Bay of Plenty

fishing report

August 21, 2020

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We’ve had to do a lot of running around to catch fish out there at the moment to be fair. The sounder has been running pretty barren, and with folks on boards expecting some results the only option often enough is just to keep looking! Thankfully they are usually there eventually, and we have seen some reasonable snapper and nice terakihi in the 80 metre mark between Motiti and Schooner.

We also picked up some nice crays, including one just under 2 kilos diving at Motiti, despite some very murky water we believe may be due to a phytoplankton bloom.

Colder waters also tend to attract the barracouta, unfortunately, and these stinkers are not much use unless you are keen on slabbing up some fresh deepwater baits.

A more welcome species in the lower temps currently are gurnard, with some really good specimens coming up especially if you are fishing where the structure turns to sand. There’s also every chance of picking these guys up close to shore if you’re in close or even fishing from the beach.

Deep dropping out in the Mayor Knolls is still well worth a shot with some decent fish always lurking there for the determined anglers, and there are some nice weather windows coming up this week, and hopefully more as we head towards spring.

Another exciting spring advent can be the kingies popping back into life. Especially around Mayor, when the squid schools are attracting packs of kingies smashing them up. Everything from topwater to jigs can be really exciting in these conditions.

The southern bluefin tuna frenzy seems to have moved north now, with a few strays still about no doubt, but mostly we are now looking at next year. This was definitely one of the best seasons for the sbt’s and long may we enjoy their annual company.

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Cheers

Russ