Summer 2019
December 6th
Despite some howling winds, there are a lot of positives to be taken out of this week when it comes to the fishing. Before the big blow we had some good action, and there is likely more to come in the next week or so. Hapuka are back on the chew and some good numbers have been taken from both out west and south out in the Trench, so it looks to be gearing up already for a bumper season if we are lucky.
You don’t have to travel too far for puka at the moment. We had some great fishing straight out from Makara, fishing the big shelf that drops off from around 130 –150 metres. This is a big drop off and you can find puka all the way along it at the moment. I’d say this is the closest puka spot to land in Wellington that is a consistent producer of fish. We didn’t fish this drop last season, but trying it again last week was surprised at how well it was going. It just shows that you don’t necessarily need to go all the way to Fisherman’s or Ohau to get good Hapuka action.
We also caught some big terakihi, gemfish and a few tope out off this area so all on board returned home pretty happy.
Of course puka are a big fish and getting one or two on board is usually all you need. If you limit what you take and then move back in shore to target snapper, cod or other species that keeps the puka population healthy for next time.
We only run several puka trips per season, but if you are keen on targeting this species best get in contact as we are booking out available spaces between now and the end of January pretty quickly.
The moki comp we talked about last week, out at Ngawi, was fished in near perfect conditions and we saw some really good results, with around 300 rods out, and 22 moki weighed in. Undoubtedly many more were caught and not weighed, possibly as many as 70 – 100 we estimate. My mate, for example, caught seven fish but only weighed in the two biggest.
Winning fish was just under 5 kilo’s. A lovely moki.
Cape Palliser is such an awesome spot if you care to make the journey and have an explore. There were people out there climbing into the water and gathering crayfish, not something you can do in very many places nowadays. The fishing is awesome from land and by boat,so when the weather allows perhaps get over there and check it out for yourself.
So after that, we had some crazy winds this week, with Wellington making the news again for it’s famous, as yet un-named, wind. The good news was that this wind was from the north-west, which blows up a storm but generally brings in warmer water, and this, plus all the stirring up of the ecosystem can often mean a really bumper fishing time to follow, especially for snapper.
From what we can tell, the temp of the water has come up in shallow at least, and the results could bode very well for fishing right up the west coast. Usually you’ll find awesome snapper and kingy action gets pushed in nice and close, and areas like Pukerua Bay, Makara, and the southern coasts of Mana and Kapiti even, could really fire up.
If you can get a day off mid-week, from Monday night to Weds morning looks like a fantastic window, and we are looking very forward to getting out there ourselves.
It might also be a good opportunity to give the Trench a go,as we had reports of some very good bluenose fishing last Saturday, one boat landing 24 fish for their efforts. There are a lot of smaller fish about, but a bit further, the far side of the Trench in around the 250 metre mark, seemed to produce bigger specimens.
The terakihi have been a bit thin on the ground lately, orat least they have been noticeably harder to catch, however the blue cod are making up for it, turning up in a few places we don’t normally expect to be catching them.
After this big blow we might see the south coast start turning up the great fishing for both these species that we are used to though.
The inner harbour is still fishing well with plenty of gurnard, and the surf casters are regularly catching snapper now.
Snapper will be moving in to Evan’s Bay, and then usually move in around Eastbourne if they follow the traditional pattern.
Out west Pukerua Bay in around 40 – 60 metres, The Bridge,and south of Mana should be producing good snapper now, so let’s hope we are proved right out there in the coming weeks.
FISHING REPORT 22 November
Fishing is great in Wellington, there’s plenty of snapper around at the moment, and they are spread all over the place which is encouraging.
Straight out from Mana and Pureua Bay getting good fish in 40 – 60 metres off the sand
The puka seem to be back on the chew with quite a few boats doing well at Fisherman’s and the 78 metre rise, around behing Mana and behind Hunters are good places to try.
There’s a great forecast tomorrow and every man and his dog will be out there if they can. Moon phase is good and there’s a long morning bite time forecast so fishing could be epic.
We’ve had reports of plenty of bluenose out in the Trench, and boaties who have been frustrated by the swell should have a narrow opportunity on Saturday to get out before the winds pick back up.
Kingies are in the harbour getting caught from boats, and pretty soon now the land based guys will be picking them up we expect.
Kapiti is firing up nicely with some good snapper fishing off the north and south reefs. The fish seem to be moving further south however, with Pukerua Bay and Mana being better and not to mention easier to get to. Warmer temps of 15 – 16 degrees now mean the snapper are there to party.
With the big crowds on weekends, Kapiti could be worth a go though, if you prefer a bit of space. It has not been fished too heavily of late due to the conditions, so may well turn out to be worth the effort to get there.
Surf casting
There’s been no swell on the south coast for some time now and the fishing’s really picking up as a result.
