Fishing Reports
Eastern Bay of Plenty
As they say in love and fishing – oh what a difference a week can make. Quite a few developments have come to light during this week, hence a report a little sooner than normal. After the met office telling us “La Nina” is dead after three years of the same, we’ve just experienced several NE fronts which has effectively produced several springtime phenomena ahead of time. Principally a clean body of warm water has been shunted into the EBOP. With it has come some unseasonably early arrivals, such large plankton (dinoflagalite) blooms, jellyfish and large skipjack tuna. While water temperatures over the past winter have been colder than those in recent years, these other indicators are weeks ahead of time.
Inshore
After over two months of dismal snapper fishing, things sprang into life a week ago. The rest of the upper North Island has enjoyed a better than average snapper desert. And now, while still fairly localised, prospects have improved markedly. The hotspot has surfaced as the foul ground west of the Rurima Rocks. This is a large area and has produced fish to 8 kilos over the past week. Elsewhere anglers have had a conglomeration of pan snapper, kahawai, tarakihi, trevally and gurnard. At present, if you want a “guaranteed” catch of fish (if there is such thing in fishing) you’ll need to concentrate on tarakihi or kahawai. For those landbased aficionados, whitebait in the Whakatane River remain a very viable option. Some scoopers have had catches up to 7 kg in a session, although 1-2 is much more common. In any event that’s a lot of fritters! Offshore
With a recent trend toward cleaner, warmer (15 degree C) water here, anglers are paying keen attention. Some large (8-11 kg) skipjack have been landed recently which is uncommon to say the least. What this may mean, or implications for the upcoming season, is uncertain at this time. Albacore, the intended target of those trolled lures, seem to be nonexistent, in spite of temperatures considered ideal for them. Back to more mundane fishy things. Bottom fishing is a literally feast or famine. You need to prospect around at various depths and can unsuccessfully “investigate” a great number of spots for nil result. When you do hit it right it’s a veritable bonanza. The mid depths (140-200m) seem the most productive at present as the true hapuka move into their spawning period. Tauranga angler, Paul Lowe recently (16/9/2001) hit the jackpot with a splendid 61kg bass, only his second hapuka! Yellowtail kingfish, except for the token catch incidental to hapuka, have been virtually non-existent. Tarakihi, red snapper and pink mao mao are readily available on the shallow reefs (50-100m) and produce a nice cross section of good eating table fish. Watch for warmer waters to trigger the kings into the “hot bite”. Ranfurly
Weather is always a huge consideration at Ranfurly and has been up to it’s fickle tricks lately. If you’re lucky enough to plan things right, you’re in for some good fishing. The shallows (30-50m) have a real potpourri of fish to entertain. They can be had using lighter gear to accentuate their fighting abilities. Included in this lucky dip are kingfish, trevally, hapuka, trumpeter, snapper, large blue cod and tarakihi to name some – great variety. Out deeper the hapuka are positioning themselves for spawning – usually a month before their Bay of Plenty cousins. At present there are good numbers predominantly males (6-15kgs) in 120-150m of water. A few large females (to 40kgs plus) are present among them, which means the best is yet to come. The deeper water (200+) has a smattering of bass among the more numerous hapuka, with plenty of pesky tope once you drift off the spot. Summary
Spring is always an exciting time to fish. It’s usually productive with additional events (some unexpected) unfolding all the way as we approach summer. If you’ve been holding back on your angling exploits then it’s time to activate your suppressed urges. Watch this space – there’s plenty to come.
After over two months of dismal snapper fishing, things sprang into life a week ago. The rest of the upper North Island has enjoyed a better than average snapper desert. And now, while still fairly localised, prospects have improved markedly. The hotspot has surfaced as the foul ground west of the Rurima Rocks. This is a large area and has produced fish to 8 kilos over the past week. Elsewhere anglers have had a conglomeration of pan snapper, kahawai, tarakihi, trevally and gurnard. At present, if you want a “guaranteed” catch of fish (if there is such thing in fishing) you’ll need to concentrate on tarakihi or kahawai. For those landbased aficionados, whitebait in the Whakatane River remain a very viable option. Some scoopers have had catches up to 7 kg in a session, although 1-2 is much more common. In any event that’s a lot of fritters! Offshore
With a recent trend toward cleaner, warmer (15 degree C) water here, anglers are paying keen attention. Some large (8-11 kg) skipjack have been landed recently which is uncommon to say the least. What this may mean, or implications for the upcoming season, is uncertain at this time. Albacore, the intended target of those trolled lures, seem to be nonexistent, in spite of temperatures considered ideal for them. Back to more mundane fishy things. Bottom fishing is a literally feast or famine. You need to prospect around at various depths and can unsuccessfully “investigate” a great number of spots for nil result. When you do hit it right it’s a veritable bonanza. The mid depths (140-200m) seem the most productive at present as the true hapuka move into their spawning period. Tauranga angler, Paul Lowe recently (16/9/2001) hit the jackpot with a splendid 61kg bass, only his second hapuka! Yellowtail kingfish, except for the token catch incidental to hapuka, have been virtually non-existent. Tarakihi, red snapper and pink mao mao are readily available on the shallow reefs (50-100m) and produce a nice cross section of good eating table fish. Watch for warmer waters to trigger the kings into the “hot bite”. Ranfurly
Weather is always a huge consideration at Ranfurly and has been up to it’s fickle tricks lately. If you’re lucky enough to plan things right, you’re in for some good fishing. The shallows (30-50m) have a real potpourri of fish to entertain. They can be had using lighter gear to accentuate their fighting abilities. Included in this lucky dip are kingfish, trevally, hapuka, trumpeter, snapper, large blue cod and tarakihi to name some – great variety. Out deeper the hapuka are positioning themselves for spawning – usually a month before their Bay of Plenty cousins. At present there are good numbers predominantly males (6-15kgs) in 120-150m of water. A few large females (to 40kgs plus) are present among them, which means the best is yet to come. The deeper water (200+) has a smattering of bass among the more numerous hapuka, with plenty of pesky tope once you drift off the spot. Summary
Spring is always an exciting time to fish. It’s usually productive with additional events (some unexpected) unfolding all the way as we approach summer. If you’ve been holding back on your angling exploits then it’s time to activate your suppressed urges. Watch this space – there’s plenty to come.
From 
Pursuit
PursuitReport type: Saltwater
Report date: 18 September 01
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