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The gamefishing remains slow, partly because of big seas and high winds curtailing fishing efforts, but three notable catches off Waihau Bay may be the signal of a great season to come.
Auckland angler Fran Jordan took an hour and 40 minutes to boat a 92.80kg yellowfin tuna, the second-largest ever caught in New Zealand, while fishing from Rick Pollock's charter boat Pursuit at the Ranfurly Bank off East Cape.
Jordan is a member of The Big Fish Club, and the yellowfin was weighed at the Whakatane Sportfishing Club. Manager Kevin McCracken said the heaviest was also weighed there, a 95kg fish caught in 1984.
There are signs the club's annual tuna tournament this week will go off with a bang. Pollock said there were "tonnes and tonnes" of skipjack tuna in the eastern Bay of Plenty, with schools the size of football fields surface-feeding on baitfish.
The yellowfin have been following them as the skipjack meatball the small fish and anglers have been benefiting.
"There have been more than 100 yellowfin caught this year already, whereas last year there were about 30 in the whole season," Pollock said.
"We haven't seen anywhere near the best of it yet. Pretty soon we'll be able to put the lures away and get them on baits."
The Tauranga boat Silversmith landed a 257kg blue marlin while fishing in the Tauranga club's contest off Waihau Bay. A 165kg striped marlin, big for that variety, was caught in the same area.
Waihau Bay Lodge manager Slim McCallion said water temperature was well over 20C everywhere and there was lots of baitfish activity.
"It's about to explode," he said, predicting that the few striped marlin catches so far would quickly rise.
It has still been slow off Northland. The Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers' Club still has just a couple of stripeys recorded - and only one this week, just 78kg. One angler spent four hours hooked up to a blue then lost it. Lots of yellowfin are being caught but they have all been small, in the 20kg range.
Two striped marlin were caught off Hokianga early this week before a rising swell prevented crossings of the bar, one of 106kg and one at 143kg, said Hokianga club secretary Linda Pattinson.
Snapper fishing remains hot all around the upper North Island. In the Bay of Islands, the daily catch and the regularity of it is incredible. Hundreds of boats have lined the triangle between Black Rocks, Mita's Foul and Cape Brett and every day, every boat has been nailing multiple fish in the 2-10kg range. There are some real horses of kahawai on the middle foul, too, plus the odd small hapuku.
And we found no trouble finding a good feed of crayfish thanks to local expert Warren Wynyard. Almost all were better than legal size.
All you need to get snapper around Auckland is current. The fishing is best on the largest tides and on all days and tides it is best about two hours either side of slack water. The smaller tides seem to mean smaller fish.
Sometimes the bites can be very tentative. You must stay in touch with your rig, especially as the drop nears the seabed. The bigger fish are rising to take baits. If left to sit on the bottom, little pickers become a problem.
All methods are working, but best are red flashers or the Black Magic snapper snatcher and snapper mackpilly ledger rigs; or strayling with small free-running egg sinkers sitting against the bait to assist the drop, held there with a half-hitch around the bait.
Fresh bait is easily caught at this time of year so use sabiki rigs to save yourself money. Pilchards and bonito are working well now but the juvenile schools can ravage them. If pickers are a problem use fresh or salted baits.
The Manukau Harbour has been seeing plenty of kingfish action.
Calm mornings and evenings with high tides is best time as you can see the fish surface-feeding and they are easy to target with lures or saltwater flies. Scallops are in good condition.
