Those not in the know might be surprised that Auckland has an amazing kingfish fishery on its doorstep. Yes, it is seasonal, and yes, the fish are generally modest in size, but the fishing can be stunning and that is why Nick Jones regularly targets them for his clients aboard Hauraki Express charters.

Although kingfish are a year-round proposition, especially around the workups, the prime season to target kingfish in the Hauraki Gulf is from December through to May. The water temp normally soars sometime before or during December and this brings an influx of kingfish into the Gulf which take up residence around numerous reefs, points and islands.

While the first waves of kingfish can be larger than average, by early January smaller kingfish make their presence felt. January is generally a month of quantity over quality, with the average size on some reefs below the 75cm legal minimum. February and March offer great fishing, with good numbers and a mix of sizes, but come April and May, the smaller rat kings begin to thin out and the larger fish predominate. The autumn period is when we most often encounter 20kg+ fish in the Hauraki Gulf.

The spots

While you can find kingfish almost anywhere in the Gulf, I’ll concentrate on some of the hotspots where they hang out for prolonged periods of time. I’ll start at Horn Rock out by the Barrier Islands and work my way clockwise.

Horn Rock

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This location houses a huge area of shallow and deep reef that offers good kingfish opportunities. It can take some time to canvass the place and find where the kingfish hold, however. The best way to start is slow-trolling livebaits around the shallow regions and schooling kahawai and trevally that are often in the vicinity; or scoping out the numerous drop-offs in 30-40m with the sounder and dropping jigs and livies down. One of our favourite go-to kingfish spots is around this deeper area.

Shearer Rock

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Shearer Rock is a popular spot that continues to produce good kingfish action. The fish often hang around the shallow reef areas and the marker buoy. The real drawback with this spot, however, are the packs of huge bronze whaler sharks that take up residence alongside the kingfish. On many days there’s no point even trying to fish here because as soon as you hook a kingfish the sharks chew it in half. I know some spearfishers that have had some close calls here!

Top of Coromandel

This region has several areas, such as Port Jackson and Square Top Island, that offer good kingfish opportunities. The current roars through here and the water is shallow and reefy. Either park up, berley up and send livies out under a balloon, or slow-troll and stickbait areas where the current is upwelling and the terns are working.

Sunken Barge off Fantail Bay

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This sunken barge is shown on charts although you will need to do some hunting around as the chart location is not accurate. I’ve had some great sessions here, although the fish encountered are seldom larger than 90cm. Being a small area, some days the fish are there and some days they aren’t – there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason (or I haven’t figured it out yet!). As such, it’s more of a passing-through spot for us, rather than a destination.

The Coromandel Islands and Headlands

This area holds a wealth of potential although I haven’t fished here often myself. It seems like parking up on a likely point or mussel farm with berley and livebaits out and waiting for the kings to come through on the tide is the way to go here. Not conducive to a charter with six people who all want to catch a king, but great if you’re heading out in a tinny by yourself or with a small crew.

Waiheke’s Bottom End

This is another area with many opportunities. In summer there are normally kingfish lurking around the mussel farm out from Man o’ War Bay, Pakatoa Reef and Shag Rock. The 14m reef out from Anita Bay can yield some nice fish when the water’s warm, as can Gannet Rock. Live mackerel are your best bet.

Waiheke, Rakino and the Noises

A quick perusal of the chart will show plenty of reefs that hold kingfish. Late summer and early in the morning is the best time for this inner area, and you can cover some good ground by utilising stickbaits. Crusoe Rock is a great green-water kingfish spot and many nice fish have succumbed to livies deployed from boats at anchor here.

Five Mile Reef

This spot is shown on the chart 5nm south of Little Barrier Island. It is an interesting spot, normally producing rats with a smattering of okay fish, but on rare occasions the fishing can be bonkers with 15kg fish climbing onboard. The change of tide seems to be best here.

Anchorite Rock

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This reef in the middle of the Hauraki Gulf was named after the submarine HMS Anchorite that actually hit the previously uncharted rock! This is another large area of reef that takes some time to work out where the fish hold at which tide phase. Livies, jigs and stickbaits can all work well here during summer. There are some nice fish around but also a lot of rats and other boats to avoid. Sharks can also regularly ruin the party.

Inner Kawau Island

Numerous sheltered channels and reefs make this area fun to explore in a small boat, particularly when casting stickbaits or deploying livebaits early in the morning.

Flat Rock

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This is a famous Auckland kingfish spot and rightly so. There are a lot of options here, with structure over a range of depths and a big area to explore. Stickbaiting the shallows can be productive, as can livebaiting or jigging the deeper areas. As always, it pays to scope out some good sign on the sounder before dropping down. The southern edge of the reef system generally fishes well on the outgoing tide, and sometimes the kings can be found harassing huge schools of bait in the 60m hole area about half a mile south.

Ti Point and Leigh Reef

Ti Point and Leigh Reef are well-known stickbaiting spots. The earlier the better, and if you can find the big schools of jack mackerel the kings shouldn’t be far away.