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Trip Reports

May 2019 See Westcoast Charters facebook page for the latest photos we have had a great summer fishing lots of snapper kingfish and some groper these have been our main target species now into May the snapper are still here not in such numbers but good catches when you find them also the tarakihi fishing will be our target soon and groper are out deep good mixed bags still snapper tarakihi blue cod gurnard trevally the odd kingfish jd and groper call me Neil anytime for a trip out on Felix.

May 2014 Not a bad season this year we got a few albacore tuna earlier and all species most trips successful there has been increased trawling pressure this year and we havent had such big catches of deeper water tarakihi or groper as in the past maybe they are the cause, snapper are still around and have been consistent great to catch and like the tuna not here year round so a very welcome catch it is well worth coming out with us there are a good variety of fish to be caught.

Havent been here for some time too busy fishing to play around with the website May June 2012 having a good season here every year seems to be a little different to the last this year we had good snapper fishing in summer also kingis and kahawai now its cooling down a bit there are lots of tarakihi mixed with trevally a few snapper and pup groper makes for a bin full of good sized fish and sore arms bigger groper are out deeper but if one spot isnt working try somewhere else they havent been always on the usual spots check out new ground be a pioneer as always though you have to be able to get to the right spots to get these good fish

March 2006.

Good fishing at this timeof the year, probably the best time to get out if you get a calm day, we have had a few windy ones lately but that is what protects the fish stocks so it will be good after the weather eases.
Tarakihi have been fishing well with good sized fish deeper and closer inshore, groper fishing well expect a few of these on the next calm day, getting nice blue cod over the outer sounds most fish 1.5 - 2.5kg. locally snapper should be coming on again , we had a bit of a quiet spell after a patch of southerlies earlier they should be fishing better now and reports of a few up the line are coming in. Kingis, well worth the effort right now, we are planning a kingi trip son when this wind eases, Autumn is predicted to be a bit more settled.

August Report.

Lately we have had mixed results, the deepwater fishing for groper off Mana is hard at the moment, we had great success with tarakihi last weekend here and also caught a small groper, reprts of some john dory and there are a few blue cod but not bin loads. Fishing Wellington last Saturday we got onto some good tarakihi 2.5kg a smaller boat had a good catch of bluenose and big tarakihi but its patchy at the moment, we had a calm day and saw 50 or so dolphins and got close to a large whale, good photos. In close the odd big male cray can be found, I got one of 3kg, buck crays will be coming in soon.

Fishing Trip report Winter 2005.

We have been catching groper up to 30kg lately but most are 10 - 15kg this is a good time to get a big one and we have had some huge hook ups that have resulted in lost fish, check your tackle and use heavy line. Blue cod and tarakihi are still fishing well and warehou can turn up but they do when they do.
Mainly we have been focusing on the deepwater fishing but can do inshore as well if requested its all good.

Fishing Trip report Christmas 2004.

As expected the fishing has been great, we are converting more and more doubters into people who will be raving about the fishing here in Wellington
On a calmish day we can catch groper tarakihi snapper and blue cod and we managed plenty of all of these today
Water temp is rising slowly so the different species like snapper trevally and kingfish will be more common catches
The groper are more common on the shallower reefs now as well as being out deeper.
Tarakihi turn up in numbers in Jan and we are getting them now, divers have seen good schools around the rocks.
Get out that snapper tackle!

Trip report Oct 2004.

We are experiencing cooler water temps than normal, this can affect the fish.
Tarakihi and blue cod are being caught in better numbers now and it is well worth a short trip out for them on West or south coast.
We have been lucky enough to get out deep a few times and off Wellington have been catching bluenose, nice fat buggers around 5kg.
Also ling and the odd pup groper.
Kahawai have been running in the harbour and surfcasters have been having a field day.
Expect the groper to be coming in soon and by Nov we should be getting a few. You might get the odd snapper but it is usually better when the water gets warmer after Christmas.

Trip report Feb 2003.

All Summer we have been getting regular catches of groper, some days 30 or so fish other days 10 occasionally only one or two an average of 20 fish per trip, you could say, it sounds better.
The bad weather has been a pain lately but we are getting out, our first post storm trip produced 40 snapper, sometimes they are there sometimes not, it pays to know their habits.
The back of Mana which can be a good short run for groper has not been fishing well but another day can be different, we saw the fish on the sounder but they were off the bite. same story from other boats in the area.
Now is the time to target those snapper, the size is increasing and the action is hot when they come on the bite, flexible rods and 3 -5/O flasher rigs work fine baited with pilchard,squid, bonito but fresh kahawai is ok sometimes.

Trip report Nov 2003.

The weather is getting a bit more fishable now and we have been out recently. The season has changed the fishing options now, snapper are showing up mainly schoolies and we landed a dozen last Tuesday. The groper have moved on from the now famous back of Mana spot try the more traditional reefs, If you know exactly where. Tarakihi still a bit scarce on the west but improving and blue cod are common inshore and off. We also managed a trevally inshore and kahawai are available at Hunters, probably with a few more suprises like warehou and kingfish. Off the south coast reasonable bc and tk with pup groper off the Wainui coast. Groper and the other deep water fish out there are fishing quite well.

Trip report Oct 2003.

