Fishing Reports

Fishing activity in the Bay has been firmly focussed on kingfish for the last couple of weeks, especially with the 40th International Yellowtail Tournament being run out of Russell over the last 6 days.

] 30 boats were entered this year. In four days of fishing there were well over 100 kingies weighed in , and many more taggged and/or released. Fish were caught in all areas from Home Point up to the Cavallis. The largest fish this year was just under 24kg, but most fish taken were 11 to 14kg  - not huge - but a great challenge on 6kg line.

 The most disturbing factor was an influx of barracoutta on the last day at Step Island up at the Cavallis. We have had little problem with barracoutta over the last couple of years, with numbers seeming to drop as the kahawai population recovers. We can only hope that the mass appearance at Step was an aberration, and not a sign of a return to the plague years of the 1990s.

Snapper fishing has been steady but nothing great. We have had one snapper of 6kg in the last week or so, but most of the fish are small, though we are generally catching enough fish over 32cm to put together a feed. Terakihi have come early to the rock fringe area around Hope Reef, though few have shown up yet at the usual haunts around Onslow Rock. Some good trevally have filled out the bag, and plenty of kahawai are still hunting in the shallows.

 Hapuka have been very mixed.. There seem to be a few small schools on the foul area in 150M off Whangamumu, but they are hard to find. The fish are well roed up, and in tight schools. They should be present in larger numbers at this stage of the cycle. Main Rock has been drawing blanks, with gemfish and spikey dogs the prevelent species.

 After a late season, the marlin seem to have gone north, but we can hopefully get a fine spell later this week to try for a broadbill.

As always drop me an email at major.tom@xtra.co.nz if you have any queries.