Fishing Reports
Eastern Bay of Plenty
Eastern Bay of Plenty
The eastern Bay is a great place to go fishing at the moment unless you want to catch tuna! Virtually everything is firing with the exception of what most anglers want this time of year. While weather has impacted on most boating activity, the keen have still found windows to operate in with conditions seldom as poor as forecasters would have you believe. As the bay swells with holidaymakers and seasonal visitors, angling opportunities will be exploited to the max, or as much as the weather will allow.
Offshore
While yellowfin tuna are foremost on anglers minds, they have been scarce on decks. A good body of fish continue to take up residence in the Bays’ environs but few have succumbed to enticement. Despite trolling every imaginable lure known to man, live and dead bait deployment and the other ingenious techniques, YFT continue to exhibit lockjaw. Some smaller fish have now moved in with many 20-30 kilo fish seen cavorting with their larger brethren. A 14.2kg fish was landed recently which instantly brings back memories of the past two seasons, ugh! On average one to three yellowfin have been landed per day over the past ten days. A welcome bonus has been an incursion of mahi mahi, with several landed each day. Most surprising about these captures is their proximity to shore. Typical depth has been 60 metres where the water clarity and temperature is very average. A few albacore and skipjack top off the troller’s fare. Will the tuna catch improve? Will this season follow the dismal path of the last two (for tuna)? Will the available tuna size continue to decrease? The age old adage “time will tell” will have to suffice on these questions. Elsewhere White Island has been most productive. Yellowtail kingfish have been most obliging with the Volkner Rocks undoubtedly the hotspot. The kingis penchant for dead flying fish has been insatiable of late. Some of these fish have been over 30 kilos although the average fish has been about half that big. Deepwater (200-300m) fishing continues to fire well with a nice mix of bass, bluenose, hapuka and unseasonably large gemfish. The shallows still yield red snapper, some huge pink mao mao and tarakihi. A few trevally have also given light tackle anglers something to crow about. Christmas eve saw Whakatane angler Mike Arrol establish a new national record with a 5.81kg specimen on 3kg tackle – an early present, well done Mike. So if you want action and/or are sick of trolling then White Island could cure your cravings. Inshore
Snapper has continued to be the most sought after inshore species and will probably carry on that way all summer. Locally, the hotspot has been west of the Rurima Rocks off Matata. Many fish in the 5-7 kilo category have been landed with the odd one over 10 ks. Elsewhere there has been some excitement with the sand east of Opotiki popular. Ranfurly
No reports Summary
As always, it will be fascinating tracking this season. Waihou Bay and great marlin fishing of the past three years is starting to look very promising. Hopefully YFT will stage a rally but don’t bet the family home on it! Have a great holiday period, will write again in the New Year. Rick
While yellowfin tuna are foremost on anglers minds, they have been scarce on decks. A good body of fish continue to take up residence in the Bays’ environs but few have succumbed to enticement. Despite trolling every imaginable lure known to man, live and dead bait deployment and the other ingenious techniques, YFT continue to exhibit lockjaw. Some smaller fish have now moved in with many 20-30 kilo fish seen cavorting with their larger brethren. A 14.2kg fish was landed recently which instantly brings back memories of the past two seasons, ugh! On average one to three yellowfin have been landed per day over the past ten days. A welcome bonus has been an incursion of mahi mahi, with several landed each day. Most surprising about these captures is their proximity to shore. Typical depth has been 60 metres where the water clarity and temperature is very average. A few albacore and skipjack top off the troller’s fare. Will the tuna catch improve? Will this season follow the dismal path of the last two (for tuna)? Will the available tuna size continue to decrease? The age old adage “time will tell” will have to suffice on these questions. Elsewhere White Island has been most productive. Yellowtail kingfish have been most obliging with the Volkner Rocks undoubtedly the hotspot. The kingis penchant for dead flying fish has been insatiable of late. Some of these fish have been over 30 kilos although the average fish has been about half that big. Deepwater (200-300m) fishing continues to fire well with a nice mix of bass, bluenose, hapuka and unseasonably large gemfish. The shallows still yield red snapper, some huge pink mao mao and tarakihi. A few trevally have also given light tackle anglers something to crow about. Christmas eve saw Whakatane angler Mike Arrol establish a new national record with a 5.81kg specimen on 3kg tackle – an early present, well done Mike. So if you want action and/or are sick of trolling then White Island could cure your cravings. Inshore
Snapper has continued to be the most sought after inshore species and will probably carry on that way all summer. Locally, the hotspot has been west of the Rurima Rocks off Matata. Many fish in the 5-7 kilo category have been landed with the odd one over 10 ks. Elsewhere there has been some excitement with the sand east of Opotiki popular. Ranfurly
No reports Summary
As always, it will be fascinating tracking this season. Waihou Bay and great marlin fishing of the past three years is starting to look very promising. Hopefully YFT will stage a rally but don’t bet the family home on it! Have a great holiday period, will write again in the New Year. Rick
From 
Pursuit
PursuitReport type: Saltwater
Report date: 28 December 01
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