morning grey cloud over the cities and I think they've been getting some rain only in the inland ranges. I’m now expecting a few odd showers early in the week. The moon crosses the equator on Tuesday and when it crosses the equator it goes a bit windier either then or a couple of days later. You’ve got the perigee on Wednesday and that brings the wind also. There's a super big low pressure system that’s been sitting off to the east for a few days and because of that we'll probably keep getting south winds in the east over the next 4 days or so. The moon gets to its southernmost point right overhead on the 6th of December, and it'll also be new moon that day and weatherwise I think the first week of December should be mostly fine and dry. It was kingtides about 3 days ago, that means more fish still hanging around. The big kingtides happen again in about 9 days time. There has been a pretty big swell on the east coast, and that will make the east coast tides appear bigger than they actually are. But it also may mean the fish might want to stay in the calmer waters of the estuaries that feed out to the east side, like the channels in Nunguru, Mangawai, and Athenrea, so that could be good news for the locals. Sunday till Tuesday is better than average fishing chances because Monday is the lastQ moon, which means early afternoon high tides in the east and the Waikato River, and late afternoon high tides in the west. The bite times are 5-7 and 11-1 over the next few days and that's am and pm., and if you're watching the tides, on the Waitemata my rule is that the fishing's generally good just before, both low tide AND high tide. And on the Manukau just after both the high tide there and the low tide .
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20 November 2010
The moon is still heading north, which means the arc it makes is still getting lower and lower in the sky, a descending moon, and it gets to its northernmost point for the month in 3 days, on Tuesday, and it'll also be full moon on Monday. That's why there's so much heat around. The heat is coming from that latitude of the northern moon, at present sitting around 19degN. It's like someone holding a fan, that's the moon, near a blowtorch, that's the sun. When the moon’s where it is at the moment, which is the area of sky known as Taurus, in the day the moon goes right as far below the horizon as it can possibly go, and that allows-in a lot of daytime heat to come closer to the ground without the air being in the way. It’s the way the airtide works. It’s why Full moons in the warmer seasons always bring the warmest daytime weather. But heat also means evaporation and that means cloud and then rain, and the rain has to fall again, and I have a whole lot of rain later this coming week, I think enough to fill tanks. The stuff around now is mainly convective. As the tidal variation increases the barometer falls, and the barometer has been slightly but steadily dropping since the 9th, which was the southern declination. So from 24 November onwards, after Wednesday, I think real rain should arrive, coinciding with kingtides, the usual situation whereby sea and air work in a combined way, with unsettled and faster air currents combining with greater water volumes and currents, both getting pulled around more by the moon. As tides get higher, that means more fish coming in. The kingtides will go from about Monday to Thursday, that means good diving and good shellfish pickings on the low side of the tides. But it also means more rips on the halfway points of the incoming and outgoing tides, because it's like the midpoint of a pendulum, which is when the pendulum always travels the fastest, well, the tides are like that too, because the water is still at the high and low tide times, and rushing at the halfway in and halfway out points. So be careful launching boats at those times, and watch the kids in the water. From now till Tuesday I think excellent fishing chances because we're coming into the full moon phase period, especially as it’s a falling barometer too, and by tomorrow should be westerly change. The earthquake potential is getting higher too, just after the weekend with the full moon and northern declination, and we may be reading about the odd dolphin stranding somewhere around the coast. And if you see a dolphin in the harbour it's a sign of stormy weather approaching. Bite times are around 11-12 and 5-7 and that's am and pm.
People are starting to think about when to take time off work and cop the nicest summer weather. I'd suggest straight after Xmas so 25 December - 8 Jan. The next good time is 28 Jan-11 Feb. The place to head for is the Bay of Plenty- I have only about 3 rain days there in the whole of February.
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3 November 2010
The moon is heading north, which means the arc it makes as it goes across the sky is progressively getting lower in the sky, it's called a descending moon, and will keep doing that until it rises on the equator next Tuesday. And that’s about 45deg angle of altitude to the horizon when it’s at its highest point in the day’s transit. If you’re a moon watcher when it crosses the equator it’ll be a right-way-up-C about 9.30pm Tuesday or a right-way-up-D at 8am on the 30th. That's a visual guide to when winds can get generated, and winds bring a bit of rain, and that should be about Tuesday, so I'm expecting light morning showers or drizzle patches just after the weekend. It won't be much, and for the rest of this month no rain to speak of until the week after the full moon, the last week of the month. So at the moment fairly settled. A good indicator of a settled day coming is the crying of moreporks at night, like last night, and another sign is when night insects come to life and fly around, and that was happening too. The tidal variation is starting to go down, which means calmer waters not going so fast, a lull time out at sea. The moon is furthest away for the month on Monday the 15th, apogee. The Maori Planting Calendar is all about apogee. Apogee is a good time for gardening, because energies are settled in the soil, and little seedlings can get a foothold. I think what happens in the soil is mirrored in the sea. So I imagine little baby fish to be like seedlings, in apogee they're not buffeted around, they can emerge from their nooks and crannies and eat, and what do they find waiting to say hello but those big nasty greedy predators who know when and where to be. And that might be why the old Maori Fishing Calendar said that apogee is also a good time to go fishing, because the fish come right in and the bigger fish come into the warmer waters of the bays and inlets on the hunt for guppies and tiddlers. Your currents aren't as strong, which is better for little baby fish. It's also mirrored in it being a calmer air as well. This weekend better than average fishing chances because we're coming into the 1stQ moon phase period, the kingtides are going down and more fish will be leaving the estuaries than coming in, so the outgoing evening tide, around about 5pm, might be the good time. The Waitemata starts to go out first, and there's 3 hrs difference, and even if you haven't got a boat, you could be on a bridge or a jetty on the Waitemata at around 5, or on a similar one on the Manukau at 7. At both of those times the tide will still be going out. So bite times 6-7 and 12-1 and that's am and pm.
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6 November 2010
Some orcas were seen in the Auckland harbour a few days ago. When they saw dolphins at sea, the old mariners believed it was the sign of a storm approaching, and it was said the direction they were swimming towards told where the storm was coming from. Maybe wind in air and turbulence in water was driving the fish in front of it, and the dolphins were after the fish. We did get a day or so ago, and a couple of weekends ago around 20th-21st and there was a dolphin pod sighting then in the west coast. The moon is at new moon today and it ends a week of moon events, because Thursday the 4th was perigee, ninth closest for the year, and on Tuesday the moon crossed the equator heading south, so the moon is now back in our hemisphere. Both new moon and perigee brings a faster moon, this brings extra turbulence to land, sea and air. The Southern declination is on Tuesday, meaning colder temperatures over the next couple of days from southerlies. Most rain comes at night when it's a new moon. During the day of any new moon is usually fairly pleasant, because new moon is a day moon. Whenever the moon is above the horizon it protects us from the heat of the sun and the cold from space. Conversely when it's full moon, the days are too hot, too cold, too changeable, but full moon brings clear nights when you can see the full moon clearly against a clear sky. New moon nights are either cold or wet, but if there's no rain then that's the time of the month you get the starriest nights. The bad weather should mostly be over by today, except maybe a bit of shower activity in the east, and then I don't expect much more rain until the middle of the month when there'll be a few light showers, and then heavy rain again towards the end of the month which will be full moon and kingtides, so some fairly dry days in between. There's kingtides this weekend, because the month's biggest tides always come around perigees, so highest tides are over this weekend. At the low tides it'll be really good for shellfish-gathering and diving . Because the extra water from kingtides brings more fish in, this weekend should be really good for fishing. The best bite times are 12-1 and 6-7 and that's am and pm.
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30 October 2010
We had a northern declination Wednesday, moon's arc was lowest then, and since then that arc is rising in our skies from the northern hemisphere which is below our feet, to the southern hemisphere skies which will reach the peak southern position, over our heads, on 9 November. That movement is called ascending moon, it's important when it comes to gardening, it's a time of nutrients being brought to the surface of the ground and in terms of the energies of currents in the ocean I always thing the same thing is happening, and the currents are probably pushed more towards the surface. So you've got those fish hanging around the top half of the ocean, and so you won't be catching the bigger fish, they like the darker waters of the deep. Tide wise, lower tidal variations over these two days so without a whole lot of water coming in and out, and above the water there has been high pressure and because the water and the air are one system, the two go together, it's the opposite to the kingtides and low barometer. So for the last few days with the higher pressure, the fish don't like that, I think it makes them sluggish and not so hungry. Lower pressure coming – still high enough to be dry weather, but choppier and fishing should improve this weekend. Weatherwise, northern declination brings warmth. Also a lot of solar activity at the moment, sunspot count was 74 on the 27th, a day or so after the big earthquake in Sumatra, and highest sunspot count since July 2005, and that brings more heat. All that heat makes evaporation which makes cloud and rain, and it has to fall, so some showers looming. Fishing good Fri-Mon but not fantastic, best bite times 6-7, 12-1 and that’s am and pm. It could get a bit cooler tomorrow in some places with the Ss and SEs. Next week the moon crosses the equator on Tues 2nd , it’s perigee #9 on Thurs 4th, new moon on Friday 6th, so you could be reading about increased earthquake activity . Should be excellent fishing next Friday. And then we’ll be in November of course, and I think that will be a month that brings most rain at start and end.
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23 October 2010
Well, we have full moon today and it was on the equator on Wednesday, so it's now going north. As far as the weather goes, I'm not as confident as the metservices are about pristine weather all weekend. I think as soon as the barometer starts to drop or rise tomorrow, you’ll be able to tell what’s in store. Most weather comes from two directions onto NZ; down from the north through the Pacific Islands, or across from underneath Australia. It depends where the moon is. If it's rising in the north or south then the weather comes down from the north or up from the south. If it's rising on the equator the weather comes across latitudes, which means from the Australian Bight and across the Tasman, and that's what it's doing right now because the moon was on the equator on the 20th, two days ago. You get strong winds and there’s still a gale warning going on in the southern ocean. A look at the fronts coming through at the moment on the current meteorological maps shows you at least two of these systems trundling in our direction. But remember the moon is slowly moving north. The highs are always in charge, being heavier air. The high should stay about the same latitude level, then go higher north as the moon goes north. That's when the high could allow-in the fronts that are at present racing across the Tasman. Once they get under a high they have the ability to wedge up the high even more, and that lets in the fronts. The meteorologists say the high will come over us over the next few days. I'm suggesting no, the high is more likely to stall out in the Tasman and then drift north and not even pass over NZ before about next Wednesday. And even then I think it'll stall for a day or so around Northland. So I was interested to see TV1 weather last night and the presenter saying Sunday would bring some rain. We should remember too that it is October and it's spring, and things can come up and quickly change. Besides, so far this month most places have had less rain than the average, except for Gisborne, HB and parts of the lower NI. But Auckland and Tauranga have only had about half their monthly average. So it is more likely than not that we'll all get some rain over the next week, otherwise there wouldn't be the idea of a monthly average. So I strongly recommend either Nnot going into the mountains, especially not taking young children, and at least taking protective clothing when venturing anywhere for more than a day. I think trampers anywhere in the west may be at risk around Monday, and perhaps in as far as central plateau. We don’t want the Turangi flood tragedy happening all over again. So my outlook is, I've got Southerly and Westerly systems strengthening today or tomorrow, may remain so until 27th. I've got chances of rain and possible flooding, Taranaki, Central Plateau rivers and streams, and the lower North Island, in the South Island; Haast, Motueka and parts of Canterbury. I'd advise motorists to be on the lookout for slips. One bonus will be that with the higher tides and full moon, whitebait catches should be up. Manawatu and the lower North Island could see rainfalls Monday. It's also kingtides coming up on Sunday, so there's a lot of water coming in. The fishing's excellent, from yesterday through to Monday, from 11.30 till about 2, and 5.30 till about 8 and that's am and pm between now and Monday.
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16 October 2010
Right now we are one day after 1stQ moon, the moon is rapidly losing speed, it has been in the southern hemisphere sky but it's creeping towards the horizon, dropping lower in its arc each day as it treks across the sky. It rises at the moment around lunchtime and sets around midnight so is out of the sky all morning, and you could say it is losing interest in us down here. We have had shift from the highest tides of the month a week ago, to neap tides now, the end of a run of good bite chances, and in three days time about midweek the moon will be its slowest for the month, its furthest away, and crossing the equator into the other hemisphere. It all adds up to less activity on the part of fish because they get very excited when the tides are big and the currents stronger because of more fish around, more competition for food, they are presumably swimming harder to get away from predators, so they use up more energy and so they bite and eat more to get energy back. It's like getting hungry after a workout. But now it's the opposite. Things should again pick up next Friday with the full moon period starting, around the 22nd.
