Fishing Reports

Plenty of positives to focus on even if the gamefish are few and far between. Acceptable to excellent fishing on most fronts with pretty reasonable weather much of the time.

As long as you are not completely preoccupied with marlin then you will enjoy yourself up here at present.

Doubtless Bay

Plenty of fish in the bay, some anglers needing far less than half a day to limit out on snapper. Good support from kahawai, trevally and even a few gurnard on the sand.

Great Exhibition Bay

This expansive bay is one of the most exciting and productive areas at present. On the inshore scene the snapper are even more abundant, and certainly larger, than in nearby Doubtless Bay. Many fish in the three to four kilo class wit the odd one over eight. Further out (not much) is the best marlin fishing in the country just now. While it’s far from vibrant, there are a few around with most in the 100-150 metre mark. Free jumpers and active feeders may signal more to come for the waters between Houhora and North Cape. At present there’s a major temperature change at Cape Karikari with over a degree warmer in Great Exhibition Bay.

Garden Patch

Some warm and pretty water here. A few marlin are about here but the big news has been broadbill. With such calm nights the conditions are inviting to a wide multitude of boats of varied skill levels. Some are having luck at night fishing, many more with the day drops. A few larger fish are now showing up such as the one Guy Jacobsen finally lost after an epic battle of many hours on 15 kilo tackle. Young Luke Gregory (12) did what few have achieved by landing not only one but two swords in one night – the largest at 133kgs! By far the most outstanding catch recently was aboard the trailer boat “Bluefix”, built, owned by skippered Brad Rowe. He and a mate landed not one but two broadbill with each fish on either side of 200 kilos – fantastic effort and a hearty congratulations. As more people get fired up or take a chance, we should see proportionately more of these prime gamefish caught all the while and they are not seasonal. Also some quite consistent bottom bouncing here on a nice mixture of bluenose, bass and puka for those so inclined.

The Hook, Three kings, Princess Group

This is where the nice water, and marlin, basically finish. Certainly a few fish here and, again, some decent bottomfishing. Three Kings – Princes Group Some good bait (koheru) fishing in NW Bay of Great Island. Some days the kingis also want to play the game with some nice specimens (pushing 40kgs) among the predominant size (16 – low 20’s). Stickbaits working nearly as well as live bait some days and oh so much more exciting! King Bank Beautiful, cold water – as much as you like! Hard to imagine such pretty water being so cold! If you just looked out the window without looking at the temp gauge you would think there should be marlin everywhere. Strong tides associated with the recent full moon has made even kingi and bottomfishing very difficult.

Middlesex Bank

Easily the best option by a long shot. While water quality and marlin prospects are no better than the King Bank, kingis are infinitely better. With some great quality (many over 30k’s) the only problem is sharks – plenty of hungry bronzies with the odd mako. After a few drifts which are invariably productive, it’s time to move on or suffer total annihilation! “Enchanter” also had some good fortune one recent night with not only a 151 kilo sword but a 135k stripee – the latter taken at 1am on a dead skipjack! Summary Good to see such great weather coming up for the long weekend – a lot of people should be very happy over Easter. Will report on the events next week.