Fishing Reports
Eastern Bay of Plenty
Very much a status quo from last report – little has changed. Overall, if you take the tuna component out of the equation, fishing is quite good. Unfortunately, it is the YFT that everyone waits all year for and wants/expects to catch at this time. Weather conditions continue to be fickle and this has not been conductive to happy fishing either.
Yellowfin Tuna
Anyone who would insist on the old adage of “Whakatane – Yellowfin Tuna Capital of New Zealand” would be a very brave person at the moment! After enduring two very poor (last year was one of the all time worst) tuna seasons in a row, this one is certainly smacking of those in every way. At this writing there hasn’t been a yellowfin landed in five days despite a very large (up to 80+ boats) fleet pursuing them. Hope still springs eternal but it’s getting progressively harder to keep up the positive attitude. On the positive side: last years abysmal YFT showing gave way to one of the best blue marlin seasons in many years. Time will tell on this one. Offshore
White Island continues to crank out some superb, to at least reasonable fishing opportunities, thank goodness. With the total lack of tuna action we’d be in real trouble without this region. Water colour and temperature is very ordinary (green & 18-19 degrees) inside White, although at or a short distance to the north things radically change for the better (cobalt blue and 20 degrees plus). Yellowtail kingfish have been a stronghold with the Volkner Rocks in particular, a hotspot. Some especially hot sessions involving large (25 kilo plus) fish have occurred there lately. A vibrant population remains here largely due to the 1995 Voluntary Code of Practice devised by the Whakatane Charter Fleet. Although there are various tackle restrictions, the main impetus is the retention of only one kingi per angler per day of at least 100cm long (approximately a 13-14kg fish). This code seems to have been instrumental in maintaining a sustainable situation – long may it last. Otherwise, shallow water reef fishing has been productive with tarakihi, red snapper, and a few nice trevally thrown into the bargain. Deep water had been quite consistent but the quality poor. There has been lots of bass, bluenose and gemfish at the 250-300 metre mark but they’re small (3-8kgs) in size. The Bay of Plenty’s first marlin was weighed in on the Mount Maunganui’s scales last week – a 128kg stripee. Inshore
Reports still centre around snapper. A few stories of some excellent catches of big snapper have come from the Te Kaha area, particularly “Pub Point”. This is certainly the right time of year for it to happen there although it’s been fairly quiet over the past two seasons. Closer to Whakatane, it’s been a steady procession west of the Rurima Rocks and off Matata Beach for consistent catches. Whale Island has kicked out some beauties of late as well, like the 28 pounder landed off the “Charmaine” today. Ranfurly Bank
No reports. Bad weather here and the apparent lack of trips since New Years has been a factor. With Gisborne landing their first YFT recently perhaps they have taken up residence there like last season? Summary
Where do we go from here? I’d like to meet the person who knows! We’re really quite lucky to have such a good fishery which doesn’t need YFT to survive. Still, we’re fervently hoping they will show their faces again soon and want to bite. Will report again soon – safe boating and good fishing.
Anyone who would insist on the old adage of “Whakatane – Yellowfin Tuna Capital of New Zealand” would be a very brave person at the moment! After enduring two very poor (last year was one of the all time worst) tuna seasons in a row, this one is certainly smacking of those in every way. At this writing there hasn’t been a yellowfin landed in five days despite a very large (up to 80+ boats) fleet pursuing them. Hope still springs eternal but it’s getting progressively harder to keep up the positive attitude. On the positive side: last years abysmal YFT showing gave way to one of the best blue marlin seasons in many years. Time will tell on this one. Offshore
White Island continues to crank out some superb, to at least reasonable fishing opportunities, thank goodness. With the total lack of tuna action we’d be in real trouble without this region. Water colour and temperature is very ordinary (green & 18-19 degrees) inside White, although at or a short distance to the north things radically change for the better (cobalt blue and 20 degrees plus). Yellowtail kingfish have been a stronghold with the Volkner Rocks in particular, a hotspot. Some especially hot sessions involving large (25 kilo plus) fish have occurred there lately. A vibrant population remains here largely due to the 1995 Voluntary Code of Practice devised by the Whakatane Charter Fleet. Although there are various tackle restrictions, the main impetus is the retention of only one kingi per angler per day of at least 100cm long (approximately a 13-14kg fish). This code seems to have been instrumental in maintaining a sustainable situation – long may it last. Otherwise, shallow water reef fishing has been productive with tarakihi, red snapper, and a few nice trevally thrown into the bargain. Deep water had been quite consistent but the quality poor. There has been lots of bass, bluenose and gemfish at the 250-300 metre mark but they’re small (3-8kgs) in size. The Bay of Plenty’s first marlin was weighed in on the Mount Maunganui’s scales last week – a 128kg stripee. Inshore
Reports still centre around snapper. A few stories of some excellent catches of big snapper have come from the Te Kaha area, particularly “Pub Point”. This is certainly the right time of year for it to happen there although it’s been fairly quiet over the past two seasons. Closer to Whakatane, it’s been a steady procession west of the Rurima Rocks and off Matata Beach for consistent catches. Whale Island has kicked out some beauties of late as well, like the 28 pounder landed off the “Charmaine” today. Ranfurly Bank
No reports. Bad weather here and the apparent lack of trips since New Years has been a factor. With Gisborne landing their first YFT recently perhaps they have taken up residence there like last season? Summary
Where do we go from here? I’d like to meet the person who knows! We’re really quite lucky to have such a good fishery which doesn’t need YFT to survive. Still, we’re fervently hoping they will show their faces again soon and want to bite. Will report again soon – safe boating and good fishing.
From 
Pursuit
PursuitReport type: Saltwater
Report date: 08 January 02
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