Weatherwise, for the NI, likely to be mostly clear weather til midweek. For the SI, rain on the SI west coast all week, at the top and Canterbury at the beginning of the week, then clearing after a day or two. For Labour weekend, a front moves onto NZ bringing daytime rain. More may arrive in the bottom half of the NI and top of SI and Canterbury than elsewhere, and most rain around the beginning of the long weekend. Saturday will be full moon, so Saturday evening should clear. Sunday and Monday rain eases for the top of the SI and inland Otago, but eksewhere may still be changeable. Sunday may clear on the SI west coast and the SI should largely clear on Monday. Best bite times this weekend should be 7-8 and 1-2 and that's am and pm.
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9 October 2010
It was the new moon yesterday and there’s a bit of rain around, but mostly in the hills and only for a short window. If there’s rain around new moon days, then it waits until night time for the rain to fall.. Things should clear up by tomorrow for the North island, and the rest of the country by Monday. We had a perigee on Thursday, 6th closest moon-to-earth for the year, so not as powerful as the second closest perigee that we had in the first week in Sept, that caused, in my opinion, the Christchurch earthquake, but sufficiently powerful to be bringing a whole lot of gusty winds in the west in the last couple of days. The moon’s at its southernmost point this coming Tuesday, and that means temperatures will be lower over this week, and chance of more unsettled weather midweek because you get potential for increased atmospheric turbulence on southern declinations, then clearing again by the end of the week. Right now the tides are the highest for the month, and they’ll start to ebb after tomorrow. That means more fish being carried into estuaries and mudflats. It's also a better time for diving on these low tides because more water’s going out than usual. But out in the sea, we have a moon both waxing and ascending at the moment, which means coming up to full moon and also up to the southernmost point, combining with perigee means currents in the sea go faster at the surface than they usually do, that means choppier overnight but getting less as the day moves on, and anyone with a net out overnight at the moment may find more fish than usual with that morning low tide, because the fish's fins entangle more with the faster currents, and less are able to break away as some can do if they connect with a net at the wrong angle. The bite chances have been excellent since Thursday and will be again today but they drop back to average tomorrow. And bite chances will come good again from next Thursday to Saturday. The bite times on the weekend are 12-1 and 6-7 and that's am and pm.
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2 October 2010
It was lastQ moon yesterday and the moon’s right in the north as of two days ago, which incidentally is an earthquake time and a potential whale stranding period. We have some clearing weather for this weekend on some south winds, they always clear the sky of clouds, and should stay dry that way till a westerly change midweek brings some gusty conditions and chance of overnight rain about Wednesday for the whole country, and because it’s New moon and a perigee then, actually the sixth closest earth-moon distance for the year, and also the moon’s crossing the equator heading south which brings more wind, you’ll see a low sitting out there in the Tasman and it could be bringing us a fair amount of rain. Because it’ll be coming out of the west, so Northland and the West coasts may get much of it, but Tauranga and the eastern side may escape it. The rivers will be high because of some very high tides due to that perigee, with the highest tides for the month at the end of the week. Some of the largest tides of the year are when the moon and/or sun are close to the equator and the moon is closer, and that will be at the end of this coming week, actually the moon will be the 6th closest to earth for the year. And when the tides go high the barometer goes low. The general rule is that you swap a millibar for every cm you gain in tide height. Your bite chances are high today and tomorrow because of the last Q moon, but drop back to average after Sunday. Neap tides right now, so probably not that much fish around and I’d concentrate on bottom feeders because it’s northern declination and that tends to currents at a lower depth which will be transporting more fish to those levels. This weekend in the west the tides are going out until around lunchtime, then coming in after lunch. On the east it’s the opposite, the tides are coming in in the morning. Because the tide takes less time to come in than to go out, and the water moves more quickly incoming than outgoing, I’ve always reckoned that fishing on an incoming tide means the fish are probably a bit more tuckered out, just like we would be if we were swimming in a fast flowing river, and so less likely to put up a struggle when they’re hooked. The best bite times on the weekend are 6-7and 12-1. So that would probably mean fishing on the east coast could be better just before lunch, but fishing in the west is probably better just before dinner time. So it’s either fish for lunch or tea, depending on which side of the country you live. Of course in a week’s time that will all be reversed.
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25 September 2010
It was full moon on 23rd, also the moon was furthest from the earth for the month two days before, and also crossing the equator heading into the northern hemisphere one day before, so the moon has had a busy week. Crossing the equator is the lunar equinox and that creates winds, and that added to the regular equinox caused by the sun crossing the midline past the earth also generates winds, so it’s been pretty windy everywhere, they even got a tornado or two down country. It's always double the effect here in our early spring if the lunar and the solar equinoxes coincide, because the sun is travelling south and the moon is travelling north, and the distortion of the atmosphere is made more so. Coming up, things are going to start clearing now that the danger time from the moon has passed. The winds should drop too, now that the equinox is over. Then I’ve got some showers returning later next week. The month's extreme weather was internationally linked. There were more bulges in the land because the molten core inside the earth also has kingtide times, and that's where the ground disturbance comes from. The Christchurch earthquake, the extreme wintry weather, the extreme NSW and Tasmanian weather, the deluge in Queensland, Hurricane Igor and the host of smaller cyclones in the Caribbean, were all part of the same cause. Ireland and the UK get their turn in a few days with heavy rain and flooding. Moon factors can counteract or magnify sun factors. This time it was magnification, bringing more gales, higher swells, faster currents, choppier seas, and various tectonic disturbances. Well, we’re into October this week and it’s going to be quite wet in places - up to 2-3 times more rain than the norm in Hawkes Bay and lower North Island, while others can expect below-average rainfall, for instance much less rain than average from Auckland to Waikato and Central Plateau. There's potential for heavy rain in Northland and associated flooding between 6th - 14th. October brings more unusual cold which means spring is still delayed and again thousands of sheep in Hawkes Bay and Manawatu may be at risk from cold especially those recently shorn. And I think snow could be still laying around until November in some places. We’ve got a kingtide around at the moment but its not a big one, the next big one will be Oct 9th. As for fishing, good today because of the full moon but it dies off tomorrow, and chances getting less on Sunday. Bite times on the weekend 1-2 and 7-8 and that's am and pm.
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18 September 2010
We have some rough weather around, most of it should be south of Taupo and on the west, and it should be over and a spent force by the 22nd which is next Wednesday. Right now we have the situation where the moon is in the south, it was the southernmost point 3 days ago and also 1stQ phase, meaning rain and wind comes mostly in the morning when the moon’s out of the sky which today is 3am to 1pm,, and the moon is moving north now which means it's creating southerly systems and they are colder and bring the snow to the lower part of the country and the higher hill country. That's why the severe weather warnings are out. And the equinox this year is on the 23rd, and there’s no doubt that that is also adding to the general turbulence that’s around. But it’s mainly the moon. The moon was very close on the 8th, second closest perigee for the whole year, and we're only a week from that, and the moon will be furthest for the month in 3 days time, and that will be the 4th furthest away for the year, so being closer and then going further away 13 days later it's actually going backwards and forwards faster than usual to cover the increase in distance in the same monthly timeframe, and speed brings more turbulence to the atmosphere and to the sea which means greater winds, faster currents and higher swells and choppier waves. The Christchurch earthquake and this weather system and hurricane Igor and all the smaller cyclones that have been popping up and the rough weather in NSW are all part of the same cause. So there's a few more days of this before it settles back to high pressure and a stiller and calmer situation, which I think will be the second half of next week and there’ll be a mild kingtide by then too. The fishing's been good from Tuesday til now but drops back to average tomorrow in terms of bite chances. The rivers may be high but the coastal tides are at their lowest variation at the moment, which means fishing in rivermouths may be better than surfcasting, also the moon is going north, what they call a descending moon, and that means currents in the ocean descending which means the fish should be scarce around the surface. The tides start to pick up after today and fish should start coming back into the shallows from the deeper parts of the sea over the next week. The bite times on the weekend are 8-9 and 2-3 and that’s am and pm.
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11 September 2010
Well, we’re past the moon’s influential position now, and as I said we’d be over it by today and the aftershocks would be stopping. The moon was its closest distance for the month on the 8th and it was New moon and also it was crossing the equator. We’re now coming down from that. Everything’s gone a bit calm and you get rain when winds are light and when the wind isn’t blowing the rain away, so I expect the odd shower over the next week but I don’t expect it to be too windy again until about Wednesday. So coming up, a bit of rain today and tomorrow then Monday and Tuesday a bit clearer but rain back on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Because Wednesday is a 1stQ moon most rain will be between midnight and lunchtime. But at least the amount of rain this month will only be about half that which we all got in August. The tides have been very high, kingtides, because the moon has been the second closest to earth for the year, so the tides have been the highest in the whole month in some places, and at least the highest since March. Very good fishing today, as it has been since Wednesday, but after today the bite chances drop back to average, and won’t get better than average again until Tuesday through to Friday. The tides will start to drop after today, but there’s still a lot of fish coming in and out until the tides drop right back, so they’re still in and around and they have to feed, so the incoming and outgoing tides will still be good times to put nets out over the next couple of days. Also, the moon’s energies are upwards, so there’ll be good amounts of fish around the surface. Low tide is still a really good time to go diving because still a lot of extra water will be leaving on each tide in the estuaries. That’s going to take you through to tomorrow. I have bite times 2-3 and 8-9 over the weekend but chances only average.
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4 September 2010
The moon was its furthest point north for the month 2 days ago and when the moon’s over the northern hem in winter it drags warmer air downwards over us and that mixes with all the colder winter air that’s still coming up and the result is rain. And over the next few days there’s quite a bit of rain and wind coming. On the 8th the moon will be the second closest to Earth for the whole year as well as being new moon, and I’m expecting some real extreme weather then.. So we’re not out of the grips of winter yet, even though some are saying it’s supposed to be spring. I don’t know why they’re saying that, officially spring comes on the 24th of September, that’s when the sun moves into the constellation Libra. As far as the jetstream goes there’s a bulge upwards over the country and that’s what is bringing cold temperatures, because the freezing cold southerlies push that jetstream upwards from underneath. If the jetstream dips downwards, like it’s doing at the moment over Queensland and was doing over NZ last week, it brings milder temperatures. So coming up, skies are clearing for today and tomorrow, then rain returning and hanging around for most of the week off and on. But at least the amount of rain this month will only be about half that which we all got in August. As John said, in a week’s time the tides are going to be very high, kingtides, and because of that close perigee the tides will be the highest in the month and could be the highest for the year, although the March tide was pretty high too. So that means on low tide it’ll be a really good time to go diving because most of the water will be out in the estuaries. That’s about 9th-11th. I'm expecting it to go really cold in that second week of September and that’s good for fishing because colder water retains oxygen and the fish like that, so in a rivermouth, about 100 yards in from the sea, that’s the place you need to set a net. The fishing has actually been good all week but tomorrow it’s back to average chances, and best bite times are around 8-9 and 2-3, and that's am and pm. Coming up, the 9th-14th will be a good time for surface bites and surfcasting, because the currents will be bringing the fish more towards the surface, and also the extra water will be coming in because of the higher tides and they bring more fish in. So all in all, some extreme weather coming, you’ll be reading about floods and winds and earthquakes and snow over the next week or so, particularly the South Island and central high country and the Hawkes Bay ranges, and this time next week things will start to ease off and we’ll get the aftermath. I think Taiwan will be in the news, also Adelaide because of flooding. And if anyone’s going skiing this weekend it’ll be perfect conditions at Ruapehu. There's even the chance of snow on the hills near Raglan.
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28 August 2010
The moon crossed over the equator two days ago and it's now in the Northern hemisphere. Moon's energies are all going downwards, (that's because the moon is both going down further in the sky because it's going north, and also because it's waning, which means approaching new moon) and this applies to sea currents, so you probably won’t catch much if you’re trolling and it could be a good case for loading up the traces nearer the sinkers to attract the middle and bottom feeders. That should be the general situation until after the 1st. If you want surface bites or for surfcasting you might want to wait until 9-14 September, when the moon's energies will be maximised upwards. The tides are not doing anything extreme, just a bit higher tidal variation at the moment due to full moon, but not a really big king tide because the moon is not close. . It was full moon on Wednesday and it was also furthest from earth for the month. Different story in the second week of September when it's both New moon and perigee on the same day, really close moon , very big tides, and weather may go really cold in that second week of September. It’ll be really good fishing then. Yesterday there was a dip downwards in the jetstream and that brought some warmth at the top of the country and NWs. So coming up, more rain coming in around Sunday and that will make it a bit warmer up here around the first half of the week because of the low cloud holding in heat from the ground, but clearing skies and colder temperatures are on again in the second half of the coming week. The fishing has been really good from Monday to Thursday, we're back to average chances today, best bite times are around 2 and 8, and that's am and pm. You add just a bit over three quarters of an hour a day to that, so by Monday best bite times will be around 4 and 10. And the next better fishing time period is between next Tuesday and Friday.
