Again the weather has been very kind to us for a few weeks now and the fishing has been generally pretty damn good, not excellent but okay.

Snapper fishing has been great off the beaches from Matakana to Papamoa and in some cases in only seven meters of water with some fish over5 kgs !

Kahawai in the mix as well and of course as we know if you are prepared to sacrifice a kahawai or two for fresh bait virtually nothing will beat it.

We have also had good tarakihi fishing from 57 meters out to 85 meters with some very nice fish at the Penguin Shoals and some great schools of kahawai schooling there as well.

So never say “too late” for that stripey or big blue marlin that just still might be hanging around.

Out on the deeper knolls it appears that the Blue Nose are in spawning mode as the last three we landed had large roes and plenty of milt ,so this is the time of year when you can land some real beauties. Just a reminder here just how much fish is enough when the individual fish can weigh over 15kgs or more.

In the mix there have been plenty of gem fish from 250 meters to 350 and they seemed to be really on the bite as the they hit the baits virtually instantly and some double hook ups as well.

We were out in 600 meters a week ago as watched a massive work up with bottle nose dolphins, pilot whales and gannets working frantically on a school of ?? sorry could not identify what it was but what a sigh to see.

Water temperature has dropped a little now to 19.5 from 22and the water does not seem to be as “blue” but maybe further out would be worth a shot.

All the best for the weekend as the forecast looks pretty damn good again !!

Cheers

Russ Hawkins

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