Bay of islands - New Zealand

[fishbone]

Hi guys
Heading to Bay of islands -in the north of new zealand for a few weeks. Can anyone give me any info on the fishing in the area? would love to do some trout (river fishing) while im there. Is there anything in the area or is it too far north and seaward? Im gonna be cruising on a yacht so will def try for some salt water species but really keen for the trout too.. Also any guide recommendations in the area will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
Chris

[Nepptune]

Fishbone - Do yourself a favour and sign up to this site:
http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/

Great bunch of blokes who will give you a ton of info.... try get hold of Craig Worthington on the forum ( he hangs out in the Saltwater flyfishing section ) for the salt stuff, and get hold of a guy called "Badger" or "The Badger" for the freshwater stuff...

[sybie99]

Hi Chris,

Cant give any advice on fly fishing in the Bay of Islands, but would definitely recommend you have a go for striped marlin on conventional tackle on a deep sea charter - if its not too early in the season. Even without the fishing the scenery will make any deep sea fishing trip worthwhile. I did a charter off Paihia, cant remember the skippers name as it was back in 2005, but can say it was amazing. Also lots of big yellowfin tuna. For trout you probably have to travel south to Taupo area with the Tongariro River near Turangi offering easy access to a stunning river.

Enjoy it, that country was made for fishing!

[KevinE]

Some very good sea fishing in the Bay of islands. If you want to do some saltwater flyfishing, contact Craig Worthington as Nepptune says. He lives there and is the man to ask for advice. For conventional tackle, a simple ledger rig will get you into snapper - great eating.

There is some trout fishing available near the BOI. It is not great by NZ standards, but still pretty good by most. And you should have the streams to yourself. Stop in at Fish and Game's Whangarei offices on your way through. They'll point you in the right direction. http://www.fishandgame.org.nz/Site/R...d/fishing.aspx. I don't think there are any trout guides up there.

[Kevin James]

I'm over in NZ at the moment.

Season is a bit early for the marlin fishing from speaking to some mates.
Your best time over here is after Xmas and into the new year.

I'm decking again in February chasing marlin on fly up north. Usually not a bad bite around that time.

The trout fishing up north is pretty ordinary to be honest, but there are Kai Iwi lakes. Up north it's mostly salt water and along most of the piers and jetties you'll find more fish than most blokes would know about.

There are charters available, but flyfishing is specialised and you'd be better off getting a boat for yourself and doing it rather than sharing a charter.

That fishing site Neptune was on about is very good.

My handle on that is "Jaapie" - if you do get hold of Craig, mention my name. He is a very good fisherman and usually gets a few blokes to tag along with him if he's not busy.

Most of the freshwater fishing is a good 6 hours from where you are in BOI - if you have a car, getting around is much easier.

Great country and some really friendly people who will go out of their way to help you if ask politely. If you get a chance, Whangaroa is a great harbour a bit further from BOI, which is a phenomenal fishery.

Good luck - there's more water than most blokes would be able to fish in a lifetime here.

[fishbone]

Awesome, thanks for the responses. Thanks for the site Neptune. lods of good info on there.
Recon I will make the 5 or hour trip to trout country and spend a few days trekking down there, but majority of fishing will be salt water. What sort of fish would be hanging round the jetties and harbors up there in BOI and Whangaroa?
Dogtooth, are you gonna be round BOI in Jan?

[Nepptune]

Fishbone - NZ has without a doubt the finest yellowtail fishery on the planet.. they call them Kingfish over there, and what would be a high quality fish here in SA, they would deem to be a "rat" over there... fish over 30 kilos are relatively common on jigging gear... maybe not so common on fly, but the fish are there!

Depending on the time of year, they get alot of Kings in the Harbours/Jetties etc, as well as a fantastic snapper fishery, and Trevally too... Craig Worthington is defintely the man to get hold of....

[Nepptune]

An example of a "decent" NZ Tail:

[briansflyfishing]

I watched " the Tracker" that was shot in N.Z. Everytime they crossed a river I could not help but thnk how many trout dashed for cover. A beautifull place. Enjoy.