Weak tides, change of tide and a change of light were all working in my favour for Saturday morning.  

I saw a small window for fishing before the wind was forecast to make its way into the harbour.  

With that information in mind, I set off at 6:30am and paddled around the shallows to find the snapper.  The weaker tides allowed me to utilise the softbaits effectively in the harbour

All the fish were caught in the 2m range, and all fish kept were 50cm or over.  

I also noticed the snapper didn’t appear to have the girth as they had a few weeks ago.  

By 9am, I caught a good feed and the dreaded southerly wind gusting into the harbour.  I pulled the pin and made my way back to land.

It was a stunning morning.  

Here 's a Kaipara report for the last month. Super easy fishing with fish in the shallows .We caught fish up to 12lbs but mostly between 350-500mm.

Jenkins today, lumpy seas and a little breaking chop first hr, had to stay in close... not ideal
Just small stuff going back, then it glassed off
Went across the channel on to the banks, nuffing, just underside
Paddled to my mid channel spots in 10m for the last hr of the incoming, just 2 snaps in the bin 40cm then underside took over
There was pretty much zero sign for the 3hrs on the water, with odd bit showing up on sonar
Chatting with a few others back at the ramp, they did it hard as well, no size just a feed.... carpark was full, never seen it like that
It's mostly been wind against tide when the wind has dropped off, bloody annoying but good to be out on the muddy again

It’s home sweet home after a very cool 4-day adventure for the annual Taranaki Kayak Fishing Classic.

The wild west coast is new territory for me, as I have never fished this side of the country before.

The calm waters and relative shelter of the Manukau harbour has somewhat softened me over the years.
But I could no longer avoid the thrill, danger and huge fish that the West Coast is renowned for.

Fishing was a hit and miss for myself. I couldn’t catch a legal sized snapper all weekend, and my only chance of catching a John Dory slipped out of my grasp at the last hurdle.

My saving grace was a very nice sized Gurnard and a large Kahawai which netted me 3rd place.

Overall, I learnt so much over the weekend, and most importantly, I reconnected with lots of old and new friends.

I didn’t do a lot of filming on the kayak, as I was solely focusing on trying to get in and out of the surf with little damage as possible.

A big shout out to the Taranaki Kayak Fishing Classic 2025 club for an awesome event. A big thanks to all the sponsors for making this event possible.

And last but not least, a big thanks for all the participants for the tips, tricks, beers and good laughs.

See you next year.