Fishing Reports

 I guess it's natural to delay reports until there is the best possible news to report, but the downside is that reports can become infrequent.

 Although the Bay of Islands charter fleet was busy in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup, the fishing was hard, with strong to gale force westerlies dropping water temps well below 15C, and the snapper bite that at had been so promising at the beginning of the month simply died with snapper trips more likely to result in a catch of terakihi than the much anticipated pre-spawning snapper. Kingfishng was also frustrating, with barracoutta, prevalent in the cold water, destroying live baits on the few occasions we could venture outside the shelter of the islands.

Thankfully everything has come good over the last week, with some great snapper being taken along Centre Foul on early morning trips, and some big males lurking in the shallows off the western end of Roberton Island and at Tapeka Point. The water is still on the cold side and the bite time is short, so a great deal of patience will be needed in these areas, but with some big bait schools starting to form between Mita's Foul and Centre Foul, the snapper mass is likely to move there also, presenting better targets for those wishing to fish on the drift.

 Kingfishing has been steady but unspectacular. The worst of the barracoutta plague seems to have retreated back to the depths. Our own most recent trip produced some good fish up to 15kg at 71 Meter Reef, with other boats reporting catches from Rocky Point and off Redhead, but without any great amount of activity around Bird Rock, Whale Rock or at The Hole in the Rock where we would expect a lot of action as we move through into November and December.

 A few boats have made it out wide for hapuka this week, with only mixed results. A few hapuka, a few gemfish and the ever present school sharks. As summer progresses more bluenose are likely to move in on the  more easily accessible reefs and trenches of the Bay. 

 As always, drop me an email at MAJOR.TOM@xtra.co.nz if you have any queries.