Opotiki Fishing Charters

Opotiki Fishing Charters Opotiki fishing charters caters to small groups of friends or family targeting New Zealand's favouri

03/06/2026

May 2026 Review

May's weather was a bit of a mixed bag, but on the most part had some great winter days. Especially early in the month.

Activity wise it's been a little slower than most Mays and we haven't been able to take full advantage of the lovely calm seas.
The fishing was as expected early in the month with the shallow sand banks and mud flats serving up some exciting fishing. This changed dramatically later in the month with these spots going nearly completely dead. And fishing in close becoming a real struggle.

I think this may have had something to do with water temperatures, which have up to now remained remarkably steady, suddenly taking a plunge over May and losing 3-4° in a couple of weeks. Which may have upset the fish in the shallower spots.
After a couple of slow trips inshore making a move out yo the deeper spots saw us getting into good numbers of fish once again.
Snapper are currently in great nick.
And although there are still plenty of smaller pickers amongst them, enough of the better fish are included in the schools to keep the bins filling nicely.
Kingfish are also amongst the schools with the deeper 40m spots serving in some nice fish most of our trips there.
Kahawai have been patchy, some days only a few in the mix and the next good numbers of them.
May also gave us the opportunity to head out wide and target the deep sea species and as can sometimes be the case we've had mixed success with a variety of Bluenose, Hapuka and Gem fish in the bin.

June preview
With May ending and the start of June we have seen a real and obvious onset into the start of winter.
With the water temperature declining we will look forward to the winter phase of our fishing season.
The inshore spots will still fish well at times with the bigger fish more resilient to the temperature variation but a lot of time will be out deeper with the larger schools.
The offshore species like Puka and Bluenose will also be in our sights and as we move through June Bluefin Tuna will also be included in our target species.

May's weather was a bit of a mixed bag, but on the most part it had some great early winter days
03/06/2026

May's weather was a bit of a mixed bag, but on the most part it had some great early winter days

04/05/2026

April 2026 Review

April was for the most part, a very nice month.
If you forget the tropical cyclone and the week of heavy westerlies following.

The fishing has varied from day to day,
Some days have been quick fire with good numbers of nice fish coming in at a steady pace.
And the next it's back to the hoardes of smaller pan sized Snapper thrashing the baits and having to be waded through to accumulate the better keeper sized.
But overall there has been a noticeable improvement in the size and quality of the fish.

Kingfish have also turned up again after going absent the previous month, and we have regularly been heading home with one or two on board.
Kahawai have been of mixed sizes and most seem to be on the surface chasing bait fish but they have been adding to the fish bins.
Gurnard have also moved in with good numbers of nice sized fish a welcome addition.

Most of our efforts have been in the 20-25m depths. On the days when we've happened on the pany schools, relocating to a new spot of similar depth has got us onto better fish.

May Preview
May has started with some great weather,
Long May it persist
As we've moved through autumn the mornings are starting with a bit more chill in the air.
But we really enjoy this time of year. The days may start cooler but soon warm up, without the extreme heat of summer.
And fisho's should enjoy the shallow water fishing autumn can dish up.

Some days have been quick fire, with good numbers of nice fish
04/05/2026

Some days have been quick fire, with good numbers of nice fish

08/04/2026

The offshore trips always serve up something of interest. Lately whales of unidentified varieties have been passing and having a quick look at our activities

08/04/2026

March 2026 Review

This March has been a reasonably busy month with some long extended periods of great fishing weather.
With very few trips disrupted by inclement weather.

The fishing has been steady,
There are still masses of smaller snaps around but they have slowly been making way for a bigger class size to move in.
The bigger fish haven't themselves been huge but better numbers of nice keepers (40-50cm) has seen the bins filling and putting fish confidently in without having to be measured.
Three kilo seem to have been the ceiling size wise but are perfect eating size while still providing great sport on the rod.
Kingfish have been mostly absent with only smaller sized specimens bothering us. We have seen bigger fish in the berley trail but they haven't played ball.
Most of our better fish have been in the shallower spots, with 15m or so working well early in the day and 25m providing a top up later in the day.
Kahawai are still around in good numbers but some are definitely looking a bit spent so selecting the better fish is required.
The great weather spells has also given us the opportunity to get further a field and the bottom fish off White Island have been obliging with a mix of Bluenose, Gemfish, Tarakihi and the occasional Bass making the boat.

April preview
April marks the end of our summer season.
And it has been a great summer that we are extremely grateful for.
I would like to thank all the guys and gals who have joined us over the season and contributed to making it a success.

The Snapper fishing should continue to improve with less of the smaller fish and more bigger boys in the mix.
We will also be looking for the weather windows and venturing offshore to target the deep water species.

Better numbers of nice keeping sized fish has seen the bins filling
08/04/2026

Better numbers of nice keeping sized fish has seen the bins filling

02/02/2026

January 2026 Review

Jan, as expected was another busy month.
For the most part the weather was accommodating excepting the wild storm event that most of the country experienced to varying degrees.
We got off quite lightly locally apart from the road closures, with our rivers high and dirty but not threatening any flood event.

The Snapper fishing started the month being exceptional and now has peaked with the spawning schools while still active have diminished a little, meaning it is taking a little longer to fill the bins.
Most of our efforts have been in the deeper inshore spots, with 35-40m working well. There are good numbers of Snapper in closer but those spots are plagued with smaller specimens and hordes of Kahawai of mixed sizes. With baits lasting mere seconds before being stripped or some smaller tike attaching itself.

Kingfish have become more involved in our daily trips with crews taking home one or two most days, and landing up to five or six on others.
The game fishing seems to have tailed off over January. There have still been sightings of Yellow Fin Tuna but numbers being caught have reduced.
But hopefully we get another run before the season ends.

February preview
We can look forward to some lovely settled weather over feb/mar so expect some great days on the water.
The Kingfish should get better, with more bigger fish making their presence felt and the better Snapper should start making their way into the shallower sand banks and inshore haunts.

January, as expected was another busy month
02/02/2026

January, as expected was another busy month

04/01/2026

December 2025 Review

December was a great month.
The first few weeks served up some hot summer days. And the sea was mostly accommodating.
While we did have consecutive days of little wind the surface had a memory of the offshore or previous winds so a roll of some sort was present most days.

The Snapper fishing has been epic. Lots of Snapper, good sized and easy to hook.
The previous year our December was tough going for a December, relatively. So it was great to be back into the fish we expect.
Kahawai, while fewer in numbers. Included some chunky fish, full of roe and in great condition.

January preview
Jan has started well, with the Snapper continuing as of December.
So we can expect more of that and the month to include some offshore white island and inshore Tuna/Marlin sports fishing

Address

5 Wairakaia Road
Opotiki
3197

Telephone

+64272686190

Website

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