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21 August 2010
Today is 2 days out from the S declination, furthest point south for the moon in its 27-day N-S-N again cycle between the earth's hemispheres. And when it’s just starting to come N, we always get Ss generated, because the moon is dragging airflows up from the S pole onto and over NZ. I’m expecting that about Monday, so it could go really cold then. We're also coming up to full moon Thursday, and full moon brings king tides. These won't be really big, you only get the really big tides when the moon is also closest to earth for the month, which was two weeks ago, around new moon, and biggest tides are still going to be around new moon until November. Between Monday and Thursday the fishing will be really good, especially as there are still plenty of westerlies around, which make fish bite more often, because the barometer drops during westerlies, there's more turbulence in the water, faster currents, fish work more to stay in the same place where they know the food hidey-holes are, so they get hungrier, and so they bite more. Whitebait, or Inanga begin their downstream migration a few days before full and new moons. You don't want too much rain and you don't want swift water if it's making the water murky. It's not that they can't swim in fast water, because they can swim up waterfalls if they want to. So best to keep an eye on the water colour. They spawn on the highest tides. They're also attracted to fresh water around river mouths, because it's cooler than the sea and calmer. There's more oxygen in cooler water, which they love, and that's where you'll often find fish, within 200-300 yards of a rivermouth. So this week good fishing, with full moon on Thursday. There's a jetstream covering the top half of the NI at the moment. It means winds are mainly from W and should stay that way til a S change around Monday. So the weekend is looking wet at first, drying a bit on Sunday, the cold southerlies clear the sky after Tuesday, but a whole lot of rain again in the NI around Thursday in the NI, which could bring some flooding to low lying areas because of higher tide levels. Actually the SI dries for a couple of days then. August was always going to be the wettest month, with rain within 3 days all through the month. Best bite times this weekend are 9.30-10.30 and 3.30-4.30, and that's am and pm.
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14 August 2010
You always get strong winds within two days of the moon crossing the equator heading south and that's what's going on the moment. It's pretty choppy out there but it's dying down as we get further away from the 12th. The moon is also moving away from its closest point for the month which was during the week and so there's a general settling back going on in nature, which means the weather, the currents in the sea, everything is settling back to normal routines. We had the highest tides of the month in the past couple of days, that's just over as well. So I'd say the excitement has been and gone and we're in the mode now of easing back. The fishing was great up to Wednesday, and the next good period for bites will click in on Monday and go to Wednesday because the first quarter moon is on Tuesday, but the fishing won't be AS good as what it has been last week, one consolation is that this coming week the waves should be a bit quieter. So the moon is now in the southern hemisphere and will be so until the 26th. That means we can expect some colder temperatures coming later in the week because the moon will be at its most southenmost point on Thursday. Weather wise, over the next four weeks we've got some pretty heavy snowstorms arriving and squally weather, much of it from the southwest, so it'll put a whole lot of snow on the ski fields and block some of the roads. So the boaties want to be a bit careful, I think even though there's a lot of wind from the NW the preciptation part of winter is just starting to arrive. Although we had a lot of cold in July there's a heap more coming and I don't think some milder temperatures in the north and west means spring has arrived, which is what some weather people have been saying lately. I say watch out September and October will be unusually cold. August was always going to be a month of westerlies, and the west wind is the good one for catching fish, so I'm hopeful that this month works well for people. My bite times for the weekend are 3-4 and 9-10 and that's a.m. and p.m. but the chances will only be average until Monday.
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7 August 2010
It was northern declination yesterday, and because it brings turbulence within two days it means today and tomorrow weather starts to play up. It's already getting windy and choppy out on the water. As we said two weeks ago, northern declination means more deeper fish which means more snapper and John Dory. We're coming up to new moon on 10th that's Tuesday and perigee Wednesday, and it's perigee #4 so a potent one, moon is fourth closest for 2010 to earth on that day. On Thursday the moon crosses equator heading south. So what we have is the three lunar times the moon speeds up, that's new moon, perigee and crossing equator, and they are close enough together to keep atmospheric disturbance going. So expect most of next week to be a bit squally especially overnight. Not only that but new moon+perigee brings highest tides 11th-13th. It's all good for fishing, except right on perigee Wednesday, because it may be too rough to get out there. But bigger tides, more fish in shallower waters, stronger currents due to moon's increased tug on everything, falling barometer today onward, it all adds up to better fishing chances. Biggest tides of the month are usually accompanied by stormy weather, especially in winter months. Actually the moon has more influence over weather in winter, because sun's heat in hotter months can bring about increased evaporation which leads to convective rain - it's still influenced by where the moon and the airtide and the perigee is, but when cyclones are the result you'll find the moon might take a back seat for a few days until a system expends itself. So in winter it’s nearly all the moon running the business. I've got better fishing Monday to Wednesday but fish will be on the move now and entering the estuaries to get early seats for their version of the big game. Everything will be picking up, you'll hear the sea roaring which is a good sign of squally weather developing, you may see a dolphin or two swimming towards the storm, you can bet birds and fish will be hearing it too and be getting unsettled and skittery which means they'll bite at things without thinking. It's like how we often binge when we feel nervous. I've got best bite times today and tomorrow around 9-10 and 3-4 and that's both am and pm. Average bite chances but improving Monday.
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31 July 2010
The moon crossed the equator yesterday and is heading north, so it is now in the northern hemisphere and descending in the sky. It'll reach its lowest point, the northern declination, next Friday. So not so much happening at the ocean surface, plenty of fun and games in midlevels of the sea. When the moon crosses the equator there is a turbulence effect and the surface winds increase and it's often a time for gales, and you find fish don't come near the surface so much, presumably because there's nothing for them to eat there. The tides are decreasing rapidly too, and the smallest tidal variation for August will be Wednesday and Thursday. Really, fishing chances are not much more than average this weekend, and better biting chances will be Monday to Thursday because of the last quarter moon that comes on Tuesday. So we're just in another lull at the moment and it might be a good time to gather shellfish and do maintenance on gear. In terms of weather I've got August as the wettest month of the year in the NI, and nearly all regions except Canterbury should get good rain from westerlies and southwesterlies. It won't be a really cold month in the NI although there'll still be plenty of snow in all skifields. But the cold will come again in September and October, so watch out for a late burst of wintry weather, especially the second week of September. I think September minimums will be about the same as July average minimums. And October minimums should be about the same as August averages. So spring will be fairly cool in some places. Why August should be mild and wet is because the winds will be prevailing westerly, and that’s not as cold as a SWly, but wetter. If you do go fishing this weekend, best bite times are 3-4 and 9-10, that's am and pm, but don't get your expectations up too high.
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24 July
It's always interesting to ponder what fish really like to eat. They say when you eat a pound of fish you eat ten pounds of flies. Certainly surface feeders like kahawai will be into that, but bottom feeders like John Dory will be after creepy crawlies and little fish down below. But even snapper will come to the surface to feed at times. Look in the intestines when you gut them. Flounders' guts are like a Xmas stocking full of mudflat crabs. You have to work out what fish are eating what, where the food-fish are so you can be there too. Sometimes it'll be warmer parts of the sea like sides of a channel, sometimes it'll be around a rivermouth where warmer water comes down to meet the cooler sea. But I reckon the declination of the moon tells you as much as anything, and that’s moon low or high in the sky, the highest being southern declination, that was two days ago, and the moon is just starting to generate southerlies. When the moon's in the south there's a lot of activity near the surface, not only when more tide comes in and that rides over the other water, but also because winds are cooler, insects are gone, but you've still got fish looking for a meal in the upper half of the water. That's when you could be using bait that resembles insects, things not too big, a bait light enough to jiggle more. Unfortunately birds work the surface around this time too, so scare them away. Conversely when the moon's in the north you want to put your snapper hooks on, because there'll be more fish at deeper levels where currents will be dragging them, and the same currents will be taking what those fish will be chasing. So that will be in two weeks time. But today, two days before full moon, tides are increasing over the next few days, I think it's shorter lines and traces, it's floundering on the mudflats because water is coming back in that hasn't been there for a while so there'll be new crabs for fish to find, and you might want to forget about snapper and John Dory for a couple of weeks. I have best bite times this weekend 10-11 and 4-5, that’s am and pm, today’s average in ratings, but chances get much better tomorrow and stay better till Wednesday. Weatherwise, a new cold spell is just starting up, I expect frosts in the NI from about Wednesday onwards, and southerlies should bring a fairly dry week.
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17 July 2010
Wind in the east, fish bite least, wind in the west, fish bite best, according to the old saying, because a westerly wind comes with an unstable weather pattern, lowering barometric pressure. Falling pressures make fish active along shorelines where fishermen are and so they say fish bite more. Wind direction is important, depending on season. A southeaster can be hot in summer because it'll be anticyclonic. Nice weather is not always best fishing weather. On hot days fish get listless. With not many insects buzzing the water because they're hiding in the shade, surface feeders go deeper into cooler waters and look for other stuff. That's why in summer people might fish in early morning or early evening, and when a cold front comes in displacing heat, fish bite more. A southeaster in winter is a colder wind because it's coming from the Antarctic. Fish are sluggish in the cold, they follow slower trolling baits and bite less often. Colder water carries more oxygen and fish may be more interested in that than your hook. Around full moon you often get northeasterlies. In eastern harbours like the Waitemata the northeaster gets behind and raises the incoming tide, so more fish come in sheltering from rougher currents that are further out. On the outgoing tide, that same wind opposes the tidal flow and stops the water leaving. The longer a nor'easter blows, up to a point, the higher the high and low tides will be. The wind keeps the water stored. This higher water invades areas of grass and mangroves and tidal flats that normally won't have enough water on them for fish to swim, home to small crabs and animal life, all food for larger species and usually they're protected by the lack of water. So extended winds keep lots of water on these previously shallow areas, and the fish are quick to move onto them in search of food. On the Manukau it's SWs bringing extra water in. Southerlies in the North island bring sunny calm weather. Wind strength is important too, because wind is caused by surface currents, which means if insects aren't there fish will go deeper, except around estuary bends out of the wind. When it rains, insects get knocked into the water, so fish bite more and stay close to the surface in a downpour. Some fish come closer to sides of a channel if it is windy. This is because small bait fish are pushed there, or follow insects blown to the lee of the wind. So use the fishing tables PLUS the day's wind for best results. Today till Tuesday better than average, best bite times 4-5 and 10-11 am and pm, NWs today and next few days but possible change to easterlies around Wellington on Monday and to other places more mid week.
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10 July 2010
It's the day of the northern declination today, the day the moon is furthest north for the month. That usually means low pressures, and lower pressures are a good sign for fishing. Also, we have new moon in two days time, and perigee the next day which is Tuesday, and perigee means moon closest to Earth for the month. It's the seventh closest for the year, which is quite a significant one. So from tomorrow onwards, as is the norm around new moon, an excellent time for putting the line in the water and that lasts for three days. The proximity of the perigee means highest tides of the month looming, which will be Tuesday to Thursday. Highest tides mean more fish coming in. So whereas last week was a quietening down time, now we're into a hotting-up time again. The perigee also brings stronger currents, and it's an earthquake time as well, so the underwater world will be shaking and rocking and rolling a bit more than usual which should get the fish more skittery which means they should grab at anything. In terms of weather, it's going to pack in a bit after the weekend and I expect some rain next week and even some flooding in places. We should also get snow down south. They haven't had much at all so far for July, well I think this week will be the time to expect it. Hawkes Bay clears up, their next rain comes around the 19th and Canterbury may get some heavy precipitation then too. Bite times this weekend should be around 10-11 and 4-5, am and pm.
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3 July 2010
The moon crosses the equator heading north today and tides are on the way down, the moon is descending as it heads towards the northern latitudes of the earth, the moon is also on the wane as it is past full moon and heading towards new moon. So everything is diminishing, petering out, dropping in energy, whichever way you want to look at it, nature is in a rest period after excitement which brought a hurricane and earthquake in Mexico, flooding in China and extreme weather in NZ including earthquakes. It means more settled waters, and because waters will be warmer after full moon, fish will be leaving the estuaries but they're in no hurry because they like the warmer waters. They'll be quite hungry because being cold-blooded they'll be upping their metabolisms, and they'll be moving around the bottom because of decreased tide heights, so it's a good time for fishing. Because of the activity on the ocean floor I'd be hooking for bottom feeders. We have last quarter moon coming up on Tuesday, and from now till then the bite chances are better than average, if you get out there early in the morning. Weatherwise, the excitement is over as far as extreme weather is concerned, moon-crossing-equator generates winds which blow some rain in, the north may get some rain over the next few days but nothing major. Also HB and the lower NI but it'll be quickly passing and there's no big storm system until around 9th onwards for the north, which will be when three things happen - the moon reaches northernmost point, it'll be closer for the month and new moon, and that's a stormy combination with possibility of flooding. For most of the country, for the next 9 days or so, mostly dry weather but more cloud than sun, which is fairly typical of July anyway. Bite times this weekend will be 5-6 and 11-12, am and pm.