This weekend sees the moki 1000 surf fishing comp based in Ngawi happening, and there should be a good influx as conditions look to be great.
If you want to target moki in the future, the comp is a good opportunity to get out there and see where people fish, what baits and gear is working and where the fish are being landed. Watching and learning from other anglers is a great way to lift your own game so perhaps check out the event if that’s of interest.
The surf casters are picking up a few nice snapper and still some good gurnard around most of the popular coastlines.
Palliser Bay will be a great area to fish both from boat and shore over the next few days, with Sunday forecast 6 knot north-west wind. This huge area is one of the best places in the Wellington region to fish bar none.
You’ll pick up a range of species here, but try using crab for bait and the chances of catching moki and good snapper are really high. We like to use the smaller crabs whole, or halved and cottoned on to a recurve hook (2- 3/0 fine gauge). Bigger crabs need the shell and legs removed. Cotton keeps the bait on both during the cast and protects from the pickers. They are often a harder bait to find, but we stock them in the shop and are happy to talk to you about rigs etc if you drop in.
The Bay fishes from Turakirae Head all the way around to Cape Palliser. It’s a vast fishery with massive scope for surf casting from the western and eastern rocky coasts to the shingle and sand beaches around Lake Ferry.
Over the last few years the snapper fishing has been the best ever here so this weekend will undoubtedly produce some good fish.
White Rock (on the east coast around past Cape Palliser) remains the hot spot for moki as it has been for quite a while now. It’s a distance but most great land based locations take a bit of getting to. The lack of swell over the last couple of weeks would make this a great destination this week if you were keen to give it a try.
With a good run of decent weather, we soon start picking up more info about where the fishing action is happening, so stay tuned or drop in to our Rongotai Store for a chat anytime.
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8th November 2019
There’s big bluenose action out at the trench at the moment. These stalwarts of the deep are always a great catch for the table and we’ve seen some good numbers of nice fish getting caught if you can get the weather and the time off to cooperate with each other.
Bluenose often hang out up off the bottom a bit, so if you see sign sitting up higher than you might expect for puka then it can often be bluenose. This time of year we expect they will be there for a while so it’s a matter of keeping an eye on the conditions and being ready to go.
Snapper and kingies have come on a bit but at this early stage of summer they are not exactly raging just yet.
Mana and Pukerua Bay are producing good fish but not yet in the big numbers we expect closer to Christmas.
We are now starting to see the south end of Kapiti fishing well too. It’s been a bit quiet there to date, but good to see some fresh action at one of our better fishing locations. Here you can get good terakihi off the southern contour changes and reefy pins, and off Pinnacle Rock (see map), and also trevally and the odd decent snapper.
With strong north-west winds forecast the weekend looks a bit average for boaties everywhere but close in to the south and east coast. There’s no swell there at the moment though, and nice clear water so perfect for surf casting and shallower diving missions.
Launching off Owhiro Bay and staying in really close watching out for the marine reserve could be an option, and it shouldn’t take too long to pick up some nice blue cod and terakihi at least.
Five Mile reef is still good for big cod and terakihi in 50 – 75 metres if you fish the turn of tides when there’s not too much current running.
The weather might be a bit uncooperative this week, but when you can get out Sinclair Head to Karori Rock, and out deeper around 80-100 metres there’s a good chance of catching Hapuka and trumpeter.
Trumpeter are a fantastic fish, and they have been appearing in a few spots lately.
Normally they are more of an east coast fish, but we’re seeing them more south now. There’s a good bank out past, and to the south of Nicholson’s Trench where some really nice specimens have been landed. It’s a huge area between 100 – 150 metres that gives you plenty of options to cruise about with the sounder and pick up sign.
Being at least 10 miles offshore it’s a bit further to travel, but as such, has not had the angling pressure and can therefore produce unexpected results.
Trumpeter are a fantastic looking fish, a bit like a big moki with distinctive horizontal stripes. They can grow pretty big, up to 25kgs, and they are a great fight and will scrap like a kingfish all the way to the surface.
They make great eating so are a good reward for the effort.
Trumpeter are usually caught on normal puka gear, but have much smaller mouths than the groper family so a smaller sized hook is better.
Out west looks pretty unfishable in the short term, but those that have been able to fish Hunters are being rewarded with some really nice kingfish. These are mainly on jigs, but of course livies also work well, often a big live bait being responsible for hooking the bigger fish.
South-west of Hunters we hear the 78 metre rise is fishing well for kings. It’s primarily a well-known puka spot but being a rise with a bit of current running the kings are there too.
Surfcasting
Where they have been catching gurnard the surfcasting crew are now steadily picking up a few snapper in the harbour now at places like Evan’s Bay. Greta point has been good but inconsistent, and it’s supposed to be a good time to be moki fishing at White Rock (even though the surfcasting club did not do so well off Wainui last week).
