Bay of Islands Fishing Report 30Nov23
The Bay of Islands continues to provide great snapper fishing. My good mate, Tony from Tauranga, came up for last weekend to get his annual “fix” of fishing in the BOI. And it didn’t disappoint. The 1st day we got two fish around the 20lb mark but unfortunately our release efforts failed. My new lure is the Squidtrex which I have been fishing consistently for 3 weeks. It has produced the largest fish on every day being fished on a softbait setup.
Then last Sunday it happened! A nice snapper took the lure and I was making progress until Mr. Bronzy helped himself to my fish. Forty minutes later I got the shark to the boat where we decided to cut him off. We then decided that was enough for one day as we had a few pannies in the bin for tea that night.
Our spot is still the middle of the Bay between 40 and 45 meters and the slow drift still provides results even on the slow days. Any jig with some orange colour of 120-140g have been the best performing but we have been using the heavier ones as the drift was too fast for the lighter models. The fishing has been a little hit and miss over the last few days but I’m told that those who preserve eventually get a few in the bin.
There were 79 anglers fishing the local Rockhoppers competition on the weekend of the 18-19 November in some challenging conditions, with strong winds and a large swell. At the briefing it was recommended that all the anglers wear life jackets – this was great advice as I hear a few of the anglers got to have a swim from a rogue wave while night fishing (including the convenor himself!) and luckily all were wearing their jackets. Nobody was harmed except perhaps some pride but some gear was lost. The biggest snapper went 7.44kg caught by Louis Mulcare and he also picked up the prize for the longest measured and released snapper at 71cm.
Next on the fishing tournament is the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club Ice Breaker competition, to be held 9-10th December. There is $25,000 in prizes on offer so I expect a large number of teams will be out there doing it! Anybody interested should check out the Swordfish club website.
Come into the shop to check out the latest in gear, get your bait, ice and berley, and most importantly, some genuine intel! We are now open 7 days a week, 9am to 4pm, but are always available to run down to the shop after hours. Just give me a call!