And yet again we’ve endured another big blow.  The only difference is the westerly one undid all the benefits the last noreasterlies bestowed upon us!  In spite of this reversal there is still some good fishing to be had and plenty of promise.

Doubtless Bay – Cape Karikari

If there was a benefactor of the three day blow then this would have to be the place.  Would appear that the Tutukaka, BOI and Whangaroa region has been forced to give up some of the fish they have been judiciously guarding all season!  The fence off Bergman’s Point has been leveled and some marlin have been allowed past!  Quite a few shots and several stripees have been caught in 170-200 metres of water – good to see the drought is broken off the shallow patch outside Houhora.  Snapper have gone well with East Beach firing in 15-20m of water.  While water temperature has fallen, quality has not with beautiful water throughout past 80m.

Garden Patch – “505”

Little traffic but a few fish seen.  Plenty of killer whales to keep up interest in the absence of fish.  Water still relatively warm – 19.5 degrees C.

North Cape – Surville Cliffs

Again nice looking water with lots of skippies and bait.  A shot of Surville Cliffs precipitated several off “Gunsight” reef outside North Cape with one tagged and released.  Reasonable snapper fishing to go with good cray diving in Tom Bowling Bay.

The “Hook”

This is where the water gets cold, through the Fingers and onto the bottom end of the King Bank.

Three Kings – Great Island

Since the nightmare stay “Primetime” had there during the westerly blow, things have settled down nicely with near perfect conditions to be enjoyed by all.  Not only have the nights been very pleasant but the koheru are finally biting well, unlike the rest of the season.  You need an early start but filling the bait tank isn’t too hard even if all of them are jumbos.  Some Humour had with XOS (some over 7 kilos) trevally and plenty of obliging kingis.  Water is clear but temps anywhere between 15-19 degrees depending on state of the tide and resulting upwelling.

Princess Group

Some good kingi sessions had on both bait and jigs, particularly at West Island.  Many fish over 20 kilos, some eclipse 30.  Water quality here is also excellent even if the temps are highly erratic.   One recent morning saw 15 degrees on one side of the rocks, 18.5 on the other!

Middlesex Bank

Great water. Plenty of bait, great for kingis and bottom species (if you can get them through the bronzies) but again no marlin.  This has been the theme for two seasons now but particularly this year.  No rhyme or reason – it’s just the way it is.

King Bank

Still the darling of the Far North marlin possies although some days it will leave you scratching your head.  In a word it continues to be patchy.  Exciting and productive one day, hardly a fish seen the next – or two days.  The big tides at present are not helping and should settle down next week around half moon. 

Beautiful water but at least two degree variance.  While live bait is practiced most, lures have had their time and place.  The “magnet” is well named as most of the action is around (or even on top of) here.  Stripees vary greatly from mid 80’s through to solid 130’s.  One thing they do have in common is condition – all beautiful specimens bursting out of their skins regardless of size – great for the smoker if not tagged.  Also some reasonable bass, kingi and king terakihi fishing in numerous areas.

Summary

The last bout of wind certainly changed things but it hasn’t been all bad with plenty of promise yet.  More settled weather and favourable tidal flow should see some good, if not excellent, catches made this week – hope I’m right!!