Fishing Reports
Eastern Bay of Plenty
Unfortunately, little has appreciably changed since the last report. No question, there are some bright spots but not enough to come near illuminating the entire situation.
Overall, as we steadily approach the “official” end of summer, I’d have to say it’s been quite disappointing thus far. There’s still a lot of this season left, however, hopefully the best by far is yet to come.
Inshore
Continues very sporadic and generally disappointing. Snapper have slumped both in numbers and size with fish around 5kgs winning two and three day tournaments recently. There have been decent sessions on pan sized fish, particularly in the Opape/Hawaii region. Also a nice fish of 8 ½ kgs succumbed to an angler fishing the well travelled Whale Island. Lots of big kahawai and some good kingis (some over 20 kgs) have propped up the flagging snapper fishery. At times like this it doesn’t help to see long lines of dead and dying snapper behind trawlers! Waihou Bay
If you want a big, glamourous fish this is still the place to be in the EBOP. The water is beautiful and warm (20 ½ - 22 degrees C) but the odds of getting a fish lately has been poor. With a huge fleet in attendance recently (Whakatane Ladies Tourney – 95 boats) only one marlin per day could be achieved with few other strikes to be had. Easily the most meritorious was a splendid 273kg blue marlin landed by Linda Ross aboard “Alchemist”. Not only did she scoop the main prize of a trip to Fiji but established a club record as well – well done Linda and all in 50 minutes! Another good catch was made by a junior Blair Wardlaw aboard his fathers boat “Oscar”. This 192kg specimen was also a Whakatane Club record. Otherwise there’s been little to talk about other than the occasional mahi mahi and albacore. Cape Runaway produced some great kingi fishing recently although the fish only averaged 8-12kgs, the odd fish larger. A few snapper and terakihi are the bill of faire inshore, the White Cliffs being the best of a bad deal. White Island
After some epic kingi fishing for this entire calender year, they have finally decided to take a break of late. Not only has the sizes landed decreased but numbers are well down. It appears that their spawning period is all but over with some very lean fish on tap. No doubt they will be striving to regain condition ASAP which should produce more good fishing in the future. Bluenose are valiantly trying to fill the void left by the kingis and, to a large extent, succeeding. As they approach their spawning run these great eaters should yield increasingly good catches. While the males average 3-10kgs, the females are much larger, sometimes eclipsing 30 kilos. The bad news is these fish are usually caught at 240 metres plus. They have been well supported but large gemfish and smaller bass. Shallow waters around the island hve been difficult as well. Terakihi have shut off with a few red snapper and trevally providing some light tackle angling. Offshore
Yellowfin tuna are nearly non-existent. Several have been landed over the past week and all in different parts of the Bay meaning no pattern. Meatballs of anchovies have also been seen in various areas, Orete Point, Waikawa Point, Te Kaha, NE and NW of Whale Island all have had their share but only skipjack and small albacore have been the predators. A few boats have taken advantage of these opportunities, light tackle and flyrod the way to maximise on the 3-6 kilo fish. Ranfurly Bank
Due to kinder weather this area has finally felt some pressure after an absence of same. Some great kingi fishing has accompanied the bottom species. Strong and unpredictable currents have been forced visiting boats into the shallows on several occasions. Some nicer water has been pushed onto the bank for trolling to become worthwhile. Mainly decent skippies and albacore have been the main targets with one lonely yellowfin to energise things. Watch for further improvements along these lines. Summary
While we tread water it’s exceedingly difficult to visualise where our future may lead us. More than a few (retailers as well) will be hoping for a classic “Indian summer” over the next few months. Time will tell.
Continues very sporadic and generally disappointing. Snapper have slumped both in numbers and size with fish around 5kgs winning two and three day tournaments recently. There have been decent sessions on pan sized fish, particularly in the Opape/Hawaii region. Also a nice fish of 8 ½ kgs succumbed to an angler fishing the well travelled Whale Island. Lots of big kahawai and some good kingis (some over 20 kgs) have propped up the flagging snapper fishery. At times like this it doesn’t help to see long lines of dead and dying snapper behind trawlers! Waihou Bay
If you want a big, glamourous fish this is still the place to be in the EBOP. The water is beautiful and warm (20 ½ - 22 degrees C) but the odds of getting a fish lately has been poor. With a huge fleet in attendance recently (Whakatane Ladies Tourney – 95 boats) only one marlin per day could be achieved with few other strikes to be had. Easily the most meritorious was a splendid 273kg blue marlin landed by Linda Ross aboard “Alchemist”. Not only did she scoop the main prize of a trip to Fiji but established a club record as well – well done Linda and all in 50 minutes! Another good catch was made by a junior Blair Wardlaw aboard his fathers boat “Oscar”. This 192kg specimen was also a Whakatane Club record. Otherwise there’s been little to talk about other than the occasional mahi mahi and albacore. Cape Runaway produced some great kingi fishing recently although the fish only averaged 8-12kgs, the odd fish larger. A few snapper and terakihi are the bill of faire inshore, the White Cliffs being the best of a bad deal. White Island
After some epic kingi fishing for this entire calender year, they have finally decided to take a break of late. Not only has the sizes landed decreased but numbers are well down. It appears that their spawning period is all but over with some very lean fish on tap. No doubt they will be striving to regain condition ASAP which should produce more good fishing in the future. Bluenose are valiantly trying to fill the void left by the kingis and, to a large extent, succeeding. As they approach their spawning run these great eaters should yield increasingly good catches. While the males average 3-10kgs, the females are much larger, sometimes eclipsing 30 kilos. The bad news is these fish are usually caught at 240 metres plus. They have been well supported but large gemfish and smaller bass. Shallow waters around the island hve been difficult as well. Terakihi have shut off with a few red snapper and trevally providing some light tackle angling. Offshore
Yellowfin tuna are nearly non-existent. Several have been landed over the past week and all in different parts of the Bay meaning no pattern. Meatballs of anchovies have also been seen in various areas, Orete Point, Waikawa Point, Te Kaha, NE and NW of Whale Island all have had their share but only skipjack and small albacore have been the predators. A few boats have taken advantage of these opportunities, light tackle and flyrod the way to maximise on the 3-6 kilo fish. Ranfurly Bank
Due to kinder weather this area has finally felt some pressure after an absence of same. Some great kingi fishing has accompanied the bottom species. Strong and unpredictable currents have been forced visiting boats into the shallows on several occasions. Some nicer water has been pushed onto the bank for trolling to become worthwhile. Mainly decent skippies and albacore have been the main targets with one lonely yellowfin to energise things. Watch for further improvements along these lines. Summary
While we tread water it’s exceedingly difficult to visualise where our future may lead us. More than a few (retailers as well) will be hoping for a classic “Indian summer” over the next few months. Time will tell.
From 
Pursuit
PursuitReport type: Saltwater
Report date: 12 February 02
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