Nationwide Report - 22 March 2001 Gamefishing in the far north has been a bit up and down of late. A couple of weeks back there were good patches of marlin to be found, but they tended to be quite a long way offshore. A steady mix of blues and stripeys came to those who were able to get out and endure the constant easterly swells. Some very large fish are still being hooked right down the coast to the Bay of Islands but only a few have been landed. The Houhora one base finished yesterday and the weather finally settled, giving anglers a fairer chance of landing a few of the billfish that had been lost on previous days, due to the bad sea conditions. Very few blues were landed and the majority of the stripeys came from the west coast where conditions were more settled. The fish seemed to be concentrated off Ahipara. A 225kg Mako was caught during the contest and two bronzies over 200kg came from out of Houhora harbour. A monster 37kg kingy was also caught off the west coast. Mahimahi, shortbilled spearfish and yellowfin are still around so a real mixed bag is on offer to those that can get up there. A few marlin are showing up at the Three Kings but it will probably be another few weeks before the banks really start to hot up. The Bay of Islands is loaded with rat kings this year and good fat autum snapper are showing up around the Te Puna inlet, Albert Channel and Capstan Rock. Tutukaka has fished well over the last week considering all the boats have been up north at the one base. A mix of blues, stripeys and yellowfin have been weighed, and all have been of good size. The Hauraki Gulf is fishing well with some nice snapper to be caught in and around the Rangi and Motuihe channels, especially in the evenings. Rat kingies are also abundant, as are bronzies in the Firth and around Maraetai. Out west, there are huge schools of baitfish around the 60 metre line, but not enough boats are working the area to get a really good feel for where the marlin are. The odd billfish is being caught and with the consistant easterlies, the conditions are good to get out and chase them. Reports from Ahipara right down to New Plymouth suggest that this coast is probably as good as anywhere for chasing the big fish at the moment, but just remember to respect the bars. I havn’t heard anything from the Coromandel for a while but at this time of year you can expect the fishing in close to be at it’s peak. Snapper and kingfish will be plentiful and further offshore you can expect to still have a good shot at a billfish. During the recent Mercury Bay one base a 175kg stripy was caught on 15kg, barely missing the world record. The fish was unfortunately disqualified following the discovery that the live baited kingfish was undersize! The Bay of Plenty is still a bit quiet and the yellowfin season has been a total disaster. The blue are still present up around Waihau Bay and White Island so I’m writing this as fast as I can so I can get away this afternoon and get down there. Aparently 5 were caught on Tuesday and several more were hooked yesterday. Sounds to good to miss! At least one of them must have my name on it. Spawning bluenose are thick around White at the moment and the inshore fishing for snapper and terakihi sounds pretty good as well. Around the Gisborne, Hawkes Bay coastline, the terrific yellowfin run of February seems to be coming to an end. The water temperature has dropped to 19-20 degrees and the bigger tuna seem to have disappeared. The skippies are apparently still thick, as are rat kings, especially around the south rocks area of Poverty Bay. There are some good kings hanging around down deep but getting through the rats seems like a bit of a problem. Doesn’t sound to serious to me! A couple of notable catches have come from this area this year. Firstly there was the 348kg blue taken out of Gisborne during the nationals and then Alan Jorian caught a solo 194kg blue, also out of Gisborne, a fantastic effort. Down around Wellington there has been some great bluenose, groper and ling caught out in the trench. Around the southern coast there has been no shortage of blue cod, terakihi and kahawai, but the snapper seem to be slowing down. Constant south easterlies has cooled the water so they have probably moved back out into deeper water. Kingy fishing off Hunters Bank, Fishermans rock and the Bolder bank at Kapiti has been brilliant this year and the odd albacore has also come out of the straight. Further around the coast towards Castlepoint there have been some nice makos caught and in close the snapper, trevally and gurnard fishing has been really good. The snapper fishing in the sounds is still going really well around the mussel beds and French Pass is turning on the kingfish. The Cantab’s have had to endure another terrible salmon season, so plenty of fingers are being crossed for next year. At least their trout season has made up for it, especially up in the high country. The sea run fish have dried up a bit but this season’s mouse ‘hatch’ up in the hills will be talked about for years. With water temperatures at around 18.5 degrees I’m a little surprised to hear that kingies are still being caught off Banks Peninsular, but not at all to hear that good schools of albacore have moved in close to Kaikoura. Down in the deep south There are some lovely big fat cod being taken along the entire Otago Coastline , Stewart Island and Fiordland. These two latter destinations sound like they are turning on a real smorgass board with heaps of crays, scallops and oysters to satisfy the taste buds. School groper have moved in and can be found 12 miles off the Taieri mouth, and the slender tuna are expected to make an appearance any day now. The poor salmon season further up the coast is no coincidence by the sound of things, with very few being caught in the Dunedin Harbour this year. I heard a report of a couple of guys catching 35 albacore in 2 days out of Jacksons Bay, just south of Haast. The Bluefin are apparently a little further offshore and are expected to move in latter on in April and May. If they follow the form of the albacore, it could be shaping up for a very good season. So there are still plenty of options out there. I’ve got to fly, I’ve got a long drive ahead of me and a date with a couple of blues Good Luck out there

 

From The Fishing Website

Report type: Saltwater and Freshwater

Report date: 22 March 01

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