North Island Winter Fishing: Snapper, Tarakihi and Early Light Bites

Kia ora, this is Artificial Lure with your North Island fishing report. We’ve got a settled early‑winter pattern over much of the North Island today: cool mornings, light southerlies easing to gentle variable breezes on both coasts, and mostly clear skies with the odd coastal shower. MetService has overnight lows near 6–8 degrees inland and daytime highs around 14–16 along the coasts, with seas generally slight to moderate. Sunrise was around twenty past seven this morning, with sunset just after five, giving a short but tidy bite window at both ends of the day. NIWA’s tide tables show mid‑morning highs and late‑afternoon lows on both the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty coasts today, which lines up nicely with that change‑of‑light period. The incoming tide around the Gulf has been the standout for snapper, while the last hour of the outgoing has fired for kahawai and gurnard off the west coast beaches. Reports from local tackle shops around Auckland and Whangārei say the snapper are still holding in 15–25 metres, with pannies in the 32–45 cm range common and the odd bigger model nudging 60 cm taken on soft‑baits and stray‑lined baits. Out wider, workups have been patchy but when they’ve popped up under gannets, anglers are finding mixed bags of snapper and kahawai, with a few kingfish cruising the edges. Bay of Plenty charters out of Tauranga and Whakatāne are talking about good hauls of tarakihi on the reefs, plus some solid trevally and the occasional john dory. Fish activity has been classic winter mode: short, intense bite times. The best action has been: - First hour of light on the incoming in 10–18 metres up the inner Gulf - Mid‑tide over reef structure for tarakihi and trevally - Late‑arvo outgoing on the west coast for kahawai and gurnard in the surf gutters For lures, keep it subtle and natural. Inshore snapper are loving 3–5 inch soft‑baits in natural baitfish and bruised pilchard colours on 3/8–1/2 oz jig heads. Micro‑jigs and slow‑pitch jigs in 20–60 grams, in pink, blue and gold, are doing the damage under workups and over reef country. Kingfish hunters are having success with 80–120 gram mechanical jigs in green and chrome, and live‑baited mackerel around marker buoys and reef edges. Bait fishos should stick with the classics: fresh mullet, squid, pilchard and bonito cubes on a stray‑line rig over foul ground, and small shellfish or prawn baits for tarakihi and trevally. On the west coast beaches, bonito and mullet strips on pulley or clipped‑down rigs are turning up good kahawai and some nice table‑sized snapper when the surf settles. Couple of hot spots to put on the list: - Around Auckland, the worm beds and nearby edges in 12–18 metres between Rangitoto and Motutapu have been producing steady snapper on soft‑baits and lightly weighted baits, especially on the incoming around dawn. - In the Bay of Plenty, the reefs off Motiti Island are fishing well for tarakihi, trevally and a few solid snapper, with micro‑jigs and small baits fished just off the bottom doing the trick. If you’re heading out, fish light, fish early, and pay attention to that tide change – the winter fish are there, you just need to be on the spot when they switch on. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn