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Geoffs' Fishing Report
2/12/11
Sea
temperatures in the Bay have still not risen
significantly, but results have improved in the snapper
fishery as more and more fish congregate in readiness for
spawning.. Males make up around 75% of the catch, which
indicates we are still at the early stage of schooling,
though many of the fish have very ripe roes, and are
likely to start dropping eggs once temperatures rise. Best
fishing areas have been the eastern end of Centre Foul,
and under the birds which have been working most mornings
over the mud area between Mita's Foul and Onslow Rock.
Tapeka Point and the seaward side of Roberton have been
producing some big fish for those straylining in the
shallows. There
have been good catches of terakihi along the 50M contour
between Whale Rock and the Nine Pin and also on the broken
foul areas out from Oke Bay. Most
of the kingfish action has been on the deeper reefs , with
71 Meter Reef the most consistent, though the schools are
very bunched, and finding the action can be a bit hit or
miss. There
are skippies available for those trolling small lures out
to the hapuka grounds, but very little sign of albacore as
yet. Hapuka have been consistent around Main Rock, with
some bluenose also starting to show in the trench areas
out from the Nine Pin. As
always, drop me an email at MAJOR.TOM@xtra.co.nz
if you have any queries. Geoffs' Fishing Report
31/10/11
I guess it's
natural to delay reports until there is the best possible news
to report, but the downside is that reports can become
infrequent. Although the
Bay of Islands charter fleet was busy in the lead up to the
Rugby World Cup, the fishing was hard, with strong to gale
force westerlies dropping water temps well below 15C, and the
snapper bite that at had been so promising at the beginning of
the month simply died with snapper trips more likely to result
in a catch of terakihi than the much anticipated pre-spawning
snapper. Kingfishng was also frustrating, with barracoutta,
prevalent in the cold water, destroying live baits on the few
occasions we could venture outside the shelter of the islands. Thankfully
everything has come good over the last week, with some great
snapper being taken along Centre Foul on early morning trips,
and some big males lurking in the shallows off the western end
of Roberton Island and at Tapeka Point. The water is still on
the cold side and the bite time is short, so a great deal of
patience will be needed in these areas, but with some big bait
schools starting to form between Mita's Foul and Centre Foul,
the snapper mass is likely to move there also, presenting
better targets for those wishing to fish on the drift. Kingfishing has
been steady but unspectacular. The worst of the barracoutta
plague seems to have retreated back to the depths. Our own
most recent trip produced some good fish up to 15kg at 71
Meter Reef, with other boats reporting catches from Rocky
Point and off Redhead, but without any great amount of
activity around Bird Rock, Whale Rock or at The Hole in the
Rock where we would expect a lot of action as we move through
into November and December. A few boats
have made it out wide for hapuka this week, with only mixed
results. A few hapuka, a few gemfish and the ever present
school sharks. As summer progresses more bluenose are likely
to move in on the more easily accessible reefs and trenches of
the Bay. As always, drop
me an email at MAJOR.TOM@xtra.co.nz
if you have any queries. Geoffs' Fishing Report
2 Continuing
westerly winds have resulted in very low water temperatures
around the Bay of Islands, and fishing has slowed as a result. Snapper
have begun to roe up, but are still holding to the bottom, with
big fish difficult to find but plenty of throw backs. Best of
the snapper fishing has been in close around Roberton Island
with straylines, but the bite time is short, and the feeding
tentative so catching the big one may take some patience. The
best fishing action is from terakihi, either along the 40M
contour off Howe point. or out at 70M off the Nine Pin. Small
1/0 circle with skipjack as bait has given us best results, but
the usual plague of undersize snappers can become a nuisance at
times. Kingfishing
has been difficult with the cold water bringing in a more
barracoutta than we have seen for the last 7 or 8 years. If
kingfish are the target, the best option is probably Waiwiri
Rock which has been fishing well all winter. There are still
plenty of koheru at Pig Gully, and the larger baits will avoid
some of the worst barracoutta problem. Little
action has been reported from the hapuka grounds, but fishing
has been reasonable over winter. Pups will start to settle close
in over the next couple of months, and will present the usual
bonus to snapper fishermen around Whale Rock, and bigger fish
will be on their post spawning feeding prowl, and will move in
to some of the closer grounds at 71M Reef and Bird Trench. If
going wide for a hapuka, a few small lures will result in the
occasional skipjack, which have been with us all winter, and
perhaps an early albacore which should be arriving over the next
month. As
always send me an email at geoff@majortom.co.nz
if you have any queries. Geoffs' Fishing Report
A prolonged period of strong winds continues to restrict fishing opportunities along the coast, and keep most of the effort inside the islands targeting snapper.
For the very few
boats that have ventured out wide, when conditions allow, the
strike rate for marlin continues to be good. Best area over
Easter was around Donaghy's Reef out at 170M off the Nine Pin
with plenty of bait, and good water still up at around 20C.
Further north, the Garden Patch has provided some great broadbill action, with Brad Rowe and a mate taking two swords in one night, one at 169Kg and the other at 223kg. Guy Jacobsen on Hook'n'Bull lost another sword after more than 10 hours.
Kingfish have been very co-operative outside the Bay on the deeper reefs, but little action from big kingis inside the Bay, though there are plenty of rats. The few occasions we have fished live baits inside the islands have resulted in more action from kahawai than kingfish.
Snapper trips have mainly resulted in lots of small fish, barely more than 27cm. The exception seems to be the mud banks up the inlets, where some good fish up to 10lb have been mooching around the horse mussel beds. If your sounder shows bottom density, set the gain to show some differentiation on the bottom and look for the beds showing a density increase at the deep sides off drop offs. Alternately, if fishing from a small boat, anchor as close as possible to the rocks, and set out a good berley trail.
As always, drop me an email to geoff@majortom.co.nz if you have any queries
Geoffs' Fishing Report
9/1/11Xmas. New Year and lots of tourists have arrived and so have the fish.
With good blue
water and plenty of bait , boats fishing out wide have had
plenty of action. Three shortbill yesterday, 3 marlin the day
before, plenty of skippies, a few albacore and an occasional
large yellowfin though none has been landed to date.
Of the marlin catches so far, blues have been just as prevalent as stripeys. Mike Irvine started with a blue of 224.4kg on Boxing day, but 10 year old Brad Batterton has stolen the show with a pending Junior Club, and NZ Smallfry record with a fish of 226.6kg landed from Hook'n'Bull on 15kg standup !!
Greatest demand for charter boats has come from snapper anglers, keeping Major Tom II amongst the "blood and guts" since before Xmas. Centre Foul has been producing well, though the fish are mostly small. The 30M edge of foul out from the western end of Roberton has been producing some good fish, especially on straylines. Best of the action is now out a bit wider at Whale Rock, with the added bonus of some very big trevally over the last few days.
Kingfish action has been good. Steve Butler reports some good action from Rocky Point. He has also been fishing Bird Rock with good results but tells me that it's neccessary to anchor, and get the baits deep as lots of small kingies are in attendance.
As always, drop me an email to geoff@majortom.co.nz if you have any queries.
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Geoff Stone P O Box 163 ~ Russell ~ Bay of Islands ~ New Zealand
Phone 0274 377 844 ~ Fax 09 403 7790 ~ Home Phone 09 403 8553 ~ E-mail....geoff@majortom.co.nz
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