Whangarei/Tutukaka - April 2010

Harbour fishing running hot

Leanne and Chris Tasman-Jones with a pair of fine striped marlin taken off Tutukaka.

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The most consistent snapper fishing during February and into March has been within the harbour.

The Onerahi and Limestone Island areas have been very good; only a few undersized snapper amongst plenty of good-sized fish up to around 3kg. Experienced locals are regularly catching limit bags from dinghies in as little as an hour, with best results in early mornings or evenings.

The Parua Bay entrance area, inner channels at the Nook, Snake Bank, the central harbour along the shipping channel edges, and the Rip area around the entrance, are all fishing well, with outgoing tides being the most productive. Shore-based harbour fishing is also good early morning or in the evening.
There are plenty of kingfish within the harbour; a lot are smaller fish, although many are of legal size and the occasional monster king is being caught. Harbour fishing should get even better over the next couple of months.

Outside, snapper fishing in the Waipu area has been best very early in the day. Snapper are also being caught throughout Bream Bay, but catch rates are not consistent, with fishing quite hard on some days. Soft-plastics are working well when you find a patch of fish, so keep an eye on your sounder when travelling. A few good snapper catches have been made in 60m around the Chicks, and big trevally are in close to the islands.

Out of Tutukaka, good tarakihi are along the 60m mark, and out deep the game fishing is pretty good. The area from the Bream Knolls to the Mokes has been productive, but with reports of mahimahi and tuna in as close as 60m and plenty of baitfish around, deploying your lures at 60m could be worthwhile. South of the Trench has plenty of baitfish, and out off Ocean Beach is getting interesting too, with baitfish, skippies and mahimahi being reported. This area was a marlin hotspot in past seasons, so keep an eye on it.

Divers are still getting a good feed of scallops, although some of the shallow areas have been virtually cleaned out over the holiday period.

- © Fairfax NZ News