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26 June 2010
Today's the full moon day and yesterday the moon was furthest south for the month, hence the colder temperatures, and there's more cold to come over the next week mostly in the SI. As the moon starts to trek northward it generates southerlies and they come up from the bottom of the country and there's a flow-on effect. The full moon of course means good fishing around noon and midnight, and pretty good around 6am and pm as well. The tide is higher than it was a week ago, so the fishing has improved now, but the highest tidal variations with their biggest volumes of fish won't be back again until 14 July. Weatherwise we have rain and snow this weekend and then an easing of frosts in the NI until the end of June, but then when July starts, two weeks of fairly dry conditions for the whole country, and it'll be really cold, the coldest period of winter. And that's partly because the sun is furthest from the earth during the first week of July. Anyone having a BBQ, over the next couple of nights clearer skies, because that's what happens right on full moon..It's all because oif the extra tidal effect on the air and as the full moon rises it tends to clear the sky. So after Monday, the next good fishing period will be next Saturday to the following Tuesday.
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19 June 2010
Today the moon crosses the equator heading south so initially over the next few days whilst it's on or near the equator, expect windier weather out on the water. You’ll see the word windy on today’s page of the almanac. Tomorrow is a change to first quarter phase, and also a node. And what that is, it's to do with the ecliptic which is the circle in the sky above us that goes roughly overhead but leaning to our north, which is the plane of orbit of all the planets around us, as well as being the plane in which we and them travel around the sun. The moon is on the ecliptic too, but it moves 5d above and below it, kind of hopping from side to side. When the moon is right on it and crossing it, it’s called the node, or the nodal crossing, it's a fortnightly thing and the next one is tomorrow. On the node you get a focusing of weather, so if a front is brewing, it’ll usually deliver most on node day. So I'm expecting rain tomorrow. 1stQ moon day tomorrow means any rain is likeliest before lunch. The moon will be in the S hem this week and furthest south on Friday, so expect cooler temps and more snow, especially towards the end of the week. Winter solstice on the 21st/22nd means longer nights so less sun, therefore colder, so more chance of rain. As far as tidal variation goes, it's diminishing, so fish are packing up and moving back to deeper waters. It doesn't mean there's no fish around, just getting to be less. There's always fish around. We have better than average fishing chances until tomorrow because of the change of phase, but then it goes average again until Friday. The moon's at its highest point at 6.30pm today, so that's the luckiest fishing time. So best bite times should be 6-7 and 12-1 and that's am and pm. Weatherwise, I think you can say goodbye to any longish run of fine days now until the beginning of July, and then we'll have two weeks of dry weather, in other words for the first half of next month.
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12 June 2010
Today's the day of new moon and the day the moon hits the furthest point north, which means the lowest poiint in the nightly sky when it crosses due north, which it does today at lunchtime. That means good fishing, as usual around new moon, and the good run of excellent bite times is from yesterday to Monday and won't come as good again until 25th-28th. best bite times this weekend 12-1 and 6-7 am and pm. The winter new moon in the north often brings colder temperatures at night and rain. And quite a few frosts up and down the country over the next week. The tidal variation is the greatest this month between the 14th -17th, and that factor alone will bring the fish around. The new moon+ N dec bring earthquakes and whale strandings. Just a word about moon and tides. The Manukau has high tide an hour before the moon is at the highest and lowest points in the sky, overhead and underfoot, so the best fishing is on the outgoing tide there. But in the Waitemata moonrise and moonset is an hour before high tide, so the best fishing on the Waitemata is just before high tide. You'll theroetically get more fishing in the Manukau because of that moon overhead factor, but the outgoing tide means they're not as interested in feeding as if they are coming into an estuary, which they will be on a good rising moon time on the Waitemata. So it balances out there. And that applies all year around, so whenever you see the moon between NE and N part of the sky it's always high tide then on the Manukau and between E and NE it's always high tide on the Waitemata.
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5 June 2010
It's the day of last quarter moon and also the day the moon crosses the equator heading north. And when the new phase comes in you usually get a change of weather patterns, which is why unsettled weather is returning today. Because the moon is heading north its dragging southerlies northwards and that means a big drop in temperatures. So as the moon gets lower in the sky it's kind of a sign temperatures are dropping also. This weekend the tidal variations are the lowest for the month, and the barometer is correspondingly unusually high. It's also apogee, which means moon furthest away, which is a calm as far as winds go, so after today the winds pick up again. The air pressure goes hand in hand with the sealevels, although there's sometimes a lag between them. As for fishing, the next few days will be good because the barometer will be on the move, the currents spring into action and the fish will pick up on the pressure changes and the currents and they'll get energised, which makes them hungrier. I'd say until Monday excellent bite chances, and the best bite times, both am and pm, will be 6 and 12 today, and a half hour later each day for tomorrow and Monday. After Sunday it goes back to average ratings, so that works in quite nicely for the long weekend. The high pressure should return during the coming week, so skies should clear by about Wednesday, and then we're in for a dry spell that should last until the next lot of widespread rain about the 16th.
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29 May 2010
We're back in kingtide now, biggest tides of the month were yesterday and full moon also yesterday. It's the last month that new moon and full moon tidal variation causes same size kingtides, and after May it'll only be new moon tides that are the biggest ones, until after November. So big tides right now mean a lot of fish around. The full moon is also a good time to fish because fish are more active and so get hungrier, mainly around midday, noon and those halfway points which around 6, am and pm. Also today we have the moon at its southernmost point, in the upwards and downwards cycle it does between the hemispheres every month, called declination. When the moon's in the south we get southerlies generated and much colder weather. The same happened at the beginning of May - snow fell on the 4th. That was the last time the moon was in the south. The next time will be 25 June and we'll get another cold wollop then. When the moon is on the turn as it is now, it’s a lull time in the swell, and I think a better time to fish, because winds drop for a day or so and you get calmer waters. The good fishing at the moment should run until the end of today, and then not better-than-average again until Thursday to Sunday. Weatherwise, some bad weather returning to the NI after the middle of the week, and the SI are in for some subzero temperatures all month starting now. The NI will get some too, which means frosts mainly on the eastern side, now and later this week and around the end of Queens Birthday weekend. And then the whole NI may get some with the new moon period which is after the 10th of June. The next highest tides are going to be 14-16 June. Best bite times today and tomorrow are 1 - 1.30 and 7-7.30, that's am and pm, and about 40 minutes either side of those.
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22 May 2010
We've just come through a significant moon event time, Thursday was the perigee which is moon closest to earth, yesterday was change of phase to 1st quarter, and today the moon crosses the equator heading south. The perigee always brings highest tides for the month within 7 days and that was on 15th, just 4 or 5 days before perigee, and the barometer went low as a result and the waves usually get choppy when the barometer does a dive. You get earthquakes clustering around perigee also. The moon crossing equator usually brings winds and perigee exaggerates whatever is going on, so because we're in winter mode and close to the S pole we copped the brunt of a southerly storm. Because it's 1st quarter the moon is out of the sky between midnight and noon, and that’s when bad weather and/or colder temperature comes if you're in winter. Around 1st quarter the weather improves just as the moon rises which is just after lunch. Weatherwise we're not out of the woods yet, we're just in a lull and rain is returning after this weekend because we've got big tides again around 27th which is Thursday, so at least part of the coming week should be a bit stormy. This coming Friday is full moon and the following day is southernmost point of the moon, and when the moon is in the south the whole country goes cold. So there's a chance of more snow in the next week, and good fishing because more tidal water is coming in, and full moon is one of the main fishing times. Best bite times 7 and 1 today, and 8 and 2 tomorrow, and that's am and pm. The best day is today and bite chances are only average tomorrow, and the next best day to be out fishing will be Thursday.
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15 May 2010
It was new moon day yesterday. It's also highest tides for the month at the moment, and high tides plus new moon adds up to good fishing and it's actually been good since Thursday. We've been getting a falling barometer too over the past couple of days. Fish have got their own barometer and they can detect changes in pressure through their lateral lines. That's why they react so instantly when something large sneaks up behind them. So they're also sensitive to weather and air pressure changes. For instance when air pressures are high, and the sky is clear, that's not a good time to fish because fish seek cover. It may be that the water gets less murky under the higher pressure and other fish can see them and they don't want to be targets. So to be a good fishermen you have to keep an eye on your barometer. If the needle's steady, it's just normal average fishing. But if it’s either rising or falling then fish get more active. And a falling barometer with the weather getting worse is the best time to go fishing. So you watch the barometer and watch the skies, and when you see clouds gathering, the needle's falling, it goes a bit cold, grab the gear box. But when the rain sets in, it's too late, fish get less active. Then you'll have to wait till things start clearing again. So the New Moon is in its second day, that's ideal, and you want to be fishing as the moon is rising, and it'll be above the horizon at 8.20am so you've got 40 minutes either side of that. The moon reaches highest point at 1pm and sets at 6pm. So around those times are excellent fishing but by tomorrow chances return to just being average. Weatherwise, the moon reaches highest point for the month tomorrow, northern declination, and because of that the thrust of the weather has been northwards. Anticyclones are in charge, being bigger and heavier air masses, and when there's one to our north with a low under it it'll force that lower pressure area south. And that's what has been happening. To see what I mean, just look at the huge high pressure system covering most of the centre and east of Australia and extending across the Pacific. Looking ahead, as far as rain goes, the period of 19th-25th holds promise of rain, because it'll be the time of a closer moon on its way south.
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8 May 2010
The moon's crossing the equator tomorrow heading north, so the southerlies are easing a bit as the moon gets further from the south. It's also in apogee which means it has a weakened effect which means calmer weather with lighter winds until about three days time, because when the moon is crossing the equator it speeds up and that brings a bit of turbulence. At the moment the tidal variation is the smallest of the month, so many of the fish schools will have gone back to the deeper waters of the sea, and the big tides will come again in another week's time. So meagre fishing after today, good again around Thursday. The moon was at its southern declination on the 2nd, when it was the highest in our sky, so now is descending, meaning going from southern to northern hemisphere, and that means the fish are retreating more to the north along with the currents. Weatherwise, the Northland drought was always set to end mid-May and nothing has occurred to change that. There's this front passing over right now - we had it in the almanac to arrive on 7th, so bang on time, which should hang around till the 11th, which is Tuesday, but because the moon is going north I don't think we'll get much rain out of this system. The moon (moving north until 16th) will be nudging this system north and off NZ. If the moon was moving south right now it would be a different story. So it'll be next Thursday's lot that really counts for the far north, and they'll be the rains to watch for. Best bite times this weekend for fishing will be 7-8 and 1-2 am and pm. Bite chances will very good today but from tomorrow will only be average.
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1 May 2010
The perigee, which means moon closest to earth for the month, was on the 25th and so because the biggest tides have been brought on by the perigee+Full moon from January-April we have had kingtides over the past few days, with the subsequent flooding in some places where the rains have also been. But from now til November the next biggest tides are going to be around new moons and the next kingtide and best fishing time will be around the middle of May. So whereas best fishing has been at the ends and/or beginnings of the months between January and April, from now on the best fishing times are going to be around the middle of the months at first, creeping back to the second week by August, and creeping further back to the first and last weeks of the month again by December. At the moment the moon is coming higher in the sky and will reach its highest tomorrow. That will be the southernmost point for a month, and after that it will start to go north again and start descending in our sky, and taking tidal variation down as well. May and June will be good for fishing in the second halves of those months, because tidal variation will be averagely higher then than in the first halves, because higher tides bring more fish in. And that means the first halves of May and June will be better for diving because of that shallower water. Weather-wise, we've got the coldest periods at the start and ends of May, because that will be when the moon is in the south, and that's when you’ll be reading about places down south getting a bit of snow. I've got about 12 mainly dry days from now on, except for a brief front passing through around 7th, and I've got the drought breaking up north around the 13th-25th. Best fishing times this weekend will be 2-3 and 8-9 am and pm, but chances only average, and the next better than average day will be Wednesday, and the next excellent time will be on the 13th.
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24 April 2010
Tomorrow we have perigee and moon crossing equator heading south, perigee brings winds and higher tides, and already it's getting a bit choppy out at sea but the wind hasn't reached full strength yet, but will do in a few days. The wind is also blowing a fair bit of rain in, and its a rain system I thought would arrive about yesterday but it got held up on the other side of Tasmania and it'll be making up for lost time after the weekend. So watch out for good rain, which is a better scenario, because the way I had it picked would not have delivered more than a day's rain to ther dought affected areas but this looks like being a good dollop. As of today when coming out of the neap tides and the king tides will be here in four days time. The bigger tides equals more fish and it also means easier diving when the tide goes out. We're also coming up to the full moon. on the 29th which is Thursday and so the really good fishing in terms of the fish biting, probably the best for the month, will go from this Tuesday the 27th to Friday the 30th. When the moon crosses the equator as it's doing tomorrow, it generally takes about two days for the wind from that to reach us, so that'll take us to about Tuesday. That means any rain around, and I expect the rain about Monday or Tuesday, will probably blow off after that, but the system will still be here, and when the winds die down, which should be about Friday, we could get some more rain. So we're in for unsettled weather, and it might be that you can get out in a boat today and tomorrow, but after that the seas could get a bit rough. The perigee is usually a pretty good time for fishing, because currents are stronger, fish have to work harder to stay in the same place, and so they tend to feed more. I have best bite times 8 to 9 o'clock that's am and pm, and next best around 2 - 3 am and pm.
