July 2009
Bay of Islands Fishing Report
5th July - We have been having such changeable weather lately that we often cannot confirm that we are going out fishing until the morning of the trip. Today we managed to get out but it was a race against the weather which was supposed to start turning bad later in the day. As it turned out, we got lucky both in fish and weather.
9th July - We cancelled the previous day's trip because the forecast was for bad weather only for it to turn out lovely. So we were determined to get out there today and see what the fishing was like. It turned out to be a great day with some very nice snapper being caught. Normally at this time of year we would expect to catch snapper not much bigger than the 27cm legal limit but today not only were we catching snapper between 4-6 lbs, we also suspect that a very big moocher broke the line within 5 mins of us dropping anchor.
Our Next Trip is....
15th August - Currently out of the water for yearly
maintenance. Might be back sooner but depends on weather
16th July - Yet another big storm left the harbour looking like a freshly plowed paddock. The water was so dirty that we were pretty sure that there would be no Trevally or Terakihi caught today. Success was going to measured by wether or not we could find the big Snapper that we had been catching the previous trip. Things were not looking good with absolutely nothing appearing on the fish finder for the whole trip out. Terry decided to drop anchor at the third spot that we tried and then wait until something came past. The first half hour was very quiet with only small snapper, parrot fish and spotties being caught. We were watching other boats moving around the bay looking for fish so it was obvious that things were not much better elsewhere. Then suddenly things started to pick up. By the end of a very busy trip we had half a dozen snapper between 3 and 6lbs. Quite a few more from 30cms upwards plus three good sized Kahawai. Both Terry and I also got to take fish home today. Cajun Kahawai for tea tonight and Snapper tomorrow. Very happy.
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.jpg "9th July - Ray with his Sandshark (Lemon Fish)")
 with his snapper of the day.jpg "9th July - Ray's other son Callum with his snapper of the day")
It was a good day with action most of the day. Thanks for reminding me of your sons names Ray. I look forward to seeing you guys again.
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19th July - This was our last trip before we pull the boat out of the water for our yearly maintenance. Our past two trips had produced good snapper so we had hopes for another successful day. However it was going to hinge around what the weather was going to throw at us. One forecast was for very strong southwesterlies which would probably stop the fish biting, the other was for strong westerlies which was better for fish but might bring rain. Things were looking good as we headed out as we appeared to be getting a light northwesterly wind. Unfortunately this didn't last, about an hour after we dropped anchor the wind changed and were were hit by very strong southwesterly winds. Fishing had been slow to start with but we caught a 3-4lb Snapper and a nice Kahawai within the first couple of hours. We lost a big fish (Snapper we think) when it broke a 15lb line and within 30 seconds a second good fish wrapped around the rudder or prop and we had no choice but to bust it off. The fishing got worse as the wind strengthened so we tried one last spot but without success. Four good fish, four anglers, not great but at least everyone got something to take home.
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 retained his honour with this Kahawai but Alice was not far behind.jpg "Dad (Tim) retained his honour with this Kahawai but Alice was not far behind")
This was the first time Alice and Martin had been fishing on a boat and they acquainted themselves very well. Put the pressure on dad, that's for sure.
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