Bay of Islands

fishing report

April 27, 2023

April 6, 2023

Supplied by

Darren Knapping

Days Out Fishing Charters

Note: If map is showing it is created by LINZ / New Zealand Hydrographic Authority and made available by Creative Commons 3.0. Maps should not be used for navigation

Long may the good weather continue into Autumn, it’s certainly been great for the fishing.

For a while now, pretty much since the cyclone, snapper fishing has been full on with great catches in close as fish look to beef up for winter.

The bigger fish came out to feed around the inside of the inside the islands, and all the good guts and holes that typically hold fish have been consistently producing.

A live jack mackerel and a good chum trail will usually result in some great results.

Out in the middle ground there are good numbers of solid pannie snapper (up to five pound or so) and they are biting well on the top or bottom of the tides.

The recent full moon can make the windows narrow but thishas passed now and the next week should see some excellent bite times.

Out past the Ninepin on the deeper reefs 70 to 100 metres, the kingfish are hitting livies and jigs aggressively. They seem to be in great numbers and will not many sharks around for a change, it’s been good to land a few in one piece.

Live baits do seem to work the best and with the odd puka showing up there is a great reason to drop one to the bottom over any good looking sign.

Out wider again, we have been busy with the great sea conditions chasing puka and bass in around 250 to 325 metres.

The results have been awesome, with good bass, puka and bluenose providing a lot of hard work and good fun for our team on board.

It’s always nice to have a good deep drop which makes a great change from the inshore fishing and really stocks the freezer with somegood backup meals.

Catching the live baits has been relatively easy as they have been in great numbers over towards Marsden cross or over towards Mosquito Point.

It’s still game fishing season for a few weeks yet too, so lures chucked in anywhere from the Ninepin onwards always gives you a good crack at a marlin or some of the other warm water gamefish that seem to be about in ever increasing numbers like mahi-mahi and short billed spearfish. These smaller gamefish make fantastic eating, and short billed spearfish are incredible as sashimi.

Cheers

Darren

This report provided by Darren Knapping, Days Out Fishing Charters

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