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17 April 2010
We've just been having some good new moon kingtides and that's brought in a lot of fish. We have low neap tides on Thursday and Friday, also 1st quarter moon, and the perigee 3 days later on the 25th. It adds up to good fishing between Wednesday and Friday, just after some unsettled weather has whisked through. So that's happening midweek. At the moment there's a front crossing the middle of the Australian Bight, bringing some showers to SA and Adelaide, and because the moon is speeding up, that system should cross Tasmania today or tomorrow and by Sunday or Monday should be sitting in the Tasman and should be picked up by the metservice radar. I think the wet may miss the top of the SI, and if it doesn't get held up it'll all blow over by the end of the week for a dry weekend. Anyway, best bite times today and tomorrow are 1-2 and 7-8, and that's am and pm. Chances are only average because we're just past the new moon period - that ended yesterday.
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10 April 2010
We're just past the apogee, which is the moon furthest from earth for the month, which is why winds have died down compared with last week's gusty southerlies in some places. The moon's going down in the sky, it's still in last quarter mode and it'll be new moon on the 15th which is next Thursday, and new moon is usually a good time to be fishing, and the good period will be Tuesday to Friday. The tidal volumes of water are coming back in, the estuaries are starting to get a bit higher in water levels each day, but not to the levels they were at the beginning of the month, but enough to bring more fish back. Weatherwise, new moon is generally calm and fairly settled, but you can get some rain overnight and I think there will be some on the east coast of the NI this week from East Cape down to Canterbury, but I don't see Northland getting any until the 21st. And that's partly due to the tide heights. How it works is that big storm events follow times when tides peak. For instance, in January the tides were really high around Full moons at the beginning and end of that month and Auckland got rain at both ends of the month. In the troughs between the high tides, when tides were lowest, Auckland got rain exactly at those times too. And at each of those four times the barometer suddenly took a dive too, which means the air pressure is to a large extent working with the tide heights. There are other factors too, like what the sun's doing, but you can't discount the effects of tide height on weather. In Feb, same story, each time when the tides were higher, the barometer dropped, sometimes not on the exact day but within 2 or 3 days, and so we got high tides plus rain around the start, the middle and the last days of the month. This month the higher tides come back with the perigee around the 25th and I'm expecting rain to just precede that. Bite times today and tomorrow between 8-9 and 2-3, and that's am and pm.
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3 April 2010
Next Tuesday we have the southern declination, so the moon's still rising in the sky and its going fairly fast through the heavens around the earth but will slow down about Sunday. So the weather's been a bit changeable but from now on it'll be tending to clearing to fine. The SD will produce Ss, and with the Ss cold drier weather, so we'll all be feeling autumn in about a week's time. The watertable is dropping quite dramatically, and the fish will be having last feeds up the estuaries and the channels, so it's a good time for fishing coming up. The tidal variations will be greatest this month on the 1st, 15th and 28th, so the best fishing for the month should be 13th-16th(NM) and 27th-30th(FM) and next best 5th-8th and 21st-23rd. . The 8th and 9th is least variation and that's the time to go wading and diving for shellfish because you haven't got so far down to go. We have the lastQ coming up on the 6th, Tuesday, and some cold afternoons around then, so if you're out standing around holding a line better dress up warm, and especially dress the kids up if you're out on the boat. The good fishing begins on Monday because of that lastQ moon, and goes through to Thursday. best bite times over this weekend are 3+9, 4+10 and 5+11. You have to allow for daylight saving. Don't forget to wind the clock back an hour tonight. The way to remember it is spring forward, fall back.
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27 March 2010
Well, yesterday Egmont got a bit of snow, and so you might say winter has almost started. The moon's perigee is tomorrow, it's the eighth closest that the moon will be for the year, and the full moon is 3 days away, it's crossing the equator heading south in 2 days time on the 29th. The perigee exaggerates whatever else is going on, so the wind may get up and waves may get a bit choppier over the next few days. The Full moon+Perigee is a cyclone breeder, especially when crossing the equator and already there's another Australian cyclonic event developing at the top there and may come down with the moon's drift over the next week. The perigee always brings the king tides and tidal variation is already starting to increase and coming up to be extra high next week. The barometer could drop about the 30th. I'm expecting fishing to be only average but shooting up to excellent from Monday to Wed, bite times around 1 and 7. The tides will be kingtides 30/31, so Tues/Wed will probably be really good fishing days. Now Easter's coming, so get ready for some more rain, as it always does.
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20 March 2010
We've got the moon well down in the sky now, on the 8 March when it was the furthest south it was right overhead and the tides were just coming down from being the highest for the month 3 days before. It won't be back overhead until 4 April. Now, there's not much happening with the tides until 10 days time when they'll be way up again. On Monday it’s the equinox day, that’s to do with the sun and the earth and the fact that the earth is going faster past the sun on that day, it’s like the midpoint of a pendulum, earth relative to sun goes faster, there’s a twisting and a distortion of the atmosphere as a result, and we get turbulence aloft and more winds. It used to be called the equinox winds before the days of global warming. Moonwise, on Tuesday the moon will reach its northernmost point, and therefore the lowest point in our sky, and the tide will be really slack then, it'll also be first quarter moon so a real neap situation. And two days later the water's going to start coming in with a vengeance. The Monday equinox will join the moon’s events on Tuesday to bring more winds and should manifest in a new cyclonic system up in N QLD and I think we’ll be reading about that during next week. I’d say the fishing will pick up between Monday and Thursday. I think when the water's calm and the currents are slower on a neap tide the fish are less jittery and they'll come in closer to shore. Also, it's the perigee on the 28th so they'll be coming in for a feedup a few days beforehand, because around perigee day they usually stay out to sea where the turbulence in the sea is less. Weatherwise nothing much is happening until next Friday and Saturday, the 26th and 27th. Best bite times today and tomorrow, allowing for daylight saving will be about 4 and 10. Rating average until changing on Monday to very good.
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13 March 2010
We're coming up to the new moon on Tuesday, and the tides are getting bigger. So the fish are starting to come in again, and tomorrow we'll be back in the optimum fishing times that you always get around the new moon, and the good fishing is going to last until Wednesday. Now weather wise there's a jetstream racing up the country, it's the whole length of New Zealand, and the jetstreams - fast rivers of air, there's always some between the bottom of New Zealand and Antarctica and they usually circulate both around that level and one comes across Australia about the level of Brisbane. Now depending on where the moon is they sometimes skew up this way. On the 8th, the moon was the furthest point south, and midweek the moon started to trek north again. When we look up when it's the furthest point south, it's actually the highest it gets to in the sky, and that was almost exactly overhead in this part of the world. So that was on Monday. As the moon starts to come north, it gets lower in our sky, but if you view it from space you'd see that it was coming from the South Pole upwards, and dragging air from the polar region which is freezing cold, and so you get these southerlies coming up the country. Now you get that every single time the moon is in the furthest point south, and whenever it does that in the winter well that's when you get your snow dumps. Over the last day or so, it's worked itself into this jetstream and it's caused a bit of damage down around Wellington where the winds always strong anyway because of the shape of the hills and the narrowness of Cook Strait, it acts a bit like a venturi. And what is focusing it, is a big high pressure system that's out there in the West and that's just going to sit there for about the next week or so. It's going to have the effect of bringing some dry weather to us, and cold to begin with, but then as it does start to move, the age of it will bring winds from the other way, because these systems rotate anticlockwise. Well that means in a week or so some places again to be getting northwesterlies which will be unusually hot, and they'll think that summer has come back again, but it won't, and after that and we're looking at about the 20th, autumn will be here for real. The jetstream is often viewed by weather people as the early signs of the storm, but that's just because there is a lot of wind in them, and the wind often blows the rain in. But of course if the wind is coming from the south then there's not much rain going on because it's too cool for evaporation to happen. That's always a good little weather secret. If you see clouds coming from the north they will always have more rain in them because of that warmer air closer to the equator evaporating more seawater up, than clouds that are coming from the south that are just too cool to carry much water. That's why in Auckland a straight southerly is nearly always a perfectly fine day. Best bite times today and tomorrow are around 11 and 5, and roundabout Tuesday 12 and 6 and that's a.m. and p.m.
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6 March 2010
We've had the highest tides and correspondingly some of the lowest tides, which meant some people would have gotten some shellfish they haven't had access to without diving. And that's been all over the world. It's been due to the FM+P which was around 1-2 of March. You have certainly seen the effect of those in Queensland, 80% of which is still underwater. There's a bit of rain coming down to us from that event but it'll mostly stay well to the east of the NI. Could be some rain today. The moon is halfway between full moon and last quarter, known as waning gibbous, it sets around 1pm. It's also midway between crossing the equator and the southernmost point, which will be on Tuesday. The moon's still climbing in the southern hemisphere sky, and dropping in the northern hemisphere sky, all because it appears upside down from the hemisphere to another due to of the tilt of the earth. If you are standing on the northen hemisphere and you want to see what the moon looks like from Sydney, climb a hill, bend over and look at the moon between your legs. So the tides are going down and days are cooling off a bit and here in Auckland, NZ, autumn will come quickly. In two weeks time we'll all be shivering in autumn temperatures. But in the North Island we've still got about 10 days of relatively dry weather, just a few odd showers will interrupt this until 17-19 just after new moon, which will be a time of some good dumps in Northland. The cicadas are getting quieter and they'll soon be bird food. The moon is slowing, which means if rain sets in it won't pass in a hurry, probably be a bit of rain on and off over a couple of days. It's actually quite windy and choppy out there on the water right now on both coasts, so care is needed. But underneath the surface, I think after the really big tides, all the fish that came in with the extra water wouldn't have left yet. When the moon slows so does the current. They may not be moving all that fast, but they'll still be competing for food, so I think they'll be wanting to sample some baits. I'd go for the estuaries and creeks about this time, because in some cases like some of the inland rivers, they won't have come back down yet to the sea.
The fishing is better than average from today until Tuesday, because of that last quarter moon setting just after lunch, and the time to be out there will be a half hour on either side of 5 and 11, am and pm.
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27 Feb 2010
On Tuesday 2 March we have a phenomenon, the highest tidal variation since March 2002, and won't be as high again until February 2014. So we have tides starting to swell and bringing in more water. More water=more fish. In every month there's a short period when the moon is both getting daily higher in the sky due to its crossing hemispheres of a tilted earth, and waxing which means coming up to full moon, and that's when upward energies are the uppermost, and that's right now, having started on Thursday and lasting until tomorrow, so 24th-28th. So this is the period gardeners ought to have been planting stuff flat out, because of those upward energies, the sap is getting high in the trees too so you may have noticed more insects flying about or heard louder cicadas over the past week, and because the insects are going for it there's more birds about, so there's lots of pollination going on, and also cats are out chasing the birds. This is what happens in nature, one lot gets going and they all follow one another. The fish are no exception. They won't just be messing about on the bottom, they'll be all over the place and at different depths. Lots of fish mean they're competing for food which means they'll willingly take the bait. Tomorrow is also perigee, the third closest moon-to-earth distance for the whole year, which means faster moving swells and currents, which make fish hungrier. So I think come tomorrow and they'll be biting flat out so that's the time to be out there. And the fishing will stay good til Tuesday. The full moon is on Monday, the 1st of March. As for the weather itself, the moon's 'node', sometimes called a 'nodal crossing', is when the moon sits at what we call the ecliptic which is the plane all the planets are on. When it does that at the same time as full moon you get an eclipse, but not this time. The moon was nodal on the 25th. The node has the effect of focussing the moon’s energies, and I always think fishing not too far from nodes is generally pretty good. Now fronts typically follow nodal crossings. But because the node has just gone, it means wet cold weather which we got a day or so ago is also lessening around the place over the next few days. In fact the next two weeks should be relatively dry for the North Island. And bite times will be 11 and 5 today and 12 and 6 tomorrow, that's am and pm and that's also adjusting for daylight saving.
