Fishing Reports

Not a huge amount of change from last week really, things are nearly status quo.  Some nice weather overall with anywhere from slow to decent fishing depending upon the day and where you are plying your sport.

Inshore

Steady as she goes.  Those in the know, or the fortunate ones, have a good day on snapper.  They are becoming more numerous and in increasing good condition but still prefer the depths (30 metres plus) in general.  That will, or is in the process of, changing.  A few beauts of six to seven kilo have been landed.  While the average size is considerably less than this it still sits at a pleasing 1 ½ - 2 kilos.  Natural bait seemingly is getting the nod currently over the softie brigade but size remains with the latter. Terakihi play an excellent support role, often being landed in the same area as the crimsons.  Moving onto the sand in anywhere between 15-20 metres is usually a surefire way to put a bunch of carrots (gurnard) on the dinner table.  Water is a clean green and hovering just under 18 degrees C.  While pretty good, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and consistency, here.

Offshore

A few changes but not much difference here either.  Kingis are anything but thick and fast currently, a real rollercoaster ride.  If anything it has been an afternoon bite with bait far outstripping jigs in everything but “rats”.  When the fish cooperate there is a nice steady bite of quality fish come aboard in a variety of depths – everything from 25 out to over 100 metres.  While most are in the 14-17 kilo range, there are enough over 20 to keep things interesting.  Whopper of the week easily fell to Dunedin angler Steve Harwood, who tagged and released his prize after being sling weighed.  Well done Steve, the 31 kilo beauty must have made the long journey north well worthwhile.  Deepwater fishing has perked up nicely for those few giving it a burst.  Again, early morning is the go as it’s pretty much all over by 9am.  Small (4-7 kg) bluenose dominate the catch but are well supported by a smattering of good sized gemfish, average (5-10k) hapuka and small bass.  In shallow we have a decent fishery for terakihi, golden snapper, pink mao mao and an inordinate amount of porae just lately.  All combine to offer a fun session on light tackle with usually pleasing results.  Nice (4 kilo average) trevally have also crashed the party.  They are full of roe/milt and in top condition as well.  Water a clean green and over 16 degrees every afternoon.

Ranfurly Bank

Had a good lot of pressure from several boats of late with generally good success on kingfish and average to difficult on the bottom.  Strong currents, some skippers claim over three (3) knots are making life difficult much of the time – and this has been over the half moon period!  Hard to imagine what may exist over the upcoming full moon phase!  Certainly the fast flow aids the kingi effort while making bottom prospecting most distressing.  Drifting so fast doesn’t do much for making and keeping contact with the bottom.  The outright highlight has been jig fishing for kingfish in the deeper (80-100) environs.  While most of the fish are in the 16-20 kilo category, enough over 25 to make things all worthwhile.  Recently well known rod builder “Kojak” and his son claimed nice fish (31 and 28k’s respectively) on the same day onboard “Enchanter”.  Well done team.  As previously mentioned the bottom has been pretty tough with size nothing to write home about either.  Average sized hapuka and trumpeter make up the vast majority of the catch with the odd bass to 30 kilos thrown in for good measure.  Water still green and relatively cool here.

Summary

Despite the status quo there are numerous indicators that things feel like they want to bust wide open.  This could happen at any time with any of the above fisheries but, in the meantime, on we plod and it’s not so hard to take.  Till next week …………………