Fishing: Game fish make a spectacle of themselves

The game-fishing continues apace ahead of the New Zealand Big Game Fishing Council national tournament that starts this weekend, with some spectacular sights for those offshore.

Out from Whakatane this week marlin have herded skipjack tuna into "meatballs", only to be beaten to the bite by whales that steamed up from well below the surface action.

The yellowfin have been schooling in numbers in the Bay of Plenty, with more than 260 landed at the Whakatane Sport Fishing Club. Anglers out from Whakatane with charter skipper Rick Pollock saw orca encircle a pod of dolphins and devour them. Everyone has been seeing sharks.

Two of the more meritorious catches have been of bronze whalers, caught during the Whangaroa club's small boat contest. Conditions were windy and rough and most boats stayed inside the harbour, with female anglers cleaning up. Sally Lay won top prize with a 196kg bronze whaler and 13-year-old Ricky Corden took the juniors section with a 163kg bronzie on 24kg gear.

The Whangaroa club has recorded 83 striped marlin so far this year, as well as one broadbill and five shortbill spearfish plus a 179.6kg black marlin caught near Stephensons Island.

Also taken near the island was a 252.6kg blue marlin, which won the Hihi Marlin Classic.

Off Doubtless Bay, Carmen Berridge, 18, fished stand-up to land a 118kg striped marlin that was the first of the season for the local club.

Only three boats braved rough seas off Hokianga last Sunday but they returned with three striped marlin in three hours before being forced back.

The bottom fishing has been far less predictable. Sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's hard to find a fish and sometimes there's good sign but no bite.

The preferred rig and bait keeps changing. In the inner Hauraki Gulf, Lance Paniora on Smokin' Reels has been scoring well with flasher rigs in either blue or green with cubes of pilchard. But at times the fish will ignore those and take straylines with cut pilchards or the new variety of small squid on the market.

The fishing has been better on the outgoing tide, particularly in the Rangitoto and Motuihe Channels, so time your trip to suit that, Paniora advises; wind-against-tide has been the problem for many anglers this week. And be wary that light bites may be fish in the 3kg range, so strike hard.

On the Manukau there have been good catches of trevally on the outgoing tide, especially in the Papakura and Waiuku channels, with the action moving to the Wairopa Channel on the incoming tide.

There are plenty of flounder around, although many are small. It pays to wear gumboots if spearing because it is also stingray season (orca have been hanging off Huia gorging on them).

The kingfish have been hanging in numbers around the Ninepin Rock at Whatipu and more than 20 were taken there last Sunday by landbased anglers. One big king was snared off the Cornwallis wharf this week.

At the Mangonui wharf there have been lots of catches in the 15kg range but it's been "combat fishing," with the word out about big kingfish runs and lots of anglers lined up.

One local commercial fisherman using a lightstick on a kahawai played a massive king for an hour from 2am before losing it. Big fish have been caught off Cape Karikari.

The fishing for the annual Muriwai Surfcasting Contest varied wildly, with few catches at the favoured northern end and lots at the less-favoured southern.

Tab Waitapu won the $10,000 prize for heaviest kahawai with a 3.84kg fish.