Winter Quality Bite: Snapper, Gurnard, and Kings Across the North Island

Kia ora, this is Artificial Lure with your North Island fishing report. Light winter pattern settling in across the motu now. Around Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf we’ve had cool southwesterlies, a bit of early drizzle, then clearing to broken cloud and chilly but fishable conditions. Overnight lows near single digits, daytime pushing low teens with a modest breeze on the water. Similar story for the Bay of Plenty and Northland coasts: cool, mostly dry, and very workable if you’re layered up. Sunrise was around twenty-past seven this morning, with sunset just after five. The prime bite windows have been the first couple of hours after dawn and that late-afternoon push into dark, especially on the inshore foul. Tides are on a middling phase, with useful current but not ripping. Think mid-morning high on the east coast and an evening low, give or take an hour depending where you are. That’s set up nicely for a dawn-session incoming and a late arvo outgoing over the reefs and sand edges. Recent action has been classic winter: fewer rats, more quality. In the inner Hauraki Gulf and up towards Kawau and Tiritiri, snapper in the 35–50 cm range have been coming aboard in steady numbers when anglers sit on sign and fish patiently. Gurnard are starting to feature on the sand in 10–25 metres off the East Coast Bays and out from Orere and Kaiaua, with the odd bigger model turning up in berley trails. A few solid kahawai workups have popped up under birds mid-Gulf and off Bream Bay, and those have occasionally had school kingfish ghosting the edges. Further down in the Bay of Plenty, boats off Tauranga and around Motiti have found pannies and the odd 60+ snapper in 40–60 metres, plus trevally and good kahawai when the bait’s stacked. Lure-wise, soft-baits and slow jigs are still doing the heavy lifting. Natural browns, motor-oil, and nuclear chicken soft-baits in 4–5 inch sizes have been productive on snapper, especially when drifted down-current on light jig heads. Slow-pitch jigs and inchikus in 40–80 grams, in pink, orange, and lumo, are fishing well when dropped onto sign and worked gently a metre or two off the bottom. For those bait fishing, fresh kahawai or mullet strips, squid, and small bonito cubes are the go, fished on lightly weighted strayline rigs in the shallows or simple ledger rigs on the sand. A modest berley trail is helping draw gurnard and trevally into range. Couple of hot spots to think about: – The foul and pins around Tiritiri Matangi and between Tiri and Kawau: start in 25–45 metres, watch the sounder for bait and arches, and work soft-baits or slow jigs along the contour lines. Early morning incoming tide there has been producing some chunky snapper and mid-size kings. – The sand and shell around 18–30 metres off Papamoa and down towards Kaituna Cut in the Bay of Plenty: boats fishing small baits and slow jigs over scattered sign have been pulling a nice mix of snapper, gurnard, and kahawai, especially on the change of light and around tide changes. Activity is definitely more “quality over quantity” now, so take your time to find good sign, fish smaller offerings, and be ready to move if the sounder’s empty but your baits are getting chewed by pickers. That’s the latest from Artificial Lure. 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