Opotiki Fishing Charters

July 2026 Review

July has been a reasonably busy and productive month.
For mid winter the weather has been consistently good, apart from the occasional minor short unfavorable bursts. So we have had remarkably few weather cancelations.

The fishing has also been consistently good.
With limit bags of Snapper the norm. And the visits east to the Bluefin grounds have also been productive apart from one unsuccessful trip.
The Snapper have still mostly been in the medium size category but the bite has been consistently good, with some trips loading up quick fire.
Kahawai again have been a little patchy. Some days good numbers are in the mix, the next all Snapper.
Kingfish have been a little harder to come by, as all our fishing has been in the shallower 15-20m depths, but the Kingfish we have taken have been in the 15kg range.

The Bluefin Tuna have continued their great season.
We have had limited luck trolling with lures, but the night jigging has produced fish on every attempt.

August preview
Aug is historically one of our slower months, crew wise.
But the fishing is still productive and well worth the effort.
The Snapper and Kahawai schools will still be active and the Kingfish more common in the deeper spots.
August should see the end of the Bluefin Tuna run so the offshore ventures will return to the bottom species such as Bluenose and Hapuku.

July has been a reasonably busy and productive month

June 2026 Review

With the passing of June and the onset of July we are already into the mid point of the year, I guess time flies when you're having fun.

June has been reasonably busy, a long mid month period of southerly winds has made the sea fishable on most occasions with only a few trips canceled.
But some of the outings we have been limited to the closer inshore spots with the sea state deteriorating further offshore.

The Snapper bite has been steady, but not spectacular. Fish have been slowly filling the bins but we have had to move a few times most days to secure the numbers and quality of fish we desire.
There has been a good variety of species in the bins with Snapper (of course) but also a good number of gurnard and kahawai in the mix and when we've been able to venture a little further afield the 40m mark has served up some nice Kingfish.

There has also been some weather windows so we have managed a couple of trips east to Waihau Bay targeting Bluefin Tuna. With some success including getting a few of them to attach themselves to our terminal tackle.
There seems to be good numbers around this year and a bit of time and luck has seen us enjoying it.

July preview
Mid winter fishing can be a bit daunting for some fair weather fishermen, but for those willing to brave the cooler temperatures can be well rewarded for their efforts.
Snapper will still be our main target and we will continue hunting for them in close and if unsuccessful moving a little further out to the school fish.
Kingfish will also be a target with July sometimes producing good numbers.
We will also keep an eye out for the weather windows and head offshore to target Bluefin Tuna.

There has been a good variety of fish species in the bins

May 2026 Review

May's weather was a bit of a mixed bag, but on the most part had some great winter days. Especially early in the month.

Activity wise it's been a little slower than most Mays and we haven't been able to take full advantage of the lovely calm seas.
The fishing was as expected early in the month with the shallow sand banks and mud flats serving up some exciting fishing. This changed dramatically later in the month with these spots going nearly completely dead. And fishing in close becoming a real struggle.

I think this may have had something to do with water temperatures, which have up to now remained remarkably steady, suddenly taking a plunge over May and losing 3-4° in a couple of weeks. Which may have upset the fish in the shallower spots.
After a couple of slow trips inshore making a move out yo the deeper spots saw us getting into good numbers of fish once again.
Snapper are currently in great nick.
And although there are still plenty of smaller pickers amongst them, enough of the better fish are included in the schools to keep the bins filling nicely.
Kingfish are also amongst the schools with the deeper 40m spots serving in some nice fish most of our trips there.
Kahawai have been patchy, some days only a few in the mix and the next good numbers of them.
May also gave us the opportunity to head out wide and target the deep sea species and as can sometimes be the case we've had mixed success with a variety of Bluenose, Hapuka and Gem fish in the bin.

June preview
With May ending and the start of June we have seen a real and obvious onset into the start of winter.
With the water temperature declining we will look forward to the winter phase of our fishing season.
The inshore spots will still fish well at times with the bigger fish more resilient to the temperature variation but a lot of time will be out deeper with the larger schools.
The offshore species like Puka and Bluenose will also be in our sights and as we move through June Bluefin Tuna will also be included in our target species.

May's weather was a bit of a mixed bag, but on the most part it had some great early winter days

April 2026 Review

April was for the most part, a very nice month.
If you forget the tropical cyclone and the week of heavy westerlies following.

The fishing has varied from day to day,
Some days have been quick fire with good numbers of nice fish coming in at a steady pace.
And the next it's back to the hoardes of smaller pan sized Snapper thrashing the baits and having to be waded through to accumulate the better keeper sized.
But overall there has been a noticeable improvement in the size and quality of the fish.

Kingfish have also turned up again after going absent the previous month, and we have regularly been heading home with one or two on board.
Kahawai have been of mixed sizes and most seem to be on the surface chasing bait fish but they have been adding to the fish bins.
Gurnard have also moved in with good numbers of nice sized fish a welcome addition.

Most of our efforts have been in the 20-25m depths. On the days when we've happened on the pany schools, relocating to a new spot of similar depth has got us onto better fish.

May Preview
May has started with some great weather,
Long May it persist
As we've moved through autumn the mornings are starting with a bit more chill in the air.
But we really enjoy this time of year. The days may start cooler but soon warm up, without the extreme heat of summer.
And fisho's should enjoy the shallow water fishing autumn can dish up.

Some days have been quick fire, with good numbers of nice fish