Most of the game fish are in the area between the Poor Knights Islands and Great Barrier Island. One boat hooked and lost two marlin while trolling off Barrier last weekend.
The area north of the Bay of Islands has been slow, and the eastern Bay of Plenty is also having hard fishing. Conditions are good there, but the fish are scarce. But the first marlin for three years has been caught in Hawkes Bay waters.
Another welcome occurrence is the prevalence of yellowfin tuna, a species which has always been popular but has been absent from our waters for several years.
This summer, small yellowfin have been caught in many areas, although the more common skipjack tuna are strangely absent.
The warm currents that bring game fish to our shores every summer must be warmer in patches because the rare tropical visitor mahimahi is already being found although it is still early in the season.
These beautiful fish are spectacular jumpers and prized table fish. They like to hang around floating debris such as logs or floats broken off nets, and can be targeted by trolling small lures past the flotsam. They will also take lures like soft plastics, and a large pink lure cast and retrieved back to the boat will provoke strikes. Where you find one mahimahi you will invariably find more as they travel in schools.
Blue marlin, which were hard to find last summer, have also turned up in numbers.
But when blues arrive, the more common striped marlin are usually scarce and this has also been the pattern this month. They will no doubt turn up later in the season, which can stretch to May before the game fish depart for northern waters.
Snapper were late moving into the Bay of Islands this spring, but fishing has been good over the past month.
Bottom fishing in the Bay of Plenty has also been good, with tarakihi around in good numbers and snapper not hard to find in inshore waters. Kingfish, usually the mainstay of the game fishing out of Whakatane, have been patchy with more fish coming from water over 200m deep.
Snapper are still running well off Raglan and can be found all along the west coast. The Manukau harbour is fishing well for gurnard and snapper.
On the east side of Auckland, the big tides over the weekend should help snapper fishermen, but the currents will be too strong in the channel for anything but drifting, or fishing on either side of slack water.
There are good numbers of snapper in inshore waters, but most are small fish and care should be taken when returning them to the water. Larger fish can still be found between 32m and 40m in the Hauraki Gulf.
Fresh water
The size and condition of the trout coming out of Lake Taupo is impressing anglers. The best fish are being caught in deep water, and jigging is working well. There are also some fresh-run trout in the Tongariro River, and the first cicadas are making themselves heard.
When the cicada hatch is in full swing later in the summer some excellent fishing with large dry flies can be had on the lower Tongariro, and on Lake Otamangakau.
The runs of salmon in Canterbury rivers started in November then slowed, but the fish are there - one angler caught six salmon last week when jet-boating between pools.
The problem is low water flows, and a switch to light tackle and spin gear will help.
The main runs will be in February and March, so there is plenty of fishing to come on the main rivers.
A programme of raising young salmon in two hatcheries and releasing them into the rivers is starting to pay off, with more fish returning as adults to spawn.
Bite times
Bite times are 4.15am and 4.45pm tomorrow and 5.10am and 5.35pm on Sunday.
Tip of the week
When releasing unwanted snapper it is better not to take them out of the water. The hook can be flicked out with long-nosed pliers when the fish is by the boat. If a fish must be lifted out, use a wet towel to hold it then slip it gently back. Dry hands can damage the layer of mucous which protects the skin from infection.
• More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 5pm Saturday, TV3, and at GTTackle.co.nz.
