Wellington / Kapiti

fishing report

April 27, 2023

November 3, 2022

Supplied by

Pete Lamb

Pete Lamb Fishing

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

There’s been a few good days out on the boat between spring gales. Fishing is there or thereabouts what we would expect in spring, warming up nicely but not totally firing on all cylinders yet. Whitebait season was very ordinary this year, so let’s hope the other fishing makes up for it. Surf casting has been better up Kapiti way, with some nice snapper catches from Raumati and TeHoro, and further north again. Bigger fish coming commonly around five-plus kilos in nice and early so hopefully it will be a good summer for the land-based crew. There’s no shortage of other species out there too, with kahawai and gurnard often taking the baits to keep things interesting.

Drone fishing has really kicked off around the country as a ‘new’ way of getting a line out further than you can cast, and we are starting to see some really good results from using this method.

Boat fishing has turned up the normal sort of fare, cod, terakihi, trevs, kingies and snapper of course, with any of the usually productive spots all turning up a decent fish in the right conditions.

There’s still a decent number of warehou about, mostly up towards Kapiti, so you may pick up these fish likely as a bycatch.

We’ve caught a few nice hapuka out back of Mana and around the other areas you’ll usually find them

Gale force north westerly winds throw up the challenge when they kick in and can sometimes stop us getting out there for pretty long spells, which isn’t much help when you’re trying to get out wider and target puka.

They are just coming back from the spawn right now, and there’s a few nice ones turning up off Makara, South of Mana etc. Sometimes they can be a bit skinny but there’s still a good feed on such a meaty fish.

There’s consistent catches of kingfish in the harbour now, from boat and slide baiters from the shore.

We should see more as the summer schools start to come through.

There has not been a really good run of moki yet, but they are starting to come through and I’ve picked up the odd one around the south coast at high tide.

Generally, through November and December there’s primo moki fishing so that’s something to look forward to, and a good time to stock up on cray/mussel/shellfish baits that they love so much.

Palliser Bay and Ocean Beach are real hotspots for this action.

We do offer trips from $120 per person (including tackle, bait and transport) if you’re keen to talk to us about learning how to target these great fish.

If you do strike a run of moki, you can do really well and pick up multiple fish this time of year.

As soon as the water becomes clear and clean a is a good time to get into it, so try and keep an eye out for areas that have had enough shelter to run clear and that’s the best conditions to try for moki.

Those that have been able to get out off the south coast have been enjoying some big terakihi, some decent snapper, hoki, puka and the odd bluenose out past the hundred metre plus zone.

Snapper are being caught around the fifty metre mark, but the summer run of snaps has not really kicked in just yet.

There’s not been much else exceptional on the fishing front that I can recall lately, apart from an albacore caught off the back of Kapiti, so stay tuned as we get out there a bit more and see what happens coming into Christmas.

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See you out there

Cheers

Pete

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