Tahiti Early Dry Season: Dawn Tides and Offshore Pelagics

This is Artificial Lure with your Tahiti fishing report. We’re sitting in a classic early‑dry‑season pattern around Tahiti and Moorea. Trade winds are settled in from the east–southeast, blowing moderate most of the day with lighter spells early morning and late afternoon. Skies have been partly cloudy with the usual quick tropical showers rolling off the mountains, but plenty of sun between squalls. Air temps are warm and sticky, sea surface sitting in the upper 20s Celsius, perfect for both reef and offshore action. First light is easing in just after 5:00 a.m., with sunrise soon after, and the sun dropping behind Moorea around 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. That gives you two strong windows: grey‑light dawn and the last hour before dark. Tides swing twice a day here; expect a decent morning incoming pushing up along the reefs, then another push late afternoon. On the rising water, bait stacks tight to the reef edges and passes, and that’s when things really wake up. The offshore bite has been solid. Local skippers running out of Papeete and Marina Taina have been into good numbers of **mahi‑mahi**, scattered **yellowfin tuna**, and some **wahoo** along the current lines and FADs southwest and west of Tahiti and between Tahiti and Moorea. A few **blue marlin** and the odd **sailfish** have been raised on the troll, nothing ridiculous, but enough to keep the lures honest. Boats are coming back with a mixed box: a handful of tuna in the 10–25 kg range, a couple of mahi per crew, and the lucky ones hanging a wahoo or a billfish tag. Best lures offshore right now are medium to large skirted lures in blues, greens, and lumo, run on the short and long corners for marlin and bigger tuna. For mahi and wahoo, smaller jet heads and bullets in pink/white or blue/silver are doing damage, especially when worked fast along the edges of weed lines or bird life. If you’re live‑baiting, a bridled small bonito or skipjack slow‑trolled around the FADs can be deadly on marlin and big yellowfin. Inshore, the lagoons and outer reefs have been lively. Lagoon fishermen and spearos around Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti have been finding **parrotfish**, **goatfish**, **jobfish** (tarao), and smaller **trevally** on the reef flats, with bigger **GTs** and **bluefin trevally** hunting the drop‑offs and passes when the tide is pumping. Night sessions on the reef edges are turning up decent **snapper** and **jacks**. For bait, you can’t beat fresh: small pilchards, cut bonito, or squid fished near the reef passes. On artificials, topwater stickbaits and poppers in natural baitfish colors work great over the reef ledges and bommies at first light, especially around passes where the whitewater meets the blue. Soft plastics on jig heads, worked along the bottom on the inside edge of the reef, will pick off goatfish and smaller reef dwellers all day. A couple of hot spots if you’re heading out: • The passes and outer reef edges around **Passe de Taapuna** on Tahiti’s west side: good for trevally, jacks, and reef species on an incoming tide, and a quick run to deeper water if you want to chase tuna and mahi off the drop. • The channel between **Tahiti and Moorea**, especially around the FADs southwest of Tahiti: strong pelagic action when the current and birds line up, with regular catches of mahi, tuna, and wahoo. Work the dawn incoming tide on the reef, then slide offshore mid‑morning when the sun is higher and you can spot birds and color changes. Wrap your day back on the reef at sunset with a popper or a bit of fresh bait, and you’ve got the full Tahiti package. That’s your report from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a trip. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn