Saltwater: Bottom fishing in Northland over the last few weeks has produced plenty of snapper, tarakihi and john dory. Especially out from Deep Water Cove. Also fishing at dusk in the inner harbour channels has been working well. Visibility has been great, especially in the Cavalli Islands where divers are encountering schools of large snapper. A 132lb bass came off the Ruahine reef at the end of June and good sized kingfish have been available throughout the month, with Rocky Point and Cape Brett being the top spots. One the game fishing front, quite a lot of effort is going into targeting broadbill around the Northland coastline. And with considerable success. Geoff Stone on Major Tom II spent the last couple of weeks of June hunting the elusive beasts and landed fish with both lures and baits at night, and with baits down deep in daytime. Their last catch went 173kg, landed after more than 5 hours, and this was hooked up on a lure just after they had pulled the hooks at the boat on a real monster that a client had played for nearly 6 hours. That’s 11 out of 14 hours hooked up to massive billfish! Geoff felt that it was a fitting end to his season, so put the boat up on the hard and has taken a well earned holiday in Hawaii. Probably fighting monster blues! The Mokes are firing at the moment, with 20lb plus snapper being caught on six of the last eight trips aboard RnR. Smaller school snapper have slowed a bit but hapuku are starting to show up in the shallower waters. Good catches can be expected in the next few months. Also, some big kingfish are about but the barracouta are starting to become a bit of a problem. The Hauraki Gulf is still fishing well with Anchorite, Flat Rock, the Needles and Simpson’s Rock holding some nice snapper with the added bonus of tarakihi, trevally and heaps of kahawai. The Noises have been good in the late afternoon/early evenings, with some nice snapper around the 2kg mark. Plenty of berley a lots of patience is required as it can take a while to get the fish fired up. Early morning has seen a few kingies about and casting poppers around the reefs or markers is working well. Look for the birds working and drift fish behind them. It's a sure way to get onto some nice fish especially around the bottom end of Waiheke and out off Gannet Rock. Charter operators are still fishing the deeper foul around Tiri and Kawau and finding the high current areas the best, although the back eddies and shallow bays have been producing also. Hope it's going to continue like that for the rest of the winter. I’ve had reports or the Coromandel fishing well for big snapper. They are coming right up into the harbours. Plenty of berley on the sand should bring them out. There are some good kingfish on outer reefs and friends took a couple of kingfish up to 65lb off the rocks, around the Pinnicles a couple of weeks back. As long as the weather permits, good winter fishing should continue. Down in the Bay of Plenty the snapper were going really well earlier on in the month, but as time progressed, tarakihi started to take over as the main fish in the bin. Hapuka are starting to show in the shallows as well, but the deeper posies are still best. Beach fishing is picking up with Torere and Hawai Beaches east of Opotiki still the pick of the surfcasters locations. The bigger snapper are just starting to arrive. The ever reliable kahawai are about in numbers as well as trevally and gurnard. Mayor and Motiti Islands should be starting to produce some big snaps about now, as is the Rurima Rocks and Tasman Reef. East Cape and East Island harbour are producing big snapper with a 21lber the largest of recent catches. Large albacore up to 24kg are in proximity to White Island and the northern end of the Ranfurly Bank, but few are trying for them. Rat kingis are in good supply but the larger of the species, which White Island is famous for, are in short supply. After hearing about sheets of sauries with jumping bluefin tuna in late June, one was finally landed. While only 40 kilos in weight it’s the first recreationally caught bluefin to cross the scales at Whakatane for many years. With favourable conditions this could signal a great winter trolling fishery – time will tell on this one. Down in Wellington, plenty of kahawai were around as well as trevally to 4kg. Unfortunately the barracouta are making their presence felt. Out on the reefs a mixed bag of tarakihi, blue cod and groper are around and in good condition. Hunters bank and Fishermans Rock are fishing well, as is the Makara area. Put blue cod, groper and warehou on the menu in these areas. Haven’t heard a lot from down south recently so I assume the cold weather is keeping most inside. However, there have been some excellent snapper taken in the sounds including one that went over 30lbs! From Canterbury right down to Southland the winter fishing for blue cod and trumpter has been good, especially off Oamaru, Moeraki and down in the deep south. A Dunedin crew have been getting their bag limit on each trip, usually down around Tow Rock. They are finding the green flasher rigs are working brilliantly, along with pilchards and of course squid. There are also plenty of school groper in shallower waters – with some real beauties being landed in the deep. Freshwater: Some enormous trout are coming out of the canals in north Otago around Tekapo. I’ve heard of a few fish over 20lb including a 23lber and a 27.5lb!!! That’s one fat trout. Back up in the North Island, conditions have been less than favourable. Taupo hasn’t had rain for weeks and low clear river conditions mean that the river fishing has been hard. Fish have been pulsing through but you have had to work hard. The river mouths have been the way to go, especially the TT and the Delta. It’s been raining for the last 2 days and the rivers have come right up. I hazard a guess that the run it induces will probably be the biggest of the winter. Expect plenty of anglers in your favourite pool this weekend. Lake Aniwhenua has hordes of browns back in the lake and quite a few post spawning Rainbows have also been landed. Lake Aniwhenua, Lake Rerewhaakaitu, Flaxy Lake, Whaeo Canal, Whaeo River and Rangitaiki River are open all year. At Rerewhaakaitu some excellent fishing has been had at Homestead Arm, Gumboot Bay and Crater Bay. Other hot spots around the Rotorua area have been the beach at Okatina and Rangiuru Bay at Tarawera. Good fish have also been taken just outside the Ohau Channel markers as well as off the Rotorua stream mouths. The rain we have at the moment has put a great run into all the Rotorua streams, which remain fishable all year up to the road bridges.

 

From The Fishing Website

Report type: Saltwater and Freshwater

Report date: 18 July 01

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