Kingfish in the Manukau Harbour

Alex Wallace says fishing for kingfish in Manukau Harbour is worth the effort...

Think of Manukau Harbour fishing and kingfish is probably not the first species that springs to mind. Snapper, gurnard and kahawai are probably the species most folk target, but I suspect that anyone who has fished the Manukau regularly has had a fair few encounters with its wily kingies.

There are plenty of them roaming its varied shores but tracking them down and catching them is a damn tricky game! I’ve spent many fruitless sessions casting and retrieving lures or struggling to catch livebait, all in an effort to hook and tame one of the elusive yellowtail demons. But even on those days when the kings have failed to materialise, I’ve still enjoyed the journey. The vast Manukau harbour offers access to seemingly remote bays and lush forested coves, yet many are just a few-minute walk from the city streets. It’s a treasure trove of adventure right on Auckland’s doorstep.

It’s hard to find your own peaceful acre of space on the Waitemata Harbour, but not so on the Manukau. Even on the busiest of summer days, you can find some solitude. It’s definitely overlooked in comparison to its big flashy east coast cuzzy-bro, but then those that know it, love it that way.

A five-minute walk from many of West Auckland’s busiest suburbs like Hillsborough, Lynfield and Blockhouse Bay will find you ‘out in the wilds’. From the familiar species like kingfishers, shags and gannets to the exceptional like orcas and seals. Every day is different, and I guarantee you will see something new each time. Fishing is a far more rewarding endeavour if you savour the experience as much as the goal.

A five-minute walk from many of West Auckland’s busiest suburbs like Hillsborough, Lynfield and Blockhouse Bay will find you ‘out in the wilds’.

You may be an expert kingfish hunter on the eastern seaboard but come over to the west coast harbours and you’ll find it’s a whole different ballgame – different prey and unique terrain mean the kingies exhibit different behaviour. The muddy waters, sandy bottoms and screaming tides all seem to affect their feeding habits. There’s a whole lot to learn but time on the water, as always, is the key to success.

Casting stickbaits and poppers are perhaps my favourite fishing techniques. Unfortunately, the murky waters of the ‘Big Muddy’ are not the ideal place to employ them – particularly so in the inner harbour where the visibility can be less than a metre. It’s hard for any predator to home in on a visual lure. That said, when the clarity improves and the silt settles, it’s well worth chucking a few into the drink. I’ve had my best successes where kingfish are chasing schools of mullet hard up into the shallows or against the rocks and it’s merely a case of tossing a lure into the melee.

From January onwards we target fish from the shallows at the back of the Manukau Bar. Needless to say, these are marks that can only be fished in very low-swell conditions. Trolling live baits on the rare flat days has proven an effective technique over the last few summers. Jack mackerel, kahawai or grey mullet have both proven their worth outside the harbour.

From January onwards Alex and his mates target fish from the shallows at the back of the Manukau Bar. 

There are many ways to catch your grey mullet but jagging them with treble hooks seems like most people’s method of choice. It’s a crude but effective technique which relies on keen eyes to spot the mullet and then an accurate cast to snag them out of the water. Unfortunately, sharks also love mullet, and many come back half-chomped. Avoiding the sharks can sometimes be harder than locating the kingfish.

When mullet can’t be caught, I’ve found small kahawai to be very effective. They are fragile livebait but when treated carefully will perform well. We usually fish them just above the bottom on long traces in areas where the kingfish are known to run. Being small, they’re easily engulfed and make a fantastic alternative to grey mullet if the fish are hungry. Similarly, yellow-eyed mullet are also very enticing but have nowhere near the longevity of their grey mullet cousins.

The harbour mouth where it narrows between Whatipu and Awhitu often exhibits its own micro-climate… and it’s rarely a favourable one. The high slopes of the seaward cliffs seem to accelerate the winds as they push through the narrow gap. Just as the waters below them are funnelled into a churning stream, the winds here can be strong and blustery even on the calmest of days. So, come prepared for all weather even if the conditions elsewhere are mint.

When mullet can’t be caught, Alex has found small kahawai to be effective for kingfish.​​​​​

I’m a boat fisherman most of the time, however, with the Manukau conditions often mean getting ‘out there’ is a far more involved effort. When you’re fishing off the bricks, not every session needs to be a mammoth expedition. During the summer months, I’ll simply grab one rod and a couple of lures and wander the shoreline before dusk throwing a line out every few metres. I figure I definitely won’t catch anything if I’m sat at home on the couch watching Scott & Mig! Instead, it’s better to get out there and try my luck – I’ve never regretted it yet.

The shoreline rocks from Little Huia heading west to Whatipu have become a well-known spot to target kingfish. On any weekend in the summer there will be scores of telltale balloons bobbing in the water, each with a livebait swimming diligently below it. I’ve seen some nice fish taken here, including a mighty 22kg specimen. This fish was beaten after a lengthy battle that lead its captor on a slippery expedition across rock and boulders, before being safely beached. Taken on a knife-jig cast from the bricks, he told me had caught a slighter smaller fish a few days earlier, on the very same lure.

January 2023 - Alex Wallace
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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