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Geoffs' Fishing Report 10/3/08 After a long month of rather lean results, the marlin fishery is showing signs of picking up along Northland's east coast. Practically all the boats fishing The Bay of Islands Marlin Skins Classic reported shots yesterday, and with a fine spell of weather forecast for the next week there should be plenty of fishing action. "Hot " areas this year seem to be The Inside Trench, the 300M line behind Main Rock, and the 200M line from Queen's Buoy to Whangamumu. Mahimahi have been present in good numbers this year, and are quite large compared to normal years, with the Pin fish currently at 14.9Kg. Major Tom had a quadruple strike of mahimahi while fishing the Clubs NZ Tournament last Friday, and all the fish were over 10kg, with the largest weighing in at 13.9Kg. Most of the yellowfin caught this year have been around 30kg. We have had some great days on kingies, with all the regular reefs holding plenty of fish, but bronze whalers are proving a real menace at Rocky Point. The problem of kingies being sharked seems much worse than last year. We have tried Rocky Point twice in the last month, and despite almost immediate co-operation from the kingfish, the bronzies have prevented us from bringing a fish to the boat. The only solution is to pull anchor and try somewhere else, but the problem seems to be spreading with reports of similar problems at The Nine Pin and Whale Rock on occasions. |
Our experience with the bronzies is backed up by reports from divers at Cape Karikari and the Poor Knights reporting large bronzie populations.
Just why the bronzie population should have become larger and aggressive is unclear. Perhaps there is less mortality because of a decrease of commercial netting within our harbours, perhaps it's because there are less large makos as a result of 'finning' by longliners and the bronzies have expanded to fill the niche, or perhaps it's just a natural fluctuation. Whatever the reason, there seems little point in persisting with kingie fishing around any reef where the only result of hooking a kingie is to provide a quick snack for a shark!!
The snapper spawning schools are well and truly dispersed, and while some good snapper and the occasional kingie are being gathered under the birds, the best snapper action is coming from the 50M to 60M area around the Nine Pin and Whale Rock. Kahawai and some good sized trevally are a regular bycatch. If the weather does turn bad, try fishing the shallows in the tidal zone. The mullet and flounder netters are reporting some good snapper as a bycatch of their activity.
As always, drop me an email at swordfish@majortom.co.nz if you have any queries.
Geoffs' Fishing Report 31/1/08
Blue water fishing , has really heated up off the bay in the last week. Water temps have risen to more than 22C, with blue water right in to the 120M line.
Stripeys are not prolific, but are frequent enough to sustain interest, and some good yellowfin of around 40kg have also been taken.
The hot news, however, are the blues. After a number of boats losing fish over the weekend, a couple of beauties graced the wharf on Tuesday,
Saltshaker weighed in a huge 310kg fish in Paihia, only to be followed in Russell by a monster of 391.2kg for Swedish angler Johan Rodin fishing on Major Tom II. Johan's fish took a large purple and black pusher, crafted by Bonze Lures, running well back on the shotgun. The fish took 2.5 hours to bring to the boat, then needed assistance from the crew of other boats to help lift it on board. Johan is getting the fish mounted, and shipped back to Sweden, but is likely to need an extra room in his house to fit the display.
Other fishing options have also been good. A large school of medium sized kingis has made it's home around Bird Rock, with some larger fish at 71 Meter Reef, especially if fished deep. With the blue water close in, it is wise to use well spooled 24kg outfits, and 200lb trace if fishing live baits for kingis in this area, as an accidental marlin is always a possibility.
The main snapper schools seem to have dispersed in close, with a lot less bird activity than earlier in the month. Best snapper results seem to have come from around the Nine Pin, from deeper features up to 60M.
As always, drop me an email at swordfish@majortom.co.nz if you have any queries
Geoffs' Fishing Report 27/9/07
With water temperature only just starting to rise above 15C , snapper fishing remains patchy in the Bay. The best results seem to have come from areas close in to the rocks from Rawhiti, round to and past Deep Water Cove to Pig Gully. Berley will help draw the fish out from the kelp beds, but expect a few break offs as the better fish will return to cover once hooked.
The middle areas up to 50M are producing plenty of small fish, though most are undersize. Perserverance will bring rewards, especially around the Nine Pin where porae and john dory will give a welcome bonus as well as terakihi on the reef fringes.
As with last year, barracoutta seem less of a problem than we have come to expect. Perhaps the increase in kahawai and trevally stocks has increased competition. The 'Gulp" anglers seem to be catching some good kahawai in the white water, and Russell locals have been having a ball with some good trevally off the wharf early in the morning. Our locals have also been catching respectable snapper straylining from Mill Island, just off the Southern end of the Russell foreshore, in 4 or 5 meters of water.
