Anglers looking for a dinner of fresh fish over the long weekend don't have to go past the harbours at the moment.

There is a trout lure called a toby which has been around for generations, and like many top lures it originated in Scandinavia. But, as with most fishing experiences, one is often surprised at how the fish change the rules or do the unexpected.

Fishing is fickle, the saying goes. And as summer departs and cold nights descend and leaves start turning, the snapper turn up. It has been a long wait, but the old Maori knew this was often the way. They called May tamure, in honour of the snapper.

Recreational fishers are waking up this morning to tighter daily limits for snapper caught off the upper North Island's east coast, including the Hauraki Gulf.

Scientists have used an underwater camera to count large snapper in Hauraki Gulf marine reserves.

Celebrity chef Michael Van de Elzen has stepped up to the plate to support a charity fishing event.

Snapper fishers will need to lengthen their rulers and return more fish to the sea from Tuesday as measures to restore the country's most popular fishery take effect.

Cuts to snapper limits come into force on Tuesday, with the increase in the minimum size from 27cm to 30cm. The new rules apply only to the Snapper 1 area, which runs from Cape Runaway to North Cape on the east coast, which is the main snapper fishery.

It is not often you come across a totally new style of fishing, particularly one which outfishes everything you thought you knew. Like most innovations in the world of snapper fishing this came from Japan.

There have been some bright spots on the fishing scene, with occasional bags of nice snapper reported.

A shark, more than two metres long and believed to be a bronze whaler, washed ashore on Auckland's Browns Bay beach just after midday today.

No woman in New Zealand has caught a bigger fish than the giant Pacific bluefin tuna that Aucklander Donna Pascoe reeled in this week

Kingfish are the prime target at present, with mega-sized models up to 40kg coming from the top of the Coromandel Peninsula at spots like Square Top Island.

Witnesses and club officials are verifying a Northland 8-year-old's feat of landing a marlin 10 times his own weight.

Northland fisheries officers say they have seen little illegal fishing over the holiday period.

Two Auckland holidaymakers suspected of illegally fishing inside a Northland marine reserve could face charges.

New technology designed to prevent fish dumping by the country's commercial fishing fleet will be unveiled today.

Before Michelle Goodhew started catching babies, she was catching fish.

A unique fishing contest next week is an opportunity for families to go fishing and win a prize.

The gannets set their sharp wings like those on a jet plane.

At just 119 nautical miles, next weekend's Coastal Classic Yacht Race is far from being New Zealand's longest coastal race.