Fishing in New Zealand in June July - What's Biting ? Where to go?

[LuckyLady]

We have a member who will be there in the upcoming moments for a trip and he wanted to know what is biting and what should he be targeting???

Help a brotha and sister out.. Thanks in advance!

[tom s]

where in NZ,great area is bay of islands.There is a boat there called the major tom.Great capt.He can fish marlin,swords,kingfish(yellowtail).Im sure he can do a internet searcch.I fished with him a few years ago.Tom

[Roddy Hays]

Summer season fishing will be at an end, though there may still be some boats fishing the Kings and further offshore at the Wanganella Banks for striped marlin and swordfish (the Ultimate Lady will be the boat doing that). So if you're north of Auckland (Bay if Islands etc) you'll only really be looking at kingfish (yellowtail) or bottom species such as snapper, hapuka and others.

However, the big tuna season should be well underway by then, and the west coast of the South Island (think Greymouth) will be busy with the cream of the Kiwi charter fleet busy down that way taking out clients for giant Pacific bluefin. These are big fish - think Nova Scotia but in far from ideal conditions, offshore in cold weather and with the added bonus of being involved with rusty old factory trawlers at night, just 50' away. There are some bonus fish here too - southern bluefin (smaller to about 400lbs), huge makos and the possibility of some enormous swordfish if you can find a captain willing to try. This is not a fishery for the fainthearted. All ports are accessed by a bar, and bad weather can keep you both shore-bound and offshore for days at a time. The Kiwis fish hard, 24/7 on these multi-day trips, often from a boat with no chair, and it can be both tough and incredible fishing.

My suggestion would be to e-mail Kerren Packer, main man behind the Ultimate Fishing Show, and see what he has to say.

kerren@thefishingshow.co.nz

[reel fool]

I'll put my plug in for Jason Wooton on the Te Ariki Nui. Met him on the reef few years ago. Had the NZ record for bluefin for a bit. Fishes the bluefin tuna season hard out of the GreyMouth.
Can't go wrong here.
and the bluefin bite there is unorthodox from how we target them in the USA.
catch 'em up

http://www.game-fishing.co.nz/