Fishing Reports

Another week and, despite good weather without a lot of boats on the water, there has been little change.

Inshore

With two competitions spanning over three days there was little to shout about. Lots of snapper are being caught – lots of small snapper! Not sure where the biguns’ have disappeared to (the depths?) but disappeared they have. Largest snapper weighed in for these two comps were three and two kilos respectively, pathetic considering it normally is at least 7-8 kilos if not more to win.

Accordingly terakihi have become more important on the inshore scene. As always, gurnard and kahawai give excellent support to those wanting either a feed or some good sport on light tackle. Yes, a few trevs (average 2kgs) and the odd kingi (to 18k’s) are also showing up. Expect autumn to pick up a rather flat scene at the moment.

Offshore

Still very good although the sheen has come off the torrid action of last week. Kingfish are still eager to please, just not every bait, every drift type action. They are showing up in a number of different spots which is good to spread the effort. The Volkner Rocks has been an interesting place to fish with extreme volatility. One day the big kingis (like the 28 and 35 kilo specimens “Enchanter” landed there recently) bite like crazy, the next day it’s only little fish with the next never getting anything through the bronzies! At least the sharks aren’t an everyday event like they were last spring.

The mainly 15-18 kilo fish are in a mixture of conditions with many slabby after spawning. Trevally are also hot to trot almost anywhere along the south side of the island but with one difference – a lot of smaller fish. The normal four to five kilo fish is suddenly a big one with many in the two to three kilo bracket. Nevertheless they are biting well and can be seen in a berley trail within minutes in the gem clean water.

Deepwater fishing is still very good but reverting more toward a bluenose fishery which is expected at this time of year. The large females (20 kilos plus) are now showing regularly among their much smaller suitors. While things have slipped a little from the heady fishing experience over the past month, it’s still very good 26 miles north of Whakatane.

Ranfurly Bank

A little like the action at white with good action although things are a little stunted on both numbers and size compared to a fortnight ago. Kingis are showing pretty well and taking a variety of baits including jigs but their size is nothing to get excited about. Maybe the 18 degrees green water has something to do with this!

Most fish are of a similar size as their White Island cousins with a fish in the mid 20’s topping the list at the moment. Bottomfish is comparatively sluggish, making skippers work for a catch of very average sized fish. Hapuka dominate the takings of mainly 10-18 kilo fish. The odd bass in the 20’s pops up with a few trumpeter and kingi terakihi to spice up the bin. Water very patchy down here, even past the 1000 metre mark and especially east of Lottin Point.

Pelagics

Waihou Bay still dominates the trolling scene but the sometimes reasonable fishing (number wise) must be tempered by the large amount of effort being out in here. It’s reverted to a mainly striped marlin fishery with the occasional blue, no other bycatch just lately.

Numbers of boats continue to soar in midst of the “Nationals”. Waihou again have the largest number of competing boats by a long shot and they are sure to score some great catches. Just don’t break it down by angling effort! Back towards the centre of the Bay things are pretty pedestrian in both effort and catches. Aside from competitions there seems to be few boats on the water. The “Nationals” is turning this around.

Summary

As you can see things have slipped a notch or two just about everywhere. Still pretty good fishing, just generally diminished. With warm (21-22 degree) purple water and the major competition of the year in full swing expect some outstanding, perhaps breathtaking catches over the next week.

Key word in that preceding sentence will be some with most boats, most days pouring their dollars out the exhaust tube for little reward. Water temps and quality sure must be near or at their zenith for the year. Will undoubtedly have some great stories to relate next time, it’s just a matter of how many and widespread they are!