Tairawhiti / Gisborne
fishing report
July 11, 2025

An epic fishing mission from Mahia to Waihau Bay lands double hook-ups on bluefin tuna followed by a fout-battle!
Our road trip north
Our morning started early, with a few stops to check in on stock and chat about fishing. We arrived at Mahia to stay the night at the family bach, catch up with the uncle, and drop my son off for the school holidays.
Early Saturday, we left for Gisborne to visit two more shops. As we drove north towards East Cape, the sea was wild.
We arrived at Waihau Bay around 3:30pm, and she was rough as. The Striker charter came in to anchor and launched a small inflatable to ferry all the gear and people onboard.
As we got underway, it became clear we had to switch to Plan B. Plan A had been to head out and jig for bluefin, then spend a few days on the banks—but with a constant 4m swell, that wasn’t an option. So we headed to Hicks Bay to sleep until the early hours.
At first light we got underway again, heading wide—wide wide—to the drop-off, aiming to avoid the orca they’d encountered on the previous trip. Once out there, we set the gear. It was a good six hours of trolling, with fish marks showing deep (around 100m) until some finally began rising to the 60m mark.
That magic sound rang out—then a second reel screamed. A double hook-up! Scott and the lure specialist hit the deck as their numbers were called. After a short 20-minute fight, two 30kg bluefin tuna hit the deck.

It seemed the tuna were rolling in packs—either hitting in doubles or triggering massive multiple strikes, but with no hook-ups, which meant resetting the outriggers often. Everyone was on the board, with one nice fish lost at the boat, estimated at around 120kg.
Nova and I were last, right on the magic hour. A nice double hit the gear and we jumped into action, grabbing the rods. The fish had stripped over 300m of line—these were solid. We dug in for the scrap, having to back down on them to recover some line.
With the light fading and night falling, we started to gain the upper hand. Nova landed her fish—over 70kg—followed by mine, at around 65kg. I had my fill of hearts that trip, plus plenty of fresh raw tuna. Even tried the backbone marrow—which was amazing.
All in all, a great trip with the Catch crew and the amazing guys at Striker Charters. Such a solid duo, those brothers.
The tuna I brought home fed so many family and friends—and of course, the dog and cats always get a feed when I’m filleting.
#letthefishbethejudge
#theoceanismychurch

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