Wellington / Kapiti

fishing report

January 7, 2021

Supplied by

Note: If map is showing it is created by LINZ / New Zealand Hydrographic Authority and made available by Creative Commons 3.0. Maps should not be used for navigation

I can’t believe how good the fishing is in Wellington at the moment. Palliser Bay is on fire and surfcasters and boaties alike are cashing in on some spectacular fishing. When the water is clean it’s dynamite for gurnard, kahawai, snapper and in particular some epic blue moki fishing. The moki action is like I’ve never seen it before. For no apparent reason there just seems to be a big population increase and they are hanging in there. It’s just crazy, and it’s no secret with proverbial picket fences of anglers vying for space on some occasions to get into the fish.

We have novice anglers bagging several decent moki in a single session from the shore, normally you just don’t see that, but long may it continue.

Bait stores are running dry, and we are flat out ourselves delivering bait and berley.

The weather has stopped us, and most of the other boaties, from getting out there on occasion as per usual.

The northerly flows seem to have kicked off some more great snapper action, that had previously gone a bit quiet with the southerlies dominating. Now these fish appear to be back with a vengeance close in, all up and down the coast by land or by boat.

The albacore tuna are now running strong and have been in easy reach out behind Mana. We had a customer that caught ten fish last week out behind the island. It’s the usual story if you are targeting these fish. Look for any bird activity, breaking surface water or temp/current lines etc and get your small tuna lures through them at around 6 – 7 knots.

Albies are a great eating fish if you get them bled and on the ice. Check out some more detail here: HOW TO CATCH AND COOK ALBACORE

Puka fishing is pretty good too, and we got a great haul on our last trip off Makara coast

Kingies sheltering up in the lee of Mana from the northerlies. Hunters and Boom both going well for kings when you can make the most of the limited windows of opportunity the weather allows. Morning missions have been the best option before the wind gets up too much.

From the shore the kingfish action has been really hot, with slide baiters in Oriental Bay catching fish in good numbers and up to 20kgs!

South coast is just so good recently, and we’ve had some very happy clients getting great results from shore. We are running land-based charter trips if you want to learn how to surf cast, or just improve your knowledge, or maybe just prefer not to be on a boat. Ask about prices and schedules at our Rongotai shop and we will gladly talk through the options, there’s been no better time to get into it.

‍

Cheers

Pete

‍