Kingis are also patchy, with the best options being Cape Brett and 71 Meter Reef. The fish are deep, so the best option is small livies just off the bottom, or heavier jigs fishing just the bottom third.
Hapuka fishing has been very hit and miss all winter. The regular haunts such as Main Rock, Queens Buoy and the inside Trench have been very poor, though a few bluenose and plenty of gemfish has seen most clients return with a good feed, and some big 'gemmies' for the smoker.
Some good hapuka catches have been reported, but these have mainly come from lesser know rubble areas with no pinnacles to show on less powerful sounders. These results certainly seem to reflect both a high degree of terretorialism from the fish and excessive catches by anglers on the more popular rocks. Perhaps it's time to reflect on whether 5 hapuka is too generous as a daily catch limit. Most charter boats in the Bay will limit their clients to 2 fish per angler.
As always, drop me an email at swordfish@majortom.co.nz if you have any queries
Geoffs' Fishing Report 25/5/07
May has provided a real bonus to game fishos in the Bay of Islands with a late patch of marlin moving into the area from Cape Brett to the Poor Knights. Usual catches at this time of year are very fat and in good condition after feeding in coastal waters over late summer before moving north on the spawning run.
This latest patch of fish are long and skinny, with plenty of ectoparasites and indicates they are recent arrivals, likely to remain for a couple of weeks yet, feeding up on the large schools of squid that have congregated off the coast.
These large squid schools have also attracted good numbers of broadbill to the coastal zone. With good weather over the last couple of weeks many local boats have been out trying their luck, mostly trolling baited lures at night. There have been plenty of 'shots' but little catching until Te Ariki Nui landed a small fish on the Garden patch on their way through to the Kings.
Brian Batson landed a 94kg broadbill hooked fishing the deep daytime drop method on Major Tom II at the 505 on Tuesday afternoon, and Pacific Monarch boated a 167kg fish at the Nine Pin Trench on Friday night.
With other action reported at the Cavalli Canyons and the Knights Rise, we have plenty of evidence that after 3 lean years the broadbill have returned to the Northland Coast. The plentiful food supply suggests plenty of broadbill activity still to come, as they are unlikely to make their way north for spawning until late September.
Kingis are showing up in good numbers which will please all the anglers booked to fish the annual light tackle tournament in Russell in June, with the best action around 71M Reef. There are also prodigious numbers of kingis at Rocky Point, but a school of bronze whalers is also stalking them, making catching easy but landing difficult. Most charter boats are leaving the area alone, unwilling to provide kingis as easy targets to the seemingly ravenous bronzies.
Snapper fishing is patchy. The good catches around the oyster farms have eased off, though the shallows around Parakura Bay and Rawhiti are still producing.
Plenty of small and barely legal snapper are being caught inside the Islands, but the best catches are likely to come from straylining close to the rocks in exposed areas outside the Islands.
As always drop me an email at swordfish@majortom.co.nz if you have any queries.
Geoffs' Fishing Report 18/3/07
The bumper season for the Bay of Islands and Tutukaka Clubs continues, despite some cold and grotty weather over the last week.
The better water has moved out beyond the 200M line, but with boats ranging wider, a good sprinkling of blues has been caught. Two fish over 220kg were landed during the Baileys tournament last week, and the weekend saw the top honours for The Russell Ab-Fab ladies Tournament being closely contested by a 171.4kg fish on Absolute and one of 171.2kg on St Moritz. The closeness of the call on these two clearly shows the wisdom of keeping your catch cool and moist during the time from landing to weigh in!!!
Locals in the Bay are attributing the better season to the schools of saury which are being chased at the surface, bringing the marlin into the surface layer strike zone. The stripeys are also hunting in groups, with pack attacks almost being the norm. In these circumstances some extra action is always possible if a live bait is dropped back, while the lures are being retrieved after a hook up.
The snapper have become a bit elusive of late, with best results coming from ledger rigs fished deep around the foul fringes in 40 to 50M, with an added bonus of trevally, terakihi and golden snapper always likely. Most of the fish are small, barely over 30cm, but the occasional moocher is also there for the taking.
Finding some relatively easy picking on our hapuka spots has been a relief, with results having been pretty poor over the last year. A quick drop last week resulted in 3 hapuka and a couple of gemmies from just a couple of drops with two lines, so this will hopefully bode well for the coming season.
We have been invaded by a large number of small kingis. These fish are almost entirely under the 75cm limit, though Russell's ex policeman, Colwyn Shortland skippering his aunties on Pukematu managed to find 3 fish of around 15kg while jigging at 71M Reef to take out top kingi prizes during the Ab-Fab Tournament. Bigger fish are likely to improve in numbers once the usual Autumn run starts.
As always drop me an email at swordfish@majortom.co.nz and I will reply as charters allow.
