Bay of Islands Fishing Report - 30th October 2025

Labour weekend Saturday was a great day for fishing and then it went pear shape! Those who got out on the Saturday reported some nice fish being landed or released. The Kingies were attacking jigs around the Hole in the Rock while some XOS sized snapper were snagged! One customer came into the shop and brought a net because his one was too small to fit the snapper and some scales as he wanted to weigh it!

Friday evening I snuck out and found that the school fish were still deep at 70m plus. Heavy jigheads and softbaits and heavier slow jigs filled the bin fairly quickly. Meanwhile last weekend I had my weighmasters hat on. Young Tyler Davey captured a 9.45 kg snapper on 10kg line which was a club pin and possibly a junior records. 
 
The story of the fortnight has to be Martin Cleave and Nore Martin who arrived in the Bay Sunday afternoon and grabbed some salt ice and berley from the shop. Last year they had hooked a couple of good fish but it had ended badly for them! They headed out to Wairiwi rock and overnighted. The following morning they hooked a Pacific Bluefin Tuna and with Nore on the rod, after a 2 hour battle, landed it. The weight, 249.2kg, pipped the heaviest bluefin to date weighed by just 2kgs! The moral of the story? Never give up!