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20 Feb 2010
We're coming up to a 1stQ moon, that's on Monday, and a better fishing period begins tomorrow, than it has been over the past few days, as we enter that quarter-moon fishing phase which is always better than average, especially around lunchtime when the moon is around the horizon, and that will last until Tuesday. The moon's going down in the sky, the tides are going down too, there'll be a neap tide on Tuesday. So it's like the bath is emptying and things are going quiet, and the fish do come in closer, at times like this, because they're not buffeted around so much by the pounding of the currents. We've got an anticyclone coming over with higher pressures on the sea's surface, and that's normally not particuarly good for fishing, with the seas getting smoother, not a wildly good time for fishing, but here's the difference. We're right in the middle of the cyclone season now, and cyclonic systems form around the New moon and the Full moons. Remember the last one up in the islands formed around Valentines Day the 14th which was new moon, and started to weaken as soon as that day passed. Well, the next one is coming up as we get close to the full moon on the 1st of March. So this is a lull and there'll be a lot of fish down here where the waters are a bit quieter. Because here's another thing. The moon is still closer to earth and will be until March, so the new and full moons bring more earthquake activity as well, and most shakes are under the sea. So you've got your turbulance on top and on the bottom as well, around those new and full moons, and I think the fish panic a bit and take the bait when those shock waves are coming through the ocean. But in the lull which is now they'll be hanging around down here away from any turbulence further north, so I think the numbers will be up. So that means better fishing, and the bonus is that it's just a more pleasant time to be out in a boat or standing on rocks without a whole lot of rogue waves going on around you. And a calm and settled fisherman is always a better one, whatever else might be going on in the sea.
As far as the weather is concerned I've got until Tuesday nice and clear across the country, temperatures dropping, and that will allow for some rain to come in later in the week as the next cyclone gets pumped up again up around Queensland and sends down some unsettled weather that should slightly affect us. It'll send down some increased swell which will push water further into estuaries and inlets and that will bring fish in at the end of the month. The last three days of the month should be fine also.So after this, that's the next good fishing time looking ahead. So bite times, taking into account daylight saving should be better between 5 and 6, and about 12-1
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13 Feb 2010
We're coming up to another kingtide in about 3 days which means the current strength is growing and the water is beginning to move faster, which is not good for swimmers because rips are developing, but it's getting better for surfies and the fish are like little surfies. They're going to be out there when the current is stronger because stronger currents bring more in. On the west coast the westerlies are building, strong onshore at the moment, wind swell increasing so tomorrow the waves may be even higher. So theoretically it's excellent fishing today and tomorrow, in fact right up til Tuesday. The New moon will be here tomorrow which explains part of it, because not only does the New moon generate westerlies, sometimes fairly solid at water level, but at new moon time there's greater gravitational pull going on and the moon moves faster than it does at any other phase, and that whips up turbulence in the atmosphere. It’s also an earthquake-prone time because that turbulence affects the land as well, and Wellington had a 5 magnitude shake during the night. Add in that it’s also apogee today, which means moon furthest from earth for the month, that translates to downward forces rather than upward ones - add to that that the moon is on its way from South to North at the moment, which is why the South Island is getting SW systems right now, moon descending in the sky day by day until its northernmost point in about 10 days time. And so what we’re getting is a double dose of downward energies. Therefore currents are descending as well which is good news for deep water fishing. The new moon gusty-weather should last from today till about Wednesday. Out at sea extra westerly winds make the sea choppy and squally in the west but fairly flat on the east side being more sheltered, so the east will be more pleasant to be out on. But you'll always catch more fish on the western side when westerlies are blowing. Especially in sheltered inlets like the Manukau. Plus sea surface temperatures are warmer on the west but still cooler than normal in the N and E. The new moon is always a time for change, it's in Aquarius which is a cooler sign. But it is the start of autumn in some places, like Canterbury, and Christchurch were due for some frosty weather mid February and Ruapehu may get a sprinkling of snow over the next few days. It’s still summer in the northern half of the North Island but rain comes to Auckland around Thursday and elsewhere they should be going into autumn soon. So for best bite times, be out there 11-12.30 and 4.30 - 6.30 this weekend, and that's am and pm.
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6 Feb 2010
Today's the day of last quarter moon phase, and the moon is in an area of sky known as Scorpio and that denotes oppressive dryness and very little rain, so I'm expecting it to be quite hot over the next couple of days, which is good for the Waitangi Day celebrations but not so good for the farmers. There's a lot of high pressure around which accounts for the sea being fairly smooth. The tides are still fairly big but they're going down, and it'll be a real shallow neap tide on Tuesday which coincides with the moon being the furthest point south. You'll notice the moon every morning getting higher each day in the sky until being just about overhead on Tuesday morning. The king tides of about a week ago were partly because of the moon entering the S hemisphere and partly because the moon was close to the Earth. So Tuesday would be the day to get shellfish that you have to dive deep for, because you won't have to dive so far down. The moon changes hemispheres, N to S to N over 27 days. The tidal energies are immense. So because of the moon being almost south now, over our hemisphere, currents are rising in the sea, and I like to think of it as a sort of hidden tide because it's not visible. But what it does, is have a mixing effect distributing salinity levels and temperatures, bringing colder water in the depths up, and that not only brings fish up but also means certain schools are in certain places at the same times of the declination month. So, for example, this equivalent day last month which was 3 days before S declination would have been 9 January. So whatever you caught then, and it was a Saturday, at that spot you may catch another of the same species. That's why it's a good idea to keep a fishing diary, so you can refer back to successful catch days. Fish know what they like, and they go there. They're just like people and you have to think like a fish if you want to catch them. And every fish has got a lunar clock inside him, it's better than a Rolex. The moon is so clockwork it only loses 10 seconds a year. So, last quarter moon, better than average chances today and tomorrow, be out there 5.30-7.30 and 11.30-1.30 and that's am and pm.
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30 Jan 2010
The moon's in an astrological area of sky called Cancer, which is traditionally a very wet sign. Todays the day the moon is closest to earth for the whole month, also the full moon, so if it looks bigger that's because it is closer. It's low in the sky at the moment because it's really directly over the northern hemisphere at this moment, and is making its way back down here, it'll be crossing the equator into the southern hemisphere on Monday. It's the highest tide for the month tomorrow, and the tide height won't be as high again until the beginning of March, and that March one will actually be the highest tide for the whole year. There's a bit of rain around, so there could be flooding because with the more water coming in and filling up the estuaries, some rivers may be swollen, and the outflow is slow getting away so it banks up. Now that's good for fishing because the estuaries have more fish coming in with the more water, and they tend to stay between tides because there's more feeding opportunities. On the actual day of the full moon you generally find the wind drops right off, but the more turbulent water and choppy water is probably your main worry if you're out in a boat, so it'll be a day or two before that settles down. You want to get out this evening and look at the moon and show the kids, because it won't look as big as that again until 20 March 2011. Don't worry about clouds blocking your view - the full moon usually brings eneough heat to the evening air to make most of the higher level clouds disappear. So good fishing at the moment, one of the best times of the whole month, and will stay that way just till tomorrow. Best times to be out there will be 11.30-2 and about 6-8.30 and that's am and pm. Roughly that's when the moon is directly overhead and under your feet, and on the horizon.
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23 Jan 2010
We have a first quarter moon today, and that usually means most of the rough weather is in the morning, clearing a bit after lunch. Then I have another lot of weather about mid week, and clearing by the weekend The reason is the closeness of the moon, and next Saturday it'll be the closest to the earth for the whole year. And because of that maybe next weekend is a time to be careful out in a boat, could be some gales and some rough seas. But it's this factor, how close the moon is to earth, that always causes the month's highest tides, the king tides, and the next one will be on the 31st. When you get king tides in the sea, you also get them in the air, and you generally get unsettled weather around king tides.. But even though it’s the closest moon for the year, it won't be the highest tide for the year, we have to wait till the end of next month for that. Nevertheless, after Wednesday the tides are going to get bigger by quite large amounts each day until the end of the month. Because of that, from Wednesday on, the fishing chances are going to be better with all that more water coming into harbours and estuaries. Meanwhile right now it's a bit of a lull - but not completely. The moon's in the northern hemisphere and trekking further north, and reaching its northernmost point on Wednesday. That means it's slowly descending in our sky, a little bit lower each day, and that means the energies and forces are downwards, the water tables drop, the tidal variation too, and the lowest point of that is Wednesday. I think it means right now the fish spend less time at the greater depths because that's where the stronger currents are, and that means you're going to have more luck if you're not trolling the bottom, and I'd say in the larger scheme of fishing-things, chances are better than average until and including Monday.
And best bite times this weekend are both am and pm, and that’s 5.30-7 and 11.30-1
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16 Jan 2010
Well, it was new moon yesterday, and that means of course that it's in the sky during the day but it's alongside the sun which is why you can't see it because of the glare of the sun. Now there are three times during the month when the moon moves faster than at other times and the new moon is one of them, and that means that the weather systems speed up around new moon times. So that's why what happens from one day to the next is hard to predict if you're only taking photos of the tops of clouds from satellites, and that's why the metservices got it so wrong for the big Day out, because if you remember the night before they said that it was going to be wet wet wet and it was about the sunniest it could possibly be. Now because the moon moves faster during the new moon time, I think it causes the currents to move faster in the sea, and that means the fish have to work harder just to stay in the same place, which means they expend more energy which they have to replenish and so they tend to be hungrier. And that's probably why all fishermen know that round the new moon time is good for fishing. We've got some king tides going on as well between now and about the 19th, but they still not the biggest tides of the month they'll be around the 30th and 31st, and the fishing should be even better then, because of the more water coming in. Around the new moon time you tend to get quite strong westerlies at water level and you also get some rough weather developing. Now there's been a cyclone getting itself ready over the last week and I think it will arrive here after the 20th. If anybody has a boat on a mooring I would be making plans to bring it to a shelter around about the end of the month because I think this could be gales and a bit of storm damage around the 28th give or take a few days. For your fishing bite times, I think today and tomorrow if you're out there between 12.30 - 2.30 or 6.30 - 8.30 that's am and p.m. I don't think you'll come home empty-handed. That means people should be out there right now with their line in the water, and they've got about another half hour of it. And you can find out more from my book the PredictWeather Almanac, available from bookstores or from my website www.predictweatherCOM, or from the NZ Fishing World magazine. And I have a wall calendar available now as well which is a condensed version of the almanac and which has all the fishing in it. And I still haven't sent you one so I must do that.
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9 Jan 2010
The moon rose this morning at 1am, it'll be directly above us in 15 minutes time, (well, it looks like its above us, but it's really over Fiji) and it sets at 3.30. Any rain happens more when the moon's below the horizon.What we have is the moon in last quarter and not doing much, it's a tidal lull, which means we're approaching a low point in the tidal variation and that will be tomorrow and Monday, and after that the variation will increase as the moon ascends, climbing higher in the sky until reaching its peak next Tuesday which will be its southernmost point for the month, and as usual when its ascending, the tides get higher and the barometric pressure tends to drop. We're seeing the results of that this weekend with all the severe weather warnings that the metservice has been issuing over the past 24 hours. The next king tides are not until the 17th which is tomorrow week, and that will be the next excellent fishing time, but it's the king tide after that which is at the end of the month that will bring the best fishing chances. So the best fishing is not right now, but because of that last quarter moon you're still better than average today, but dropping off tomorrow. Today it's pretty windy on both coasts from S systems and choppy when you get out a bit, dropping off this afternoon and calmer tomorrow with that smaller tide. SSTs are going down, as they usually do when the moon gets to that southernmost point because of the Ss that get generated. So that tends to slow fish down too. Warmer waters means better fishing, because there's more food about, also being cold -blooded fish move faster and they get hungrier. But on the other hand we are moving into El Nino this year, and that means generally warmer waters and so a better fishing year overall.
best bite times are going to be, am and pm, 6.30-8.30 and 12.30-2.30. Today very good, tomorrow only average.
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19 Dec 2009
Even though the moon is in the sky all day between 9am to 10pm, if you want to actually see it remember it's still New moon time and you won't see the moon against the glare of the sun during the day, except as it goes down about 9-9.30 and it'll be a beautiful silvery crescent between W and SW on the horizon. So it's quite high in the sky at the moment, being furthest south 3 days ago and new moon 2 days ago, but in a few days it's going to be descending and losing height which means even though yesterday was a king tide we're just past that turn and all that water is just beginning to ebb. Still high though and a lot of fish have been brought in, and are still there so it has been an exciting time to be out fishing but we're now only one day past the excellent stage and settling back to average. I wouldn't write today off at all, I'd get out there but just not as special as yesterday. It's like moving through the leftovers of a huge feast, still plenty to satisfy most anglers I think.
The best times to be out there are between 1.30-3.30 and 7.30-9.30 and that's of course both am and pm
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12 Dec 2009
We're in a wee lull in terms of tide heights but it's not way low, it's dropped about half a metre in the Manakau from the height of the highest tides for the month which were on the 4th, so there's still a fair bit of water coming in. The next higher-than-normal tides will be in 5 days time so right now you could say the trend is tides increasing. The moon, in the cycle called declination in which it goes N-S and N again over 27 and a bit days, is halfway between crossing the equator and being the furthest south at the moment, so its what they call an ascending moon, and estuaries and streams are swelling tidewise. The watertable is coming up too and when you look in the sky you'll see the moon between 3am and 4pm and the moon's getting higher in the sky each day. The moon'll be the furthest south on Wednesday and you'll find the temperatures will drop a bit around then. So it's not a wild fishing time, the moon's between phases, between high tides and between equator and the southernmost point, but there'll be fish there, and fish have to eat, so quiet patience will be the order of the day. Possibly a good time to fix gear, do stuff around the boat, keep an eye on the lines but no need to hold onto the rod too feverishly
And the best bite times are between 7.30-9.30 and 2-4 and that's of course both am and pm..
