for snapper I frequent the Bowentown end of Tauranga harbor. For many years I have avoided snapper fishing December and January because 3 out of 5 will be milky or close to it. From the end of January on a very occasional pale one but that's it.Once march arrives it's fish city and their gut cavities have loads of fat - no whiteys at all. I have consulted all the "experts" I could from both the commercial and recreation worlds - no common consensus. Some say water temp, others say spent (from breeding). Water temp does not add up in my book.

Mmmm, 50mm ,I wouldn't need to chop the tail off that to get it in the pan 😁.
Early Sunday morning tho 😁😁, usually the worst time for being clever😁

Went out on Friday from Whakatane to the mussel farm off Opotiki, 3 on board mates boat.
Hooked onto a buoy at 8.15am, had 21 snapper, 2 kahawai, 2 gurnard and 1 terakihi in the bin by 9.30am.
One of the best days fishing I have experienced in a long time.
Biggest snapper measured 66.6cm, touch over 13lb. Lots of 50-55cm-ish, and nothing under 35cm kept.

Not 1 of the snapper had white flesh, plenty had roe, and all healthy and hungry as hell.

Been quite a few trips since I've seen a milky white snapper down this way.

So this morning I snagged about a doz gurnard - some stonkers.

No not fishing in hrbr. Open ocean, 35m.

Yes - I doubt it is food supply - they were spitting out all sorts of stuff - some crab things I have never seen before.

Yeah not starving related but skinny could be a symptom of a virus? Was a lot around after said bad weather with heavy rain and run off? I got my first for a few weeks milky from yeah and chicks 3 days ago not to mushy so was eaten no probs.

Just filleted 6 snapper which have been on ice overnight,5 beautiful translucent fillets but the 1 (2.3kg) was not clear,bit soft but gut full of mussels and crabs. 

Pcj wrote: Yesterday catch,1 milky flesh snapper, had bugger all gut compared to others.

I’ve just finished filleting the fish I caught today, 1 white and completely mush 2 others thin and borderline. I have been fishing the lower firth all summer where’s there plenty of food, mussel farm pipi and cockle bed and a rāhui on shellfish from the local iwi along most of the Thames coast and I haven’t caught a white filet fish yet. Having said that I don’t tend to catch the large amount of small fish like I out in the gulf.

Today like most days this year using micro jigs I was catching so many small fish I was nearly sick of them. I would have thrown back 50 no problem.

So I think it is a food problem, I recon this all started when they increased the size limit, I have fished the gulf for 40 years and I have never seen so many small fish this year.