Fishing Reports

With a couple more weeks of the season under our collective belts the shape of the season upon us is becoming clearer.

The Counties One Base was held last week and with at least 50 boats on the water for 4 days a good idea of what was where soon became apparent. That was, it can take a lot of boats to catch a Marlin. Fishing improved over the week but with only about 15 Marlin taken or tagged for the comp. it was at times hard going. Congrats to Ian Wildman and crew for taking out the heaviest Striped Marlin at 135.8Kg

So what is going on. Water temps are up to 21-22.5^o but the water is still not that great blue yet. Most Marlin are coming out of water on the deep side of 100m out from the Bar to South of the Bar.  Fish being smoked are full of Mackerel, and there is certainly a lot of bait in this area both Macks and Skippies. It can be boring fishing with the bait spending a lot of time down deep there are very few birds in this area so it seems a lost cause and then someone hooks a Marlin. They are there so keep trying. There are a staggering number of Makos in this area with many lures and live baits bitten off and up to 30 a day being tagged.

For those not wanting to go quite as far there is also a lot of action around the 60m area with lots of small Albies being caught and a lot of Mackerel in mid water. These make great live baits but  there doesn't at this stage seem to be many Marlin being caught in this area. There is a lot of Gannets working meat balls in this depth and a lot of fun can be had fishing these small areas of action. It is only a mater of time and a Marlin will come from here. 

Can I do a public notice? sure, parking at Little Huia for those who use this area has for many years been a problem , not enough or not long enough parks. The ARC will  in the weekend and public holidays be opening the gate to the reserve land for boat trailer parking. Please use this area and don't park on the beach where you can legally be towed from.

Good luck on the water.

Jeremy Millichamp