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5 Dec 2009
Well, the moon's well to the north at the moment in the northern hemisphere, northernmost point 2 days ago, so it's relatively quiet and not moving much. Soon it's going to be a rising moon, which means tides going to start getting bigger, as the moon crosses into our hemisphere on the 9th as well as changing phase on that day too. So that's about Wednesday and that's 4 days off. It'll then be in a better area of sky for fishing. Moon in Virgo is the best astrological time for fishing down here. But it's a 3rdQ Virgo moon, and not as good as if it was a FM or NM in Virgo, that situation will occur on the 31st of January and 1st of March (for FM in Virgo), also 8 Sept (for NM in Virgo). Those who keep diaries might want to check what it was like this year for the 11 March (for FM in Virgo) and 21 Aug (for NM in Virgo) and see how your catches were those days. Well, now, it's the perigee today, moon closest to the earth for the month, in fact the 7th closest for the year, and that's quite powerful, and because of the full moon only a couple of days ago, it's the highest tide today since the 18th of Oct. Add the stronger currents that perigee brings, to the soon-to-be-in-our-hemisphere-again moon plus the kingtide which brings in more fish, and you get fish competing for food so they'll take your bite if they're there. And I'm talking middle water to surface which means groundbaiting is going to be effective so long as it's not bird food, so maybe time to boil up the cabbage water. It also means you should be watching for bird activity, the birds will indicate where the fish are, because they won't be that far down that the birds can't spot them from the air. So even though we're between phases, the mitigating factors mean average-to-better chances, and getting better each day over the next 4 days.
And the best bite times are between 2-4 and 8-10 and that's of course both am and pm. But you'd have to be mad keen or really hungry to out there between 2 and 4Am.
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28 Nov 2009
Well, the moon has just moved into that part of sky called Aries, which is one zodiac sign, or 30 deg of sky past Pisces, and a Pisces moon was always good for fishing in the northern hemisphere which is why fish is the Pisces sign. But the opposite applies down here. Its between first quarter and full moon which they call waxing gibbous. You'll start to see it in the sky from about five in the evening onwards. Then it stays in the sky until about three in the morning. Now a Pisces moon is a decsending moon and everything is starting to drop downwards, so the tide variations have been quite suddenly getting smaller and yesterday was some of the lowest tides for the month. You add to that, the fact that it crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere a couple of days ago, so if you like the water has started going to the other side of the world. The moon crossing the equator always brings winds within two days which we've just had, and it's been whipping that sea up, but as we get further from that point the calmness will slowly return. It's all going to quite rapidly change because we've got full moon in only four days time and about a week from the moon being again closer to the Earth, called the perigee, and this perigee is going to be a powerful one because it's the 7th closest for the year. That means it's going to pack a punch, gravitationally speaking, which means quite a bit of water is going to come in quite quickly and the winds will return. But all that extra water will bring more fish, and because things are moving faster, there'll be increased currents, and hungrier creatures that are working harder just to stay in the same place. It's not only that that wears them out, you try chasing a steak or hamburger that's got legs of its own and is ducking and diving away from you. You're going to get even hungrier because you're working harder just to get the same regular meal. You're expending all that energy which you want to replenish with food so you're biting like mad. We are between phases so right at the moment it's a bit of a lull at and it's kind of like the calm before the storm, or like the day before the end of the school holidays when the traffic on the road is fairly bare but the next day it's chockablock. What I'm saying is hang in there, fishing today and tomorrow just so but early in the week I think it's really going to pick up.
The best chances over the weekend will be 8-9 am and p.m. and 2-3 am and p.m.but Tuesday to Friday that full moon period is going to be excellent if anyone can get out there.
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21 Nov 2009
Well the moon's in the area of the sky that call Sagittarius and it's pretty well coming over us at its highest point that it reaches up to, which means during the day mostly good weather but you can expect a bit of rain overnight, and that's because when it's really high in the daytime, but at night it's just below the horizon, so that means for us it' doesn't allow all that much cold air from space to come down and condense a few clouds. In terms of phase, it's between new moon and the first quarter moon and if you want to find it in the sky you'll see it up there pretty well most of the day between 10 and a morning and about 10.30 at night. The tides are over their highest variation period, and now beginning to descend once again, the point of smallest tidal variation for the month and lowest tides which will be round about the 26th. In terms of fishing it's going to improve in a couple of days time, but this is a bit of a lull period in which not much is happening. The moon being in the South, don't forget it was the furthest point south only two days ago, means that water temperatures are cooler and so all cold-blooded things like fish tend to move slower. It's kind of like they go a bit dopey. On the other hand it'll be quite nice to be out on a boat away from the troubles of the world. There will still be some fish around because of the recent high tide flows so I wouldn't write the time off altogether.
The best chances over the weekend will be 3-4 am and p.m. and 9-10 am and p.m., and if you can take the day off and go out on Monday your chances will shoot up about three fold.
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14 Nov 2009
We've got NEW moon coming up on the 17th and it's now rising higher every DAY in the sky, being over OUR hemisphere again. The only trouble is, you won't see it because of the glare of the SUN but you MAY see it as a crescent in the MORNing over the EAST around 5am before the sun gets clear of the HORIZON or just AFTER five in the EVENING - as a big round shadow just south of west just before it sets and before the SUN sets, and it will have VENUS following behind it like a trailer. The thing is, it's actually in LLIBRA, which is half way between its LOWestmost point and its UPPERmost, and usually the HIGHer the Moon the more SETTLED the weather - actually it'll be the highest in the sky for the MONTH in about four days time. If there are showers they'll be quickly passing. So I think today will be a fairly pleasant one and so a nice time to be out and about.
So we're heading back towards some respectably HIGHER tides, although they're STILL not going to be as high as they will be at the end of the first week in DECEMBER But still, those higher tides ALWAYS bring in the FISH and it's THIS period that's arguably the best because they are coming back to places they haven't been to for a while and there's new things for them to discover. Fish are very curious creatures and there's nothing they like better than having a poke around familiar territory. With the NEW moon coming up we've got stronger CURRENTS and that creates stronger WINDS so therefore some choppy seas depending on where you are, so I'd watch out for that and maybe don't go too far out. I really don't think you'll have to anyway because there'll be a lot of fish coming in closer to shore with that deeper water coming in. So it's a promising sort of day. I find in the Manukau, I don't know if John concurs, quite often the new moon brings easterlies, solid at water level.
The best bite chances this weekend are 10-1 am and pm, and also about 4-7am and pm.
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7th Nov 2009
Today is interesting because it is the day of closest moon to earth for the whole month, and yesterday it was also the furthest north. We had full moon on the 2nd and its coming up to lastQ on the 10th.You'll notice that the moon is only seen very low in the north this evening but that it looks bigger than normal because it is closer. Because it is low in the northern sky, the tides are getting dragged more to the opposite side of the world where the moon is the highest in their skies and so their tides are bigger at the moment. But it means over down here, our tides are approaching the second lowest in height variation which will be in 4 days time. A modifying factor is that the perigee keeps them a bit higher than they would otherwise be, and the pergiee means greater swells and currents swirling around, which is always better for fishing because it makes them hungrier. But this perigee is only the 11th closest for this year, so not a very powerful one, but I wouldn't write it off; it still has an effect. I'd be still expecting some wind gusts and rough seas in some parts for a day or two because of the turbulence that the perigee always brings. So..tides decreasing, less fish around, those stragglers that are there will be near the sea floor looking for anything moving, but they'll be small groups and not big shoals. It's kind of like after the match, the big excitement's gone but some are slow to leave the grounds. And the big groups usually prefer the safety of the deeper waters. In terms of phases, we're exactly between FM and lastQ, which is not good for bites, but tomorrow we enter the lastQ zone and so the fishing should be better tomorrow than today. And when the moon's again over our hemisphere, which will be over most of the second half of the month, everything gets fired up more, meaning tides and the air and the barometer - they all go up and down more sweepingly, and the fishing will pick up too.
The best chances are 4-6 am and pm, and also about 10-11am and pm. Allow 30 minutes either side of that.
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31 Oct 2009
The moon crossed the equator heading N yesterday. That brought the recent gusty winds, and we’re coming up to FM on Monday night. The tides are building again to the highest for the November in a couple of days time. This November the tides won’t have as much variation as to highest and lowest heights as they got to about the 18 October, and we have to wait until about 5 Dec for the next biggest variation in the height range at the highest tides. So if you look up this afternoon you’ll see the moon is not directly overhead like it was last week, now it’s a bit lower in the sky towards the north as it goes across in the course of the day. It is in the part of the sky astrologers called Aries rising in the east and setting nearly due west, and the biodynamic farmers call it a descending moon. When the Moon’s aligned like that and gradually moving north until it reaches its northernmost point which will be a week from today, everything’s going downwards; the water tables, the sap in the trees, and as well the currents are beginning to be directed more toward the sea floor than the surface. Also, things quieten down when there’s no change in phase going on, and the weather is more settled as are the currents. So…you’ve got more water starting to come in as the tides get a bit higher because of the full moon only two days away, you’ve got more water but more downward currents and they’ll be slower, you’ve got higher air pressure up above, and I think that adds up to fish having a bit less interest in bait than at other times. So they’re scooting around lower, they’re probably eating the things that crawl along the bottom and there’s always plenty of tucker there, so I’d set my hooks for bottom-feeders meaning, blue cod, gurnard, hoki, john dory, red moki, snapper, terakihi, trevalli, and you may get a few but but I wouldn’t expect to come home with as big a hauls as other times.
The best chances are 10-11 am and pm, and also about 4-5 am and pm. Again not the very best in the month, always worth going out though if you choose the right times, even if you have to wait a bit between bites.
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24 Oct 2009
Right now the moon is at its southernmost point for the month, and because of that at this time of year you get anticyclones and sunnier days and cooler weather, and soon you’ll see southerlies get generated which come more into effect as the moon moves away from that position which is in a few days time. If you look up this afternoon you’ll see the moon is directly overhead and coming up to first quarter on Monday. It’s going through the part of the sky astrologers and astronomers called Sagittarius and Capricorn, which is the time in the month the moon is the most directly overhead and highest in the sky. We’ll come to what this does in a minute. Now on Monday the moon is also the furthest away for the month, called apogee, on the 27-day cycle it does of coming closer and further away. Of course that means the moon is even higher than it would otherwise be and here’s a little secret: the higher the moon the more settled the weather. There was rain right up to yesterday of course, but it’s now over. You can see the pattern on p382 of this year’s almanac. So, several things about what that all means for fishing. The First Q moon is better than average because the tides are neap so lower and currents are gentler because when you get less water coming into the bay, the water is moving more slowly, so fish also slow down. That means they’re less skittish. Apogee means less turbulence in air and sea so that adds to the calmer waters. And southern declination means the moon is in our hemisphere which always brings the month’s higher tides, but the month’s highest tide was last week around the new moon, so tide heights are now beginning to ebb, not build, and I would imagine it’s just more pleasant for fish to get around. I’d liken it to the removal of rush hour traffic. So because food is probably scarcer they may go for anything dangling in front of them. So even though less fish, the ones that are there are presumably hungrier.
The best chances are now till Tuesday or Wednesday, 5-7 am and pm, and also about 11-2 am and pm. It may not be the best in the month, but I don’t think you’ll come back empty-handed..
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17 Oct 2009
Wednesday was the perigee, that’s when the moon comes closest to the earth for every 27 days, and that usually brings gales and stormy weather at this time of year, which we indeed had in some places, and yesterday was the moon crossing the equator heading south, and then tomorrow we have the new moon. So you add those last two together, that’s phase of new moon and it crossing the equator heading south (and that’s the combination we always get in our spring months), that usually brings cloud and showers for about 3 days. It’s also always a time of rising tide heights, and the highest the tides get for October will be tomorrow. Also, the closeness of Wednesday’s perigee will be adding to that. That’s all over the world, that’s not just the Hauraki Gulf, or the Manukau. You jump in a plane and go to Alaska and you’ll see the highest tides for the month there too, give or take a day. Of course it’s good fishing, with all that high water coming in and out. Most rain over new moon is overnight, I’ve got some of that coming around Monday, so that shouldn’t worry anyone on a day trip in a boat. The higher tides often induce a lower air pressure too, and fish seem to be more springy and hungry when that pressure is less.
The best chances are today till Monday, 10.30-12.30, am and pm, and also about 5-7 am and pm, allow a half hour either side. If you’re out there, it’s not rocket science, you’ll soon become aware of when that sea is boiling. So chances are pretty excellent, I’d even say best in the month at the moment.
