Bay of Islands

fishing report

June 23, 2022

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Winter is definitely here, and the temps in the morning can make it pretty tricky on the old fingers to thread a soft bait onto a hook. It's all worth it though, as this is the time of year to chase those big reds right in close, and then head out wide for the deeper species. Winter condition on the fish make them the best eating, with high fat content and perfect condition fillets.

***Another nice fat winter red for the bin***

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In close there are lots of small fish, which are great for the table, but there are also some good sized snapper mixed in with them.

Casting big baits and softbaits into the shallows and into the white water can be very rewarding but be aware of the hidden rocks and foul at all times as it’s easy to sneak a bit too close if you’re not concentrating.

Drifting along the inner banks with either softbaits or live bait has produced some great catches for us, with the odd kingfish to keep you on ya toes.

Soft baits work well much of the time, but winter can slow the bite and the metabolism down to the point where it sometimes requires a bit of berley to get them on the chew, so if you are a bait and berley fisho, winter is the time to shine.

Up the coast from Nine Pin to Lion Rock there are multiple places to get out your sliders and micro jigs going, and work the deeper foul that runs along the 40 to 50 metre line.

Out a bit wider there's some great foul to chase tarikahi which is one of my favorite fish to eat.

Use small circle hooks and a piece of firm fleshed bait also the chance of a little or big puka as we move into the cold weeks and the hapuka come in shallower.

On the kingfish front, jigging is my favourite method to target this species in winter, and it’s great to prospect around the pins and reefs with the multitude of jigs available to us.

There is usually one that they will always eat, you just need to keep mixing it up until you find what's on the menu, then stick with that colour and pattern.

Out wider the puka and bass will start to move into shallower reefs there are lots of foul that they will gather on out of the cape or up towards the Cavalli Islands.

Traditional puka rigs and baits will always work, and there are a lot of anglers doing well using big specialist deepwater jigs and lures such as the Giant Squidwings or big lumo jigs. Check out deep dropping with lures HERE

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It's not game season anymore, and most big fish hunters are going to be targeting swords, but last week solo angler Mike Wilson off the boat JD, caught a stripy and a sword in a single trip...yes, solo! Stripy weighing 127kgs, sword 149.4kgs. That's a top effort.

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Make sure you check the weather before heading out as these cold fronts can roll on fast.

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Good luck and tight lines

Regards Darren

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This report provided by Darren Knapping, Days Out Fishing Charters

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