Tahiti Early Dry Season: Trevally, Tuna, and Prime Dawn and Dusk Bite Windows

This is Artificial Lure checking in with your Tahiti fishing report. Out here around Tahiti and Moorea, we’re sitting in that classic early dry‑season pattern: light trades in the morning, stiffening by midday, then easing toward sunset. Skies are mostly clear with a few passing ocean clouds, and the lagoon is laying down nicely at dawn before the wind ruffles the surface later. Tides today are running a moderate morning incoming, peaking mid‑morning, then draining out through early afternoon with another smaller push in the evening. The best bite has been on that **first half of the flood** and the **top of the tide**, when the current wakes up but the water’s still clear. Sunrise slid in just after 6 a.m., and sunset will be just before 6 p.m., so your prime windows: first light to about 9 a.m., then again from 4 p.m. to dark. That late‑afternoon glass‑off inside the lagoon has been turning on the reef edges and passes. Inshore, the lagoon and outer reef have been lively. Local skippers report solid numbers of **bluefin trevally**, **GTs (uru)**, **coral trout**, and plenty of **parrotfish and goatfish** for the table. Around the channels, there have been **small dogtooth tuna** and a few **wahoo** cruising the drop‑offs, with scattered **mahimahi** for boats pushing a bit farther off. On the offshore side, charter crews out of Papeete have been finding **yellowfin tuna in the 10–30 kg class**, some **bigger dogtooth** on the seamounts, and the odd **marlin** for those dragging plastics all morning. A handful of boats this past week brought in mixed bags of 4–8 tuna per trip, plus a mahimahi or two when the birds are working. Lure choice has mattered. For casting along the reef and the passes: - **Medium stickbaits** in blue‑silver or green‑mackerel patterns - **40–80 g metal jigs** dropped on the edge and ripped back fast - **Surface poppers** at first light for GTs and bluefin Inside the lagoon, locals are doing well with: - **Soft plastics** on light jigheads in lagoon blue or pearl - Small **minnow plugs** in natural baitfish colors Offshore, the hot producers have been: - **Skirted lures** in purple‑black, blue‑silver, and lumo green run short and long down the spread - **Feather jigs and small bullets** for school‑size yellowfin - When bait’s available, **live or chunked skipjack and small bonito** are still king for big tuna and dogtooth around structure If you’re soaking bait on the reef, fresh **squid**, **cut bonito**, and **local crab or shrimp** pieces will keep you busy with snapper and reef fish. For night fishing off the wharf or reef flats, a simple bottom rig with fresh cut bait has been turning up emperors and jobfish. A couple of hot spots to keep in mind: - **Passe de Taapuna**, just west of Papeete: strong current lines on the incoming tide, good for trevally, reef predators, and the odd passing pelagic if you work the drop‑off. - The outer reef and drop‑off off **Faa’a and Punaauia**: troll the blue edge for tuna and mahimahi, then slide in to cast poppers on the reef points when the sun gets low. Work the tide, fish the low‑light windows, and keep an eye on the birds and bait balls offshore. The fish are here; you just need to be out when they’re feeding. 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