Bay of Islands Fishing Report - 13th November 2025

The fishing reports are somewhat mixed with some anglers reporting school fish stacked up at the 30m mark and others (like myself) who struggle to find them. I’ve been out a few times over the past fortnight and my best success has been deep, around 75-80m on heavy slow jigs. Compared to last year, the Bay just hasn’t “fired” yet and despite marking a lot of bait, we haven’t encountered a decent workup. I’m finding I have to resort to adding a bit of bait on the slow jigs to generate a bite and this makes the day more interesting with additional species such as a frostfish being caught.
 
Some customers have reporting that the kingfishing has been great around the hole in the rock although the tax man is taking 3 out of 4 fish. A few yellowfin have been caught and I’m thinking the next weather window will be dusting off the game gear and towing a few lures around.

Coming up on the fishing calender is the Rock Hoppers competition on the 21st to 23rd November. This is a fiercely fought competition and already a number of contenders are practicing and refining their techniques. There  will no doubt be a couple of good stories to tell…