Fishing Reports
Bay of Plenty - "PURSUIT
While the old adage rings true, “there’s no place like home”, the return to the Bay of Plenty waters has been somewhat bitter sweet. Leaving challenging fishing for gamefish such as marlin and broadbill behind in the far north, the BOP is nonetheless productive with generally good weather over the past ten days. Interestingly enough, the water temperature and colour varied little from the Three Kings all the way to the BOP – unusual. Inshore temps are hovering around 16 degrees with nearly a degree warmer out wider. Lets see what’s happening around the traps.
Inshore
Snapper dominate the bulk of effort expended in the near shore arena. While not every angler is having bonanza outings many are getting a good feed and some much better. Fishing out on the sand in 20-30 metres of water seems to be a favourite depth. There is also an exodus into deeper water so don’t be surprised if snapper turn up in your shallower hapuka spots. Barracouta are just starting to infiltrate the Bay so, while they offer a ready source of fresh hapuka bait, their nuisance level will increase. Gurnard, kahawai, trevally and a smattering of tarakihi complete the inshore list. The latter will undoubtedly take a place of prominence as we move through the winter months toward spring. Offshore
As with most fishing scenarios, here lies good and bad news. Lets get rid of the negative straight away. Hapuka, bluenose and bass seem to have departed the eastern BOP – at least temporarily. All reports indicate tough going in the depths. The good news is everything else! Kingis have been reasonably active in most areas. The bulk of the fish are “rats” although a 27-kilo fish fell to a White Island angler recently. Speaking of the volcanic wonderland, there’s been some great shallow (30-60m) reef fishing there of late. Large pink mao mao, red snapper, tarakihi, porae and trevally have combined to give light tackle enthusiasts some great sport and eating. A few skippies still remain while the odd nice sized (15-20kg) albacore await trolled lures. The surface longliners fishing nearby (and there’s plenty of them) are routinely making large catches of the oversized longfins, some days two tons per boat. Hopefully they will move into the interior Bay en masse. All in all, as long as you’re not set on a big catch of hapuka, fishing is pretty vibrant at the moment. Ranfurly
The distant outpost has been fishing superbly of late. Big hapuka and bass are in good numbers, some of the latter approaching 70kgs in deeper (140-250m) water. The shallows (35-80m) offer a real cross section of fish including kingfish, smallish hapuka, trumpeter, snapper, huge trevally and oversized blue cod to name a few of the regulars. Some of the boats have come across ravenous schools of large albacore just north of the bank for some torrid trolling action. A true collage of mid winter pot pourri. Summary
While winter temperatures have descended upon us, unlike the past two years, the fishing is still more than worthwhile for those willing participants. If you’ve put you’re gear away till Labour Day, you’ve made a big mistake! Aside from bottomfish watch the albacore for some great sportTill next time ……………….
Snapper dominate the bulk of effort expended in the near shore arena. While not every angler is having bonanza outings many are getting a good feed and some much better. Fishing out on the sand in 20-30 metres of water seems to be a favourite depth. There is also an exodus into deeper water so don’t be surprised if snapper turn up in your shallower hapuka spots. Barracouta are just starting to infiltrate the Bay so, while they offer a ready source of fresh hapuka bait, their nuisance level will increase. Gurnard, kahawai, trevally and a smattering of tarakihi complete the inshore list. The latter will undoubtedly take a place of prominence as we move through the winter months toward spring. Offshore
As with most fishing scenarios, here lies good and bad news. Lets get rid of the negative straight away. Hapuka, bluenose and bass seem to have departed the eastern BOP – at least temporarily. All reports indicate tough going in the depths. The good news is everything else! Kingis have been reasonably active in most areas. The bulk of the fish are “rats” although a 27-kilo fish fell to a White Island angler recently. Speaking of the volcanic wonderland, there’s been some great shallow (30-60m) reef fishing there of late. Large pink mao mao, red snapper, tarakihi, porae and trevally have combined to give light tackle enthusiasts some great sport and eating. A few skippies still remain while the odd nice sized (15-20kg) albacore await trolled lures. The surface longliners fishing nearby (and there’s plenty of them) are routinely making large catches of the oversized longfins, some days two tons per boat. Hopefully they will move into the interior Bay en masse. All in all, as long as you’re not set on a big catch of hapuka, fishing is pretty vibrant at the moment. Ranfurly
The distant outpost has been fishing superbly of late. Big hapuka and bass are in good numbers, some of the latter approaching 70kgs in deeper (140-250m) water. The shallows (35-80m) offer a real cross section of fish including kingfish, smallish hapuka, trumpeter, snapper, huge trevally and oversized blue cod to name a few of the regulars. Some of the boats have come across ravenous schools of large albacore just north of the bank for some torrid trolling action. A true collage of mid winter pot pourri. Summary
While winter temperatures have descended upon us, unlike the past two years, the fishing is still more than worthwhile for those willing participants. If you’ve put you’re gear away till Labour Day, you’ve made a big mistake! Aside from bottomfish watch the albacore for some great sportTill next time ……………….
From 
Pursuit
PursuitReport type: Saltwater
Report date: 21 June 01
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