Fishing Reports

Quite curious to be encountering some of the coldest water temperatures of the entire year when we are only a little over a month from the official start of summer!  White Island at under 15 degrees C, Whakatane just over 14 and Te Kaha in the 13’s are some of the samplings – brrrrrrrr  If you’re a fan of the changing season, especially later movement then this scenario is right up your alley.  In spite of this unseasonal chill and poor water quality the overall fishing picture doesn’t seem to be suffering as a result.

Inshore

With reasonable to glorious conditions over the long weekend (in spite of the scare tactics the Met Office used earlier on for this time frame) there were the predictable large number of boats and their occupants in this area.  While fishing wasn’t red hot for any of them and one needed to work at things few complaints came over the radio waves.  A real mixture of fish made up most catches with almost equal numbers of snapper, terakihi, gurnard and kahawai.  A good bite of decent sized trevally (2-3 kilos) has developed at nearby Whale Island for light tackle enthusiasts.  Cold dirty water isn’t doing too much for divers but hasn’t adversely affected fishing.

Offshore

While water temp has edged up slightly and quality improved, fishing is status quo – not a bad thing.  Deepwater bluenose (400m+) has picked up a notch of both numbers and size with a few fish at 20 kilos, average over 10.  while early mornings are best they’re not afraid to bite throughout the day albeit at a slower pace.  Larger reef system west of White the most productive.  Meanwhile kingfish continue their winning ways with the Volkner Rocks head and shoulders above the rest.  The main bite has shifted from am to pm but when they bite there’s no stopping them – both literally and figuratively.  A real mixture of sizes are available ffrom mini rats to true whoppers.  Largest of this week fell to “Enchanter” angler Graham Douglas at 36k’s – a great catch which took nearly half an hour to subdue on 37 kilo tackle.  At this stage 24l gear is light tackle – more often broken then being successful!  Some real quality around at the moment.  The only downside to the equation is terakihi and they are really down.  At a time when they should be climbing  od ledger rigs two at a time as they lead up to spawning and in spite of some great fishing inshore they are almost non existent out wide.  It’s a mystery but if you’re catching big kingis and bluenose you won’t be worrying about the silversides……..  Just to verify the cold water, a 7 kilo slender tuna was landed at White – usually a resident of Otago waters.

Ranfurly Bank

While not red hot, things are reasonably productive here – a little like the inshore scene.  If you’re willing to work and posses a little luck you will come up with a decent catch.  While no one species stands out except hapuka, it’s a real mixed bag at present.  The hapuka are running the full garnet from preps to near 40 kilos although there are far more under 15 kilos than over.  Some decent kingis (to over 25k’s), trumpeter (to 16k’s), king terakihi, large blue cod and bass in varying sizes complete the picture.  Largest bass of the week fell to Auckland angler Mark Featherstone after a spirited fight – well done on your 49 kilo barrel, Mark.  East Cape is also productive although snapper are on the smallish side despite being numerous.  Lots of school sharks present but if you want to wade through them some decent sized puka are also up in the shallows and not pups either.

Summary

Seems like it might be steady as she goes for awhile – and there’s not a lot wrong with that at the moment.  Looks like we’re stuck in a westerly flow, maybe for the foreseeable future.  Those who chose their days wisely and make the best of the situation will prevail and come away with the rewards.  It’s a case of keep on keeping on.