Fishing Reports

The lousy weather which has plagued us all winter continues although there have been some windows, precious small as they have been, for intrepid anglers to take advantage of.  While last winter was colder this one takes the cake for wind, swell and it’s generally unsettled disposition.  Still, a few have timed things right and shot out for a try at their luck.

Inshore

Still a story of haves and have nots.  While skill and prowess always enters the equation it seems sometimes blind luck had been more a factor on outcomes just lately.  Matata, with his high cliffs, would seem to be the best bet for snapper by a long shot.  Although the fish aren’t huge, they are far better than the pan sized at 1 ½ - 3 kilo average.  The favoured depth? 35-38 metres.  Complimenting them have been terakihi and even the odd pup hapuka.  Back around the diverse Rurimas it’s a case of terakihi coming on line more all the while but pretty lean on most other species at present. 

Along the coast and especially the entrance to the Whakatane river, Kohi Point, gurnard are falling over themselves the facilitate limit fishing for anglers.  While they aren’t big (averaging 700-800 grams) and certainly don’t/can’t put up a fight, they more than recompense their captors on the dinner table!  Further down the coast the fishing is pretty bleak, at least on bottomfish.  Snapper and terakihi are conspicuous by their absence.  Doing their best to make up for this has been kingfish, some well over 20 kilos.  Patuwahine Reef near Waikawa Point has yielded some good fishing on both jigs and bait.  Usually the structure is inundated with rats but now there is some quality.  Water temps between 14-15 degrees C.

Offshore

Status quo here.  While nothing red hot, if anglers will persevere they should succeed, even if it’s at a modest pace.  Kingfish, mainly rats, will provide plenty of sport on light tackle but there are some brutes among them – make no mistake about that.  Bluenose and gemfish dominate the depths with terakihi and XOS pinkies are filling catch bins in the shallows around White Island.  Water clarity remains good with visibility in excess of metres.  Trolling for large albacore would justify the effort at the moment.  On its way back to Whakatane from White Island, the “Ma Cherie” landed a splendid albie.  In fact, if ratified on 37 kilo braid line, the 25.8 kilo fish will become a new all tackle national record.  Sure to be more of these beauties around but alas, nobody is trying!

Ranfurly Bank

The sole trip here over the past fortnight found good action on most species although “trophy” sized fish were among the missing.  In lovely looking, nearly 16 degree C water both hapuka and kingis were plentiful.  While the last few trips found a good mix of bass and hapuka, this time around were nearly devoid of bass.  Most of the hapuka are smallish (8-15 kilos) males with few females present.  Would appear spawning is still sometime off judging by this fact plus the few females landed have relatively immature roes.  Auckland journalist Peter Jessup landed the largest of the trip at 29 kgs. 

Kingis, in 60-80 metres of water, are biting both live bait and jigs exceedingly well.  Many of the fish are very fat, looking more like spring fish getting ready for their spawning period – obviously they’re in a good paddock!  Most fish are in the 15-20 kilo Hackett although a few exceed this size.  Anglers Andrew Knox and Darryl Kay both landed fish in the mid 20’s on “knife” jigs.  And for something different there are “heaps” of makos of all sizes in attendance.  Fish of ten all the way to 130 kilos plus are making their presence felt.  With many body parts coming to the surface and assembling in the fish hold it looked more like a CSI investigation scene!

Radio talk from the commercial boys was also tantalizing. The surface long liners were still making good catches of southern bluefin tuna plus lots of bycatch, some coming as close as only 15 miles north of Hick’s Bay!

Summary

Yep, it’s been a difficult winter but we need only think back to the brilliant autumn we had, week after week of fabulous weather to put the smiles back on our faces.  To add to this is the fact that fishing isn’t all that bad with more potential than we’re realising.  So with this report I’ll wrap up my contributions for a couple months.  “PURSUIT” will be undergoing annual survey and maintenance with her skipper disappearing for a while as well.  Some fishing overseas is on the agenda before starting up again in late September when you’ll hear from me again.  Till then……………