North Island Fishing Report: Settled Autumn Bite, Snapper On The Chew, Kings Off Bay Of Islands

Kia ora, Artificial Lure here with your North Island fishing report. We’ll start with the **weather**. MetService is calling it a settled late-autumn pattern over much of the North Island today: light to moderate westerlies, clearer skies on the east coasts, a bit more cloud and chop on the west. According to MetService marine forecasts, coastal winds are mostly under 15 knots this afternoon, easing this evening, with a slight to moderate sea and small swell on both coasts. That’s good news for inshore missions. Sunrise was around twenty past seven and sunset will be just after five, according to NIWA’s sun tables. That gives you short but productive bite windows, especially **first light** and the **last hour of the day**. Tides: LINZ tide tables show mid‑morning highs on the east coast today and afternoon highs on the west. Around Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf, the incoming has been fishing best lately, with a nice push of current over the reef edges. On the west coast bars, most skippers are timing their crossings close to high for safety and cleaner water. Recent action: Local reports from Auckland and Bay of Plenty charter skippers say **snapper** are still very much on the chew in 15–35 metres, with pannies in good numbers and the odd solid fish into the mid‑teens of pounds. Off the Bay of Islands, skippers are talking about consistent **kingfish** on the deeper pins and reefs, plus plenty of **kahawai** and **trevally** in the current lines. Taranaki and the west coast have been turning over some nice **gurnard**, school sharks, and a few late‑season snapper on the sand. Lures and bait: Over the last week, soft‑baiters around the Hauraki Gulf have been doing damage with **5‑ to 7‑inch jerk shads** in natural pilchard and bruised banana colours, fished on 3/8 to 1/2 oz jig heads. Slow‑pitch jigs in the 40–100 gram range, especially pink, orange, and lumo, are working well on deeper snapper and trevally. Kingfish crews are having success with **stickbaits** in blue‑silver and live baits like **koheru, jack macks, and piper** under balloons. If you’re running bait, local tackle shops are all saying the same thing: **fresh is best**. Freshly caught kahawai or jack mackerel cut baits, whole pilchards, and squid strips are accounting for most of the bigger snapper and gurnard. On the beaches, small baits on lighter traces are picking up more bites than big bulky offerings. A couple of hot spots to think about: - **Hauraki Gulf – Motuihe Channel and the Cable Zone edges**: When the tide starts to move, snapper have been lining up along the contour changes. Drift with soft baits or micro‑jigs; watch your sounder and stick with the bait sign. - **Bay of Islands – around Whale Rock and the outer reefs**: Good sign of kingfish and snapper on the pressure edges. Drop a livey down for kings or slow‑pitch for snapper and trevally. Early and late in the day have been the prime bite times. Inshore land‑based fishers on the east coast ledges report steady snapper and kahawai just on dark using unweighted baits and small metal lures flicked into the wash. That’s your North Island fishing wrap from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn