Tauranga Fishing Report - 24/01/25

Harbour and offshore fishing well

Most of you will have seen in the press that many yellowfin tuna are being landed and there are some great gannets/dolphin workups. They have been hooked even in the 60m areas out from the Mount so about 10 miles out and handy enough for the smaller boats to venture out in the right conditions.

The bottom fishing has been okay but not fantastic with tarakihi and snapper even from the 30m marks and out to 90m. The tarakihi in close in the past few years have been very sparse so here's hoping they may be returning in close again. The snapper in amongst the tarakihi mix have been okay but not large, although in the past we have had some really nice fish in March out deep in the 80m or deeper areas.

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Marlin have been hooked in close not far from Karewa Island which is only 7 miles from the harbour entrance. Although the particular one that was released looked to be about 80kg, it is not to say that larger fish are in the same area.

Last trip out I noticed some small workups of skipjack tuna so all the food chain is arriving with all the obvious predators close behind.

The harbour is still fishing well, with kingfish hanging around the marker buoys in most areas even up towards Rangiwaea Island. Again either anchor upstream and cast back or drift your livebait or even a dead piper close by and be ready for a fast hook-up.

There are a fair few rats among them – be wary when boating and handling so you don't get a hook in the body or the fish gets injured flapping on the deck.

The snapper are also still in the harbour along with the odd trevally but appear to be a bit intermittent in the bite times. Well worth the effort when it's on, however. 

The long weekend weather is looking okay but not flash to be honest, with Saturday looking the best and then some northerlies and rain coming through. Let’s just think positively as things can change. All the best and stay safe out there on what could be a very busy weekend.

Russ Hawkins

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