Northern Coromandel Peninsular
fishing report
January 7, 2022
It’s been a while for many of us since we’ve been able to get to the Coromandel, and for many, it has been worth the wait. As expected, boat ramps are chocka, even from early morning on many days, as keen boaties head out for a fix of fishing targeting inshore and wider out for gamefish. A big run of easterlies has put a pretty good swell in place, with surfers likely enjoying the big seas more than fishermen
Over the Christmas and new year period it’s often been hard to get out in anything less than 15 knots which has made it harder for smaller craft.
When you do manage to catch a window, the fishing has been pretty darn good for most.
Inshore, the snapper have come right in as per usual for this time of year, and there have been some very good catches from the beach, using drones, kon tiki’s, kayaks, or just plain surf casting early in the morning or in evening once the beach goers and holiday makers have thinned away.
Soft baits work really well on snapper, and even kingies at the moment, so now is a good time to break out your gear or give it a go if you are new to the technique.
Most common fishing spots around the coast, the Mercury’s, Cuvier and the Alderman’s have produced great fishing when the bite time is on.
Of the beaches, in 15 to 30 metres seems to be the best zone, with some really nice fat gurnard common at the moment as a bonus for the pot.
The pins are firing for kingfish on jigs and live baits, but the sharks are there also to take their share.
Finally, it appears we have a good week of weather ahead starting Saturday, so the opportunities will present themselves wherever you decide to head to.
The unusually warm seas seem to have fired up the gamefishing, with the Suzuki Top Ten Tuna Tournament seeing some great fish boated.
There’s some solid cash prizes up for grabs, and the comp still has a couple of days to run.
The way the leader board is changing there’s every chance of a new winner at any time.
Current leader is a 35.5kg yellowfin landed by Phillip Holland.
It’s great to see the tuna numbers so good, with some big albacore in the mix too.
There’s a lot of marlin action, with plenty of good stripeys, and even blue marlin and shortbilled spearfish making an appearance.
Check out the map for the locations these fish have been landed or for more details get onto the Mercury Bay Game Fishing club facebook page
and check out their sponsors grid as the season progresses.
It’s pretty easy to see the band of water that has been fishing well, so expect some great game fishing to continue right through to at least April most likely.
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