There are still good numbers of trevally, especially around the entrance, and spawning and schooling snapper are in for the summer season.

There’s good fishing on the incoming tide around the banks of the harbour entrance, but when the moon is waning it can be better on an outgoing tide.

On the bank on your starboard side as you come into the harbour all the way towards the Matakana wharf there can be good fishing, and the old black-headed terns give away the good spots if you look to them as indicators.

There’s a lot of ‘half’ sized kahawai here too, that make superb bait tank fillers for targeting kingies either towed or dropped, or put out under a balloon.

My son was fishing soft baits out off Maketu last week catching some good inshore snapper, and then headed out a little deeper to around 50 metres using a 1 oz jig head, and landed a 10 kilo snapper, absolutely magic fish and that would be many folk’s PB.

Off the sand, Matakana Island in 15 to 20 metres is also producing the goods for some nice snapper, and also the same depth off Papamoa has resulted in some good fishing too.

In my books, if you have the boat to get there, Mayor Island is the place to be at the moment.  We’ve been out there a bit and the fishing was pretty good across the board, with heaps of fish on the sounder, but bite times very much dictating an ordinary vs great day.

We’ve had some days where the fishing is hard work, but others where it’s fired up same place the next day.

Fishing north-west of Motiti in 67 metres with a little bit of foul on the sounder, we had some of the best tarakihi action we have seen for some time, with plenty of good-sized fish, and even a few triple headers.

We have not been targeting kingies in closer too specifically of late, but they are certainly around and we pick up the odd fish.

Out at Mayor however, there are some good fish out the western side and Honeymoon Bay, and around Tuhua reef, where jigs have been working well.

The south eastern end of Tuhua where it drops down really steeply, is also good for pink mao mao which are becoming a more popular target species for the table.

There’s also clear water for good diving, and my mate managed to nab a 5 kilo packhorse last week, but the struggle cost him his Mares watch, a fair swap perhaps!

Gamefish have not really turned up yet, and we have not seen any skippies etc so far, but with marlin and tuna being landed further up north in the bay of Islands and that zone, we expect to see some action soon enough.

There has been some reasonable albacore fishing, but they are way out near the Rangatiras between there and the line towards White Island.

It’s nice and warm and the fishing is pretty good, so see you out there.

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 Cheers

Russ

RUSS HAWKINS ...OWNER/SKIPPER FAT BOY CHARTERS

PH 5755986 OR 027 2863638

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