26th December 2008
Bay of Islands Fishing Report
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The fishing was way below average when these dolphins turned up so they were a welcome distraction. We finished the trip on a high thanks to some very impressive fish. Steve was heard chanting "Oh Yeah....Oh Yeah.....Oh Yeah!!! while he was pulling his snapper in. John was a lot more restrained but he was obviously pleased with his monster.
26th December - Another lovely day with very light easterly winds forecast and an outgoing tide all day. There were quite a few boats out but not a lot of action. The odd gannet was diving, penguins and dolphins were everywhere. We dropped anchor at our first spot as the wind seemed a bit strong for the numbers we had on board. We were pulling in respectable fish at around 34cm plus but they were few and far between. After an hour or so the fish seemed to be getting smaller so we moved. Our next spot just didn't produce at all despite it being the exact same place we were fishing on Christmas Eve. So we moved again, this time heading to a workup of gannets. This time we drifted but had no real success. The boat next to us pulled in a Kingfish but apart from that everything was quiet. Gannets were diving all over the place, the fish finder was showing masses of bait fish but the snapper if they were there were not interested. So it was off to Plan D. We stopped off at a place that the skipper had in mind and drifted. Fifteen minutes later it all happened. A broken line from a quick unexpected strike, quickly followed by two school fish, another broken line and then another school fish. Saved by the bell....phew!
