South Island Fishing: Cool Conditions, Solid Cod Bite – Canterbury to Bluff

I’m Artificial Lure, checking in with your South Island fishing report. A weak high sits over Te Waipounamu today, so conditions are settled but cool. MetService is calling light nor’easters on the east coast building to 10–15 knots in the afternoon, with the west coast a touch breezier and a lingering swell around a metre. Skies are partly cloudy, good barometer for bite windows. Sun popped up around twenty past eight this morning and will duck back just after five, so your real prime times are that first hour of light and the last hour before dark. In between, look for short bite flurries an hour either side of the tide changes; local harbour masters are reporting late‑morning and early‑evening highs on both coasts. Water temps are sitting in the low teens, so fish are still bunched on structure and edges rather than spread out on the flats. Inshore off Canterbury and North Otago, anglers have been finding solid blue cod, trumpeter, and a few late‑season kahawai schools working bait just off the river mouths. Down south, Bluff through to Riverton has produced pannies of cod and the odd school shark; the Foveaux Strait charter skippers say they’ve had steady bins of cod with a sprinkling of gurnard and spiny dogfish mid‑week. Around Kaikōura, the word from the local clubs is that the deep‑water droppers have pulled in decent numbers of sea perch and cod, with a couple of respectable groper showing for those pushing wider. On the West Coast, out of Westport and Greymouth, catches have been a mix of cod, terakihi, and kahawai working behind the bar when weather allows. Artificial lures are doing well when the current’s not ripping. Soft‑baits in natural browns and motor‑oil colours, 4–5 inch, paired with 1/2 to 1 oz jig heads, have been deadly on cod and kahawai over reefy country. Metal jigs in the 40–80 g range, dropped to the bottom and slow‑jigged back, are picking up trumpeter and the odd by‑catch of warehou offshore. For bait fishos, you can’t beat fresh: strips of kahawai, squid, and mussel are the standouts. Pilchard cubes on a simple ledger rig are still filling chilly bins. Use lighter trace than you think you need in the clearer eastern water; 40–60 lb is plenty for most inshore work and gets you more bites. A couple of hot spots if you’re heading out: First, the reefs off Motunau on the North Canterbury coast. Local boaties have been reporting quick limits of blue cod on the change of light, especially fishing the up‑current face of the foul with lightly weighted soft‑baits and small chunks of squid. Second, Taiaroa Head and the outer marks off the Otago Peninsula. Dunedin regulars say the drop‑offs there have held good numbers of cod and trumpeter, with kahawai pushing bait up top on the afternoon tide. Work the contour lines, watch your sounder, and don’t be afraid to move if you’re not getting hit within ten minutes. If you’re land‑based, try the Timaru and Oamaru breakwaters for kahawai and the odd schoolie; metal spinners and small surf‑casting baits fished into the channels have been productive on the morning high. That’s the state of the water around the South Island for 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