Eastern Bay of Plenty - June 2010

Great weather and great fishing

Glorious autumn weather, coupled with hungry fish, have made for a good time in the Eastern Bay; add in heaps of snapper, and the picture is perfect.

The baits are spending so little time on the bottom that it’s difficult to catch gurnard, and kahawai have to be quick to get a look in. Generally the snapper are not big – up to two kilos – but there are so many around that limit bags can be caught in well under an hour.

There are some very fat kahawai in the area, mostly surface feeding on small fish, and good numbers of mackerel, which are one of the best fish to marinate in lemon juice and coconut cream.

If there is any down side to the fishing, it is the sharks. Skippies have been in fairly close and some large bronze whalers are herding them up; one or two bronzies are turning up in the harbours, too.

As well, there are quite a few tope making longline fishing off the beaches a little more difficult. Long-liners are getting gurnard, snapper and kahawai when the sharks let up. Kahawai and snapper are also frequenting river and harbour mouths, as well as the shingle beaches to the east. Surfcasting in the evenings has been good. One or two good kingies around the 20kg mark have been turning up, especially in the mouth of the Ohiwa Harbour.

Waihau Bay has reported some striped marlin still about, but they will have moved on by the time you read this. Store the information for next year, as the best weather is post-Easter and you will pretty much have the fish to yourselves.

The bottom fishing here, and at Te Kaha and Omaio as well, is great, with plenty of 5kg snapper, big trevally and some kingies around. The evenings have been fishing especially well. As always at this time of year, there are good kingfish and hapuku off the cape.

Trout are in great condition, with some good catches in the upper reaches of our rivers. Large numbers of young fish are also reported, which looks good for the future.

- © Fairfax NZ News