Bay of Plenty

fishing report

November 7, 2019

Supplied by

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

Springtime in the bay of plenty is when we start to see an influx of life moving into the area, this year is no different with big bait schools of both jack and blue mackerel turning up in good numbers. Word has it the juvenile squid have showed as well at White Island and the offshore reef areas out of Tauranga.

All maps used are created by LINZ / New Zealand Hydrographic Authority and made available by Creative Commons 3.0
Maps should not be used for navigation

The squid run is what the kingfish anglers have been waiting for and it’s no surprise that good numbers of kingfish arte being caught on all the offshore reefs at the moment. Jigs for now are doing all of the damage, especially smaller jigs in the 200 to 300 gram range. Most of the fish are on the smaller size but as we move closer to spawning season expect the bigger models to show themselves. Top water has not fired yet but this will happen any time soon with the arrival of the squid.

Snapper have been going ok all along the beach areas from Waihi down to Pukehina, not consistent fishing with some anglers catching plenty in a short time whilst others working hard for only a couple of fish. Moving around and soft baiting seems to be producing the best results at the moment. The harbour is producing fish but the water is still pretty cold and will only get better over the next few weeks.

Down in the lakes things have started to pick up, there have been some really big trout caught which are all full of smelt. Both trolling with 8 to 10 colours of lead line and jigging have been producing the fish.

Coming up soon we have the highly anticipate Snapper/Kingfish competition run out of the Tauranga sport fishing club. The trophies for this competition are hotly contested and there are always some big prizes up for grabs.

The best prizes for this one are all for the measure and release section, great to see the big rewards for the anglers releasing the big ones. The competition runs at a time when you can expect to see some hot top water action in the bay so come on down and join in the fun and you may even win a great prize.

https://www.facebook.com/events/547439952687058/

https://www.tsfc.co.nz/events/category/tournaments/

Check out the links above for details.

Cheers

Mark