Fishing in Fitzroy Bay

Wellington is blessed with a marvellous open coast along its southern edge facing out into Cook Strait.

Although literally on the city’s doorstep, it has a magic, wild feel about - you really feel it it as you face out into the expanse of the open sea, and on a good day, see the seaward Kaikouras and the inner Marlborough Sounds to the south-west. With most of Wellington’s urban area over the brow of the city hills at your back, you certainly don’t feel part of a bustling capital city.

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This coastline is broken up by the harbour entrance and referred to in two parts: “west of the harbour entrance” and “east of the harbour entrance”. Wellington City itself is located west of the harbour entrance and is more accessible, but in 2008 much of the better surfcasting and rock fishing areas were placed offlimits with the opening of the Taputeranga Marine Reserve. This included some productive rocks in the Princess Bay-Houghton Bay area and shelving gravel beaches at Owhiro Bay near the reserve’s western boundary. Previously these areas were good producers of kahawai and moki for the enterprising surfcaster.

The opening of the reserve has displaced recreational fishing activity east and west of the reserve boundaries, with the best fishing being off the beaten track to the west.

On the eastern side of the harbour entrance lies Fitzroy Bay, a tantalising, less utilised fishing location for surf casters. It has always been accessible to the public by foot and bicycle from Eastbourne, but it has recently been opened up from the Wainuiomata Coast Road after Greater Wellington Regional Council made a strategic purchase of coastal land.

This new road access and the establishment of the East Harbour Regional Park allows a more complete walking opportunity and foot and cycle traffic has exploded accordingly. There’s even a mountain bike hire facility at the Eastbourne end, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago. It’s brilliant to see so many people out enjoying the beautiful harbour and south coast, but the wild feel of the area that I’d come to appreciate has been diminished.

For those living in Wellington City or Lower Hutt, the best way to get into Fitzroy Bay is probably still from the Eastbourne side, where, upon arrival at the access gate you have a 7.5km walk or ride ahead of you. On the plus side, the access is dead-flat along a well-maintained track.

For cyclists, the prevailing northerly wind will blow you into Fitzroy in less than 20 minutes, but expect more than double that time for the return journey! For the fit, the walk can be completed in less than an hour and a half and is very pleasant, taking in the scenery, harbour boat traffic and

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The cleaner beaches to the west present opportunities for kahawai, gurnard, trevally and moki inquisitive wild goats amongst the scrub on the eastern escarpment.

Even on a busy weekend or public holiday, you will find that the crowds peter out by the time you arrive at Fitzroy Bay itself, which in itself is a nice reward for your efforts.

The bay faces southwest and picks up any sort of southerly swell so is best avoided in those conditions – make sure you check before leaving home. One tell-tale sign to look out for is any sort of swell coming onto the Eastbourne foreshore. If there is, you can be sure it’ll be fair crashing onto the open beaches of Fitzroy Bay, so save yourself the walk/ride.

By contrast, the prevailing northerly wind flattens and cleans the sea and provides the best and easiest fishing. However, it does seriously blow through this area, so make sure it’s not so windy that the fishing will be uncomfortable – and believe me, it can be!

Moving from west to east from Pencarrow Light around to Baring Head, the bay presents a couple of broad, clean beaches that shelve off into relatively deep water for the surfcaster before becoming gradually more gravelly and snaggier.

The cleaner beaches to the west present opportunities for kahawai, gurnard, trevally and moki. The odd salmon is also caught. Big open coast kahawai are almost a banker in this area while the other species are harder to come by.

Many a time I have left this area with only kahawai to my name, but these are nearly always bigger and easier to come by than the kahawai in Wellington Harbour, so even on these tougher days, your extra efforts are rewarded.

I’ve found the beaches at the western end of the bay fish better during daylight hours than after dark when conger eels and skates move in, and the desirable species go off the bite.

Further to the east, where the terrain changes into short, steep beaches between rocky outcrops, the fishing mix also varies. Moki become more abundant and blue cod replace trevally and gurnard.

Surfcasters also need to work hard to identify areas of clean bottom and cast consistently and accurately to avoid the numerous snags. Even then you’ll still lose gear, but this is the price to be paid for a big moki, the signature fish in this area.

Moki grow up to and over 5kg. Fishing into the darkness is often required to take these fish, and many hours of inactivity tends to precede short, sharp bite times.

Convincing yourself that the fish will eventually turn up and sticking it out is what separates successful anglers from also-rans in this neck of the woods.

During daylight hours banded wrasse and spotties are another challenge to overcome, stripping nicely-prepared moki baits in seconds, necessitating constant re-baiting.

Fitzroy will produce fish throughout the year, subject to choosing the right conditions. As I’ve mentioned already, southerly weather is not conducive to fishing, and even in good weather, you will have to wait for any southerly swell to subside and weed to clear from the water.

Winter produces good kahawai and good conditions in spring; summer and autumn can produce all of the species mentioned.

The critical factor is clean water.

Early spring can produce very big gurnard, up to 1.5kg – now that’s a fat carrot! In summer I’ve seen kingfish cruise in after hooked kahawai, so slide-baiting might turn up some interesting results in good conditions.

Fitzroy Bay is a real gem for Wellingtonians to have within spitting distance of home. There’s no doubt it’s under greater pressure these days as a result of the East Harbour Regional Park and the marine reserve pushing more fishing boats its way, but it retains many of its wild qualities and a good surfcasting fishery. In the last 10 years, I have noticed a slight reduction in the quality of the fishing, but it still presents the chance to catch noteworthy fish with a bit of effort.

My tips are:

  • For kahawai, gurnard and trevally on the western side of the bay, approach from the Eastbourne side and get yourself on the beach by early afternoon and fish until dark with pilchard and fresh kahawai baits. Ideally, you’ll have a running tide (in or out) during the late afternoon/early evening.
  • For moki on the eastern side of the bay, consider approaching from the Wainuiomata Coast Road side, arriving mid-afternoon to set up at your preferred spot and cast around to find clean ground before it gets dark. Use mussel and crayfish baits. Ideally, you’ll have an incoming tide with high tide after dark and a smallish moon.
  • Fish for as long as your eyes will let you after dark, remembering if you intend to return to your own bed you still have a decent walk and drive home ahead of you.

 

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   This article is reproduced with permission of   
New Zealand Fishing News

August 2018 - Andy Macleod
Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited

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