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10 Oct 2009
Yesterday was N dec, that’s the moon furthest point N for the month, which is the low point of the tidal variation. The moon is in the middle of its monthly time spent in the other hemisphere and it’ll be back over this half of the world after the 16th which is next Thursday, so tide heights will increase then. The N dec brings warm air down here, low barometric pressures and slow moving unsettled weather. The fish will bite more readily on the low pressure days, and the old barometer is really low today. It’s the last Q moon tomorrow, and that means the moon rises around noon and sets about midnight. The middle of that is when you drop your line in, Northerlies follow, and with them, shallow ACs.
The best chances over the next 3 or 4 days are from about 6-7am and pm, also from about 12-2. Chances are very good
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3 Oct 2009
We have the full moon tomorrow, and today the moon crosses the equator heading north, and usually around the crossing waters are always rough, but the moon's been over the southern hemisphere for the past 14 days which means tides have been higher and now they’ll be on the decrease for a while. Interesting that the tsunami at Samoa happened just after their high tide, which would therefore also have been the high tide in the land under the sea, where the earthquake was. The main thing I think was proximity to full moon, most big earthquakes do happen at or near FM, like the Asian tsunami and our 1931 Napier EQ which were both on the exact day of the FM, and many others besides, as well as typhoons, cyclones, hurricanes – they all come around FM time. Just look at all the stuff that’s happening around the world, not just Samoa, but Japan, Indonesia, the Phillipines – floods, earthquakes, eruptions and typhoons. Anyway, being FM usually means good fishing, winds will drop a bit tomorrow, fish are hungry on FM because their little metabolisms are being activated more quickly, the blood runs thinner in everything, the sap flows faster in the plants and trees so there’s always extra growth spurts, in fact everything’s going for it.
For best chances over the next 3 or 4 days, from about 10.30 - 1pm, also from about 5-7. Chances are excellent
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26 Sept 2009
The moon has been over the southern hemisphere which means tides have been higher, but the moon will start to head north in the next couple of days and so these king tides will be on the decline. But they’re still pretty high. This weekend will be good fishing when the moon is overhead or on the horizon, but next weekend will be better still. Now when the moon is in the south like it is, the weather systems go cooler, and we get weather associated with cold, which is snow, hail, fronts and unsettled conditions, and that’s what we’re currently having. Tomorrow’s a brief fine day but the weather’s not going to really clear until about October 19 which will also be around the time of the next king tides.
Everyone’s been a bit excited about the Sydney dust storm. Let’s not forget dust is in the air all the time. That’s why it gets on our furniture. That’s why we vacuum every day. And when it rains a molecule of water hangs onto a dust particle or it actually doesn’t get to fall as rain, which is why your windscreen has dust on it after the water from a shower dries off. Dust-storms are an everyday event in the interior but when they reach a big city is a rarity and so it gets reported. But what brought the dust across was high winds, and you often get those around the equinox, which was a couple of days ago, and which is when the earth is traveling past the sun, relative to the sun, faster than it does at other times, which sets up more turbulence because there’s a kind of twisting and a distortion of the atmosphere. Now if the equinox brings unsettled weather then the equinox can therefore affect the fish, because you’ll find there’s a bigger increase in feeding just prior and after, fronts or storms no matter what the moon phase is or time of day. Also, equinox tides affect all localities, and fish will naturally move onto any shallow flooded areas in search of food, and if you know where those areas are, you can catch these fish.
For best chances this weekend, both days, between 5.30 and 8, am and pm, and also between 11.30 and 2. Chances are about 20-30% better than average.
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19 Sept 2009
We have the new moon today, and it's in the southern hemisphere which means tides are higher, in fact the highest tides of the month are from yesterday until Monday. This weekend is probably the best time all month to go out fishing, and it'll last until tomorrow and won't come again as similar until the 3rd of October. That's not to say you won't catch any fish in the interim, it's just a statistical and a probability factor..
Now, there are two main ways weather gets to us, firstly wind-driven across the bottom of Australia, and that weather results in SWs which are mainly wind and eventually peter out as they work north; and the second type is weather that comes down to get to us, down the side of the east coast of Australia, and this is more moon-driven after the moon has crossed hemispheres and heading to the south (it’s called the declination cycle, it goes N to S and N again every 27 and a bit days). When you get a low getting carried down this way, it is generally squashed between a couple of highs and it builds into quite a rainy system. Being around new moon means the rain arrives mostly overnight and before breakfast. So that is what’s building right now. Northerlies are going to replace the southwesterlies, the sun will give way to cloud, and we're in for a period of unsettled stuff that's going to be a bit wet off and on, over the next three weeks. Now, fish seem to love a bit of turbulence, as they are ever curious and I think the extra currents churn up new morsels for them to investigate. You add-in the higher tides and the bigger fish numbers coming closer to the shoreline and that all adds up to better bite chances.
for best chances this weekend, both days, 11.30-1.30, am and pm, and also 6.30-7.30. Chances are excellent
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12 Sept 2009
We have the lastQ moon today, and also the day it is furthest north for the month. Two things happen there. The Ns produced by the moon being in the north mixes with the cooler air coming off the poles and that causes a lot of precipitation because the warmth evaporates the water from the oceans into the air, and the cooler air layers hit those clouds and cause rain. The lastQ moon is usually a change of phase as well, so you start a different weather pattern. That's what has been happening - little or no rain for a while then suddenly all manner of things happening in the sky. And it should last until Sunday. I'm picking things should largely dry up by about Monday with a SW change, except for the far N, and the next lot of good rain will be the 22nd for the SI and the 23rd for the NI. The N dec often causes earthquakes around these times when the N dec meets up with a phase change, and I think these knock the dolphins around, because I've noticed that you often get a stranding somewhere. What I think happens, is that they're shell-shocked and don't know where they are, so they come to the surface to breathe and the tide brings them in. I've often wondered if the fish are similarly affected. If so, it would affect those out in the deeper channels and it may make them too sick to eat for a while, even though they may show up on the fishfinder as being there. The highest tides are about the 16-18 which is when the moon comes closest to the earth. And with the new moon shortly afterwards, next weekend, that's the time to go hard out fishing, that'll be 18th-20th .
For best chances this morning between 11-1pm, then this evening 5-7, and tomorrow morning before breakfast from about 6-8 then between 12-2 around midday. Chances are better than average, very good in fact.
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5 Sept 2009
We have the full moon today, but last night was the nearest to the actual time of it, and you always get a lovely clear sky on a full moon night. And it’s always cold as well, because there’s no clouds to keep the heat in. The full moon usually makes the wind drop and today there’s the added effect of the moon crossing the equator heading north in its declination cycle, that’s like the midpoint of a pendulum which is the fastest part of its swing, so it means winds are once again on the increase, revving up a bit midweek. It also means the tides are increasing again over the next 4 or 5 days and that means more fish coming in. This is a good fishing time, it’ll stay good till tomorrow and then drop off, with the next better-than-average time being the 12th which is next Saturday.
Between 11-1pm today for best chances and this evening between 5-7pm, and tomorrow morning before breakfast from about 6-8 then between 12-2 and then after dinner in the evening.
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29 Aug
The moon hits the southernmost point today, there’s some cooler temperatures when that happens, and the weather usually stalls for a few days, which means slower weather systems passing through. Whenever you get the moon at the northern or southern point in this 27-day cycle, weather movements are usually be slow enough to carry over til the next day so it’s the time the metservices are the most correct. Over the next week there may be more rain and then a clearing the week after. It’s also first quarter moon which means any rain, if about, could be before lunch. The good fishing chances ended yesterday and will return next Thursday and last till next Sunday, that’s the 4th to the 6th. So it’s only going to be average fishing today and tomorrow.
I’d say between 7- 8.30 am and pm and 1-3 am and pm.
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22 Aug
The moon crosses the equator heading south today, astrologers call it the lunar equinox, usually it signals a windy period within two days because it’s like the midpoint of a pendulum as it treks from a northern hemisphere position to a southern hemisphere latitude, and the midpoint of a pendulum travels fastest, and a faster moon brings more turbulence. The moon is constantly on the move in this way, it’s called the declination cycle, and this changing of latitudes changes the barometric pressures, that’s if you like the air tide, and correspondingly it changes the seatide too. Over the next 14 days there will be more tidal fluctuation than over the past 14 days, because when the moon is over our hemisphere it creates more pull on the water. So it’ll come in further and go out further. Usually when it’s at this midpoint, barometric pressures get relatively lower but tides go higher, and that is the case today. Today’s the highest tide of the month. And you may have seen on the TV screen last night a sizeable low pressure system working itself up in the West Tasman Sea at the moment, and that will take a couple of days to get here. So the air and the sea work together, a lot of fishermen and boaties already know this, and it has to be that way because the air and sea are joined at the hip as it were – we are walking around between two giant tides – the one in the sea and the one in the air. So it’s going to be good fishing today, because a lot more water has been coming in and carrying fish with it. Also we’re still in New moon phase which is always good for bites. But I think bite chances may start to drop off after tomorrow.
Between 12 and 2 this afternoon and 6-8 tonight and tomorrow morning just before breakfast. After tomorrow the high tide height drops half a metre over the next 3 days which is quite a lot of water, and your bite chances will swing back to being around average.
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15 Aug
We had the third quarter moon yesterday which means good fishing until today at dawn and dusk. The moon will be fully north for the month tomorrow which is why temperatures have been mild over the past few days. Next Wednesday the Moon will be at perigee which is the name given, to the sweeping closer and further away from earth that the moon does on a regular 27 day beat. On Wednesday it’ll be the 4th closest that it comes this year which is significant enough to bring an increase in wind strengths, bigger swells and rougher seas, especially with that New moon happening as well, and they’ll be westerlies. We’re starting to see that clicking-in now. The fish don’t like coming in too close to shore on perigees, they don’t seem to like too much turbulence, I think it wears them out, but they don’t mind before and after perigee. The technique in the ancient past if you were the tohunga in charge of the fishing ,was to run your thumb along a calibrated stick held up against the moon in the background, so you could tell how much wider it was getting, hence how much closer. And it can vary up to about 15-20% more or less in diameter and therefore closer.
Then Thursday is the day of the new moon and the bigger tides this week between the 21st and 24th which is Friday to Monday, and which will mean a bigger volume of water bringing more fish in. The barometer will start to go up as well and there should be a bit of clearing in the weather between Thursday and the following Monday.
So, fishing chances slacken off tomorrow, but come back with a vengeance between Thursday and Saturday. Around 7 and 1, and tomorrow 8 and 2, and those are both ams and pms. There’s about another half hour in it if you’re out there on the water now. So virtually best around breakfast and just after lunch.
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8 Aug 2009
We had the full moon on Thursday night, lovely clear sky as it always is on a full moon night. Now, the full moon usually makes the wind drop, which doesn’t help clear fog, and just after a Full moon you often get NEs and Es (as against Ws with a new moon), and when the moon rises in the south as does is in winter full moon time and it was doing over this last week, you often get higher air pressures which flatten the sea and fish don’t seem to like it when the water is too still. Maybe it slows them down so they don’t get so hungry, because water movement makes them work harder. But having said that, it’s always a good fishing time around the Full moon, the wind is going to pick up over the next couple of days because tomorrow the moon rises over the equator which means right now it’s changing hemispheres, so fishing could be better for deeper water species which aren’t so affected by surface considerations like air pressure, so maybe put a snapper hook on! But speaking relatively, the tides are building up slightly higher every day and fishing will be better when the NEW moon time comes up around the 20th which will be bringing even bigger tides and so bigger flows of water which will mean more fish coming up your channels and so forth. More fish means more competition for food so better bite chances and more fun for the fisherman.
Between 1-3pm today for best chances and this evening between 7-9pm, and this full moon period runs out after today so I’d say today should be better than tomorrow. I’d try maybe tomorrow morning after breakfast, but it may not be worth going out tomorrow afternoon, catches may only be average so you may have to wait a while.
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1 Aug 2009
When the moon’s overhead, especially full moon or new moon phase, it pulls the currents around more, the fish are territorial and fight the currents to stay in the same place, so they feed to get back their energy and that’s when they bite. So that’s why full and new moons are best, and around noon and midnight, because that’s when the gravitational pull is the greatest.We’re between phases at the moment, so the chances will be about average, not fantastic. The first quarter moon was on Wednesday and the fishing was better than average from Tuesday to Thursday, but it won’t improve again until next Tuesday and then continue good until next Saturday, which will be the August full moon period. But I have to tell you actually the winter new moon is better this month than the winter full moon, because the winter new moon is in perigee which means physically closer to earth from August - October, and that means tides tend to be higher and that extra water brings more fish in. So the 19th-22nd will be the best fishing time in August. You’ll still catch something tomorrow though.
I’d say get out there between 8 and 9.30 both am and pm and you’ll be in for the best chance. A man called Bruce put me right once about fishing. He said there are only two rules: have your line in the water, and wait..
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