1st October - This day was the perfect example of weather forecasting incompetance. We ventured out in perfect weather with a reasonably large group consisting of mainly families. The weather was promised to be south-westerly which always brings fine weather to our area. It was going to be brisk but we had gone to an area that was going to give us shelter. The fishing started out very promising indeed but when the wind went due south the fish stopped biting completely (as they always do). After about half an hour of nothing happening and the wind moving to the southeast we had to try somewhere else. Unfortunately we spent the rest of the day being hammered by south-easterlies, and although we got in a bit of sightseeing (by default) the fishing was rubbish from then on. It was lucky that we had enough for a feed for everybody but a more accurate forecast would have helped.
October 2008
Bay of Islands Fishing Report
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.jpg "Chris McKellick with a 1.5 kg snapper (640x470)")
.jpg "Chris McKellick with a Gummy Shark (640x360)")
Chris and his buddies are travelling all over the world sampling golf courses and the odd fishing trip. We enjoyed their company and hope the rest of their trip goes well.
3rd October - Once again the forecasters got it wrong. Supposed to start as Southwester and move around to the west by the afternoon. Never quite left the southwest and just got stronger and stronger. It was a slow day, all day. We stopped at three different areas with lots of fish but they never really seemed interested. Judging by the movement of the other boats in the bay they were having the same problem. We only had three clients on board and they only wanted enough for one meal - lucky for us so we only kept the best. We had fun with a barracuda, a large snapper which broke the line, a gummy shark and a couple of good sized snapper to fulfill the meal quota.
Wait for all the images to load and then left click on the photos for a description and slideshow
Wait for them all to load and then left click on the photos for a description and slideshow
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4th October - The fish had their jaws wired shut today. Luckily the winds were lighter than predicted so we were able to check all other the bay. Our last stop had the skipper really excited. Gannets were diving, the water was full of bait fish and ......... that was all. Try as we might we just couldn't get the fish to bite. Our catch for the day consisted of one gurnard and about seven small snapper. Poor fishing by our usual standards.
10th October - The weather was beautiful, very light southwesterly winds which enabled a bit of drift fishing in 45 metres to start with. Fish numbers were light at the first stop so we decided to move out to 60 metres where we had good success in late September. Here the fishing was so bad we went back to our first stop where fishing had improved marginally but still wasn't satisfactory (by our standards). Last stop was at a favourite spot off Tapeka where we found huge numbers of bait fish but very little "biting" fish. Very quiet. The water everywhere has an algae bloom that seems to have killed off the fishes apetites and it's looking like a baywide problem.
11th October - Another fantastic morning with very light winds. We had decided to try further out today to see if we could get away from the algae bloom in the water. The place we had in mind was more than an hours travel but unfortunately, although not as bad, it was still there. We were in 60 metres and the fish life looked very good on the fishfinder so we gave it a try. The first half hour dragged by with hardly anything caught then slowly the situation improved. The wind picked up and the fish started coming on board. Two barracuda, two gummy sharks, a couple of very nice blue cod, trevally, a terakihi, porae, and half a dozen (keeper) snapper made up the catch for the day. Not great numbers but some good quality fish.
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.jpg "Kevin and Nate with two of the best - Large Snapper (640x458)")
Kevin and Nate from the USA will hopefully have some pleasant memories of this part of the world. Still a wee bit early for the good snapper but these fish they caught are a very good reminder of what should be here in large numbers in about three weeks.
13th October - Light southeasterlies moving to easterly meant pleasant conditions for fishing - as long as we could find the fish. Our first stop had good fish sign but the few fish that we managed to land were small undersized snapper. Leatherjackets have been in high numbers lately so we suspected that they and possibly Mao Mao were stripping our hooks with gusto. So we moved. Another charter boat had started a grid search across the bay to try and locate something worth trying for. We were lucky they missed the spot we were going to check out.
It started out slow, with a couple of barracuda but steadily gained in tempo. The rain moved in for about 20 minutes but everyone was very keen and carried on fishing regardless as the catch steadily improved. By the time we it was time to head home we had at least a dozen Golden Snapper, two large Snapper, a Porae and even a large Terakihi. We have hopes that the northeasterlies that have been forecast may mean good news on the schoolfish front.
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.jpg "Jamie Hawker had finally got a bigger fish than Bonnie (so she went and caught her snapper)")
A day that we didn't have particularly high hopes for turned into a very successful one. Lots of fun and a bit of rivalry made the day pass very quickly indeed
Wait for all the images to load and then left click on the photos for a description and slideshow
Wait for all the images to load and then left click on the photos for a description and slideshow
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.jpg "Yvette Scott lets her dad hold her John Dory for her (640x480)")
Despite the poor quality of the fish, Yvette Scott proved to be a very proficient angler much to the amusement of every- one on board. Just to show what a good sport she was, she let Dad hold her John Dory for the photo
19th October - After several days of terrible weather we finally managed to get out. As you can see from the photo it was a magic day. We were desperate to get Mr Murdoch out fishing so we press ganged some locals to make up numbers and headed out. Nothing spectacular was pulled on board although we had several large hits suggesting big fish were still around. Overall a pleasant day but lacking in quality fish.
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Mr Murdoch out performed our locals with his fishing. This snapper was his (and the boat's) best of the day.
20th October - Another nice day weather wise but the fish, although reasonably plentiful were not good enough to warrant pulling out the camera. Most snapper caught (and kept) were ranging between 27-33 cm.
26th October - Yesterday was the annual yacht race from Auckland to Russell. Along with that came the annual storm that seems to coincide with the race. Although the wind was still really strong there was not going to be any swell and we were confident that we could stay out of the worst of the wind. Unfortunately the strong and cold southwesterlies seem to have forced the big school fish out of the bay again. We caught a small number of small snapper but were saved from a disappointing catch by schools of Kahawai that made regular appearances all day. Luckily I have a really nice recipe so we printed a number of copies and handed them out at the end of the day.
27th October - In total contrast, there was hardly any wind until just after midday (when it came from the completely opposite direction to what was forecast. It always reminds me of the adverts on TV which say to check the forecast before you go out on the water (who says the water safety guys don't have a sense of humour?). Anyway it was so calm that dozens of boats were out there, drifting around trying to find some decent fish but it appeared that the cold weather had indeed pushed them out in the deeper water. A couple of terakihi and a number of small snapper made up our catch for today. Not great but everyone had fish for tea.
30th October - Mixed fishing at the moment. Most charter boats have been searching all over the bay for decent fish without success. However we've heard several reports of very large snapper being caught very close inshore amongst the rocks and weeds from dinghies and kayaks. The water is slowly warming, about a degree a week (currently 15 degrees Celsius) and the algae bloom is dispersing so the schoolies can't be too far away.