Bay of Islands

fishing report

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With the water trying to warm up, we are just starting to see some good sign out in the 50-metre mark. There’s a lot of pan sized fish, mostly males, starting to gather up ready to head into the bay to spawn.
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With the water trying to warm up, we are just starting to see some good sign out in the 50-metre mark. There’s a lot of pan sized fish, mostly males, starting to gather up ready to head into the bay to spawn.

Darren with a typical Bay of Islands kingy in 'fun-size'

We’ve found the 32 gram tungsten jigs from Catch Fishing  have been working very well.  With a huge weight to size ratio, these tiny jigs will easily fish on light line in deeper water, and snapper just love to pounce on them, as do big trevs.

In close, the snapper have been a bit on and off, but anywhere along the Long Beach area is worth a go.  The trick is finding the current lines which is the hardest part. Once you can find the wind and tide pushing the same it has been very productive.

The jack mackerel and slimy mackerel are hanging out in the middle ground, and consistently the kabura jigs and micro jigs have been out-fishing bait.

Under the bait schools we are finding around 35 metres is a good place to try .

Rocky Point has been the go-to place for lots of kingfish action, be it on live baits or jigs.

Out wide Main Rock has been holding a few puka, but has been generally a bit disappointing, with no large school fish on it.

The bait schools have been solid inside the islands, just off Twin Lagoons, with some good sized mackerel along with some great pilchards which can be caught on sabiki rigs.

Load up on these and it can mean the difference between a good day and a great day.

Cheers

Darren

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