After bloody near a month there was a decent weather/good tide window last Monday for the harbour. Out at 3pm and fished the last two hours of the outgoing tide for four snapper between 32 and 38cm. Sat through the slack water and got another three around 40 cm within 15 minutes of the tide starting to move. Mullet was the preferred bait way over skippy. No lost gear, no damage and no sharks. I did however spend more on RUCs getting from Rotorua to Tauranga and back than I did on boat fuel. Doesn't seem right does it.

Whats everyones thoughts on fish numbers and if they are still on the bite up the harbour after heavy periods of rain like we’ve experienced in the last few days. Surely all that fresh water in the harbour must have some kind of effect on the fish and their feeding habits???

I hear a few reports of kingi's floating around now too

Thanks Marligator. Looks like we’re going to give it a shot tonight so I’ll post a report tomorrow

Hey Wahime thanks for the honest report, we all get days or nights like that, I'm usually too bummed to report them and its kinda reassuring to see others have those experiences.

Our oldest (19) and I went outside on Sunday about 1 km behind Rabbit Island. 3 undersize snapper, 1 legal snapper, 1 trevally and 1 kahawai. Not a great return, but enough for our dinner. Saw the fisheries inspector boat on the water and they came to say hello. First time in about 10 years I've seen them out there; hopefully, that's because they are not needed. Good to see them all the same. On returning to the ramp another team of 4 was checking boats. I do encounter them occansionally. Again, it is good to know they are about.

The first part of my post was from a scammer using the name Nora Davis. 'His' post has been deleted and I've edited the link. Pretty obvious as his post makes no sense once he posted details but these guys keep improving. Be especially careful about stuff for sale from new members

Spent the day feeding the fish in the harbour today. Lots of little pickers and my bait wouldn't stay on more than a minute. 5 or 6 hookups of 25cm ish snapper confirmed it was a ton of the little pirhanas. No amount of bait elastic could keep the bait on. No fish for dinner for me tonight.

Hit the water yesterday at 5.30am. The Tauranga entrance was a bit messy with the tide still running out but easily manageable for my FC 535. Once past A beacon it was pretty easy going, big swells but not much wind. I put out a couple of skippy lures about 5 ks short of Penguin and luckily the one attached to the Ugly Stik and a TLD 30 with one of Uncles purple lures on the end was the one that got taken and ****, did it go. I'd say 15O yards on the first run. I cleared the other rod, got the gaff ready and put on a gimble. I'd never fought a big fish on the FC before but found doing it from just behind the centre console was able to drive the boat at the same time. After 30 minutes I really did think I was onto my first Tuna and was reaching for the gaff when my swivel came into sight. What I really didn't want to see was a bloody 2.5 metre bronzie foul hooked between his dorsal and tail. I'll tell you something, the way my arms and back are feeling today are a great reminder I'm closer to 70 than 60 and my attempts at game fishing might be over before they have stated. Probably should have stayed in bed.

Gday Dave, all the best for the season. The swells between Penguin and Mayor got a bit smelly but pretty sure the boat would handle twice what I could. I forgot to mention the total catch for the day. One bronzie tagged with a purple lure. Two big kahawai and a moray eel. Never mind, better than mowing lawns.