North Island Winter Bite: Snapper in the Shallows and Kingfish on the Reefs

Kia ora, this is Artificial Lure with your North Island fishing report. A settled high is sitting over most of the motu today, light winds for many and cool mornings giving way to mild, clear afternoons. Around Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf it’s light variable to southwest breeze, easing through the morning and picking up a touch of sea breeze later. Far north coasts are a bit fresher with easterlies, while the Bay of Plenty is enjoying gentle offshore winds and a small, tidy swell. Skies are mostly fine with just a bit of coastal cloud. Sunrise has been around ten to seven in the morning, with sunset just after five in the evening, so the bite windows around dawn and that last hour of light have been prime. The cooler water and shorter days have pushed a lot of the better snapper bites into those edges of the day, plus the change-of-light around the tide turns. Tides on the upper east coast have been running mid‑morning highs and late‑afternoon lows, with a decent bit of movement but nothing extreme. That has suited soft‑baiters and slow‑jiggers nicely, especially over the sand and mud fringes where snapper have been grazing on shellfish and baitfish. Recent reports from local tackle shops and charter skippers talk about good numbers of **pannie snapper** in 10–25 metres right round the inner Hauraki Gulf, with the odd 60–70 cm model taken off the foul and deeper pins. Off Coromandel and western Bay of Plenty there have been steady hauls of snapper and **trevally**, plus a few **kingfish** still hanging on reefs, markers, and work‑ups when the bait has pushed in. The far north – Doubtless Bay, Karikari, out toward the Garden Patch – has seen **puka**, bigger **kingies**, and solid **snapper** for those willing to run wide on the calm days. Lure-wise, it has been very much a **soft‑bait and slow‑jig game** inshore. Natural baitfish colours – browns, motor‑oil, new penny, and muted baitfish patterns – are out‑fishing the brights in the clear winter water. In 1/4 to 1/2 oz jig heads over the inner‑gulf sand, just a slow drag and pause has been deadly. Out deeper, 60–120 g slow‑pitch jigs in pink, orange, and blue/silver are doing the business on snapper and the odd kingfish, especially when there’s sign mid‑water. For those fishing bait, **fresh is best**. Strips of freshly caught kahawai, mullet, and jack mackerel, plus whole baby squid and small pilchards, are all producing. Smaller hooks and tidy baits are out‑performing big slabs in the cooler water – think 4/0–5/0 recurves on a ledger or running rig. A smear of berley has been key in the shallows, but you don’t need a trail like a burley bomb; a steady trickle is enough to pull fish onto your patch without bringing in every shark in the Gulf. A couple of North Island hot spots to circle on the map: • **Rangitoto Channel & the worm beds, inner Hauraki Gulf** – Snapper schooling over the mud in 12–18 metres, especially on the incoming tide around dawn. Ideal for drifting soft‑baits and micro‑jigs. • **Rurima Shoals and adjacent reefs off Whakatāne** – Mixed bags of snapper, trevally, and rat to legal kingfish around the pins and edges. Slow‑pitch jigs and livies are top choices when the current’s humming. If you’re land‑based, the eastern side rocky ledges from Whangaparaoa north through Kawau and up to the Bay of Islands have been turning over nice evening snapper on stray‑lined baits, especially when there’s a bit of swell and wash. That’s it from Artificial Lure today. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next 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