A bit windy most days at the moment but when it settles you can really feel the anticipation for the good days to come.
Our last trip was a deep water expedition behind Mana and we caught groper, there were a few around that day also sharks and red cod.
The groper fishing should start to get better soon, there are a lot of reefs and drop offs in the cook strait area that the groper have to stretch out on so dont expect them to be everywhere, they school up in certain spots and there will be others in new spots waiting to be discovered.
We talk about the warehou a lot and they can be elusive but get amongst them, I think they are amazing on light tackle and quite a different looking fish.
Fishermans rock and hunters to kapiti can be good places to look for them, use small to mid sized jigs midwater or long strips of squid on droppers. Differing reports about crayfish, but they are shedding the eggs now and soon all will be at the mercy of divers, a good time to get out there for them before the greedy get serious.
Take care at the moment the weather is difficult to forecast in the spring even the experts have difficulty.

Trip report March 2003.

Great weather at the moment and the groper fishing is good most trips, best recent fish went 55lb, best catch on Felix 14 groper.
Tarakihi consistant and the snapper are still around , March and April are the best months here for snapper, in fact all fish go well these months.
I am discovering new spots all the time, the gps comes in handy.
Gurnard are turning up on the sand, it pays to have a good drift, we caught 6 in half an hour the other day whilst filletting

Trip reportJan 2003.

Well Christmas came and went somewhere in a blur of fishing trips, the weather has allowed us out every day since and we have had the bookings.
That's Wellington for you, and the fishing has been good, excellent!!
Groper, two each for everyone one day, gone the next, then back another day
Tarakihi have come on with a vengence, and some big blue cod amongst them.
We had a few snapper recently but they havent really come on yet, although we havent targetted them seriously, schoolies mainly.
Today we had some excellent tarakihi fishing in reasonably deep water, about 20 fish many 2 - 3 kg one would have pushed 5 kg.
The family trips have been good too with tarakihi off all the headlands and reefs alowing for easy fishing.
Wellington is the place to be at the moment.

Trip report Dec 2002.

Still windy, we are able to get out once a week, twice if lucky at the moment. Talk about luck, I was down the wharf one thursday morning at 7.00am and would you believe it someone was there fishing with my lost rod, (see last months report)
I told the chap the story and that I knew he caught the rod, he gave it back, top guy.
Last monday saw us out on the west coast, and what a day, calm, sunny, kahawai working here and there. The water temp is up so we had a quick stop off for some snapper, we got a few schoolies no big deal for some parts of NZ but any snapper in Wellington is a treat. Next up some action with the kahawai to liven things up and get a few groper baits.
Down south for some tarakihi, well that took the wind out of our sails, the inshore pan sized tarakihi have dissapeared from this coast, some blame trawlers working within stonesthrow of the shore.
Still calm so out for the puka and ending up with tarakihi 3kg, blue cod to 3.5kg, groper 12kg. Good quality fish and whilst inshore, schools of kahawai were seen with torpedoes running through them, time to get the kingi gear out.

Trip report Nov 2002.

The Northwest winds are continuing, 120km gusts today. Last Sunday saw a break in the weather after a southerly blow, the southerlies flatten out the sea on the west coast making them very fishable untill the northwester picks up again. A cancellation had me on the phone to a few names on the short notice trip list and we had a crew for Sunday. The sea was calm untill after lunch and we fished a deeper reef for groper landing a few nice ones, Kahawai were plentiful closer in and a few tarakihi near Mana as the wind picked up again. Being available at short notice is the way to go at the moment.
The inner city wharfs are a good option, pilchards on tiny bait flies, hook one up and cast out, kahawai, baracutta, possibly salmon for the lucky and one unlucky charter operator was seen to hook up something large that took off like a rocket, if anyone sees a rod and reel being towed around the harbour near queens wharf please let me know..

Trip report Sept 2002.

Windy Wellington gets its reputation from this time of the year and you have to be on the ball to get out for a fish.
With the northwesterlies we tend to fish the south coast a bit and the sea here can be flat after a northwest blow subsides, it can also produce good diving conditions and we have experienced some good visability lately, the water temp down there was 15 deg C at the weekend, things are warming up.
Male crays were plentifull but small and fishing produced blue cod tarakihi and kahawai as is typical of this coast.
Out on the west tarakihi are the target species and groper will be coming on soon, October on is better, drifting for warehou with baits hanging midwater is always on the cards at the moment.
Im looking forward to fishing the deeper westcoast reefs when the weather allows, they won't have had much attention lately.

Trip report June 2002.

The snapper are less common now and Groper would be on the target list, we have had some nice catches of them recently fish up to 20kg and some big 3kg tarakihi amongst them, some day's they dont show up but there is always the tarakihi and cod to fall back on and we seem to catch these every trip.
Warehou would be around and some midwater fishing could produce these anytime now, see our photo of the month page for groper details.

Trip report Feb 2002.

We are getting two or three fishable days a week at the moment and if you can get out midweek there is some great fishing out here, we are aproaching the best time of the year for wellington fishing!!.
We have been getting snapper, tarakihi, blue cod, gurnard mainly on Felix and some very nice specimens too.
Out on the Lady Julie recently (I hire this vessel for our larger groups fishing inshore) we had an exciting day on the wainui coast, Inshore due to the norwester our best blue cod spot really fired and we caught plenty of huge blue cod, the blustery conditions added to the fun and a flat sea kept it comfortable.
Crayfish are in now, and I had a good bag full with crays up to 2.5kg this week on our west coast.
Now, the water temp has been down for a while due to some strong southerlies but with wind changes we are now back up there and the warmer water species are on the go, March April May are our BEST months for getting good variety and quality fish we get catches like shown on our photo of the month page at this time .
Big fish like groper and kingfish are on the available list if you want these.
Available dates at the time of writing - March 10,17,23,24,30,31 plus midweek. April13,20,21,27,28 plus midweek and we have spaces for individuals.

Trip report January 2002.

With summer getting established we are getting out fishing much more regularly now and all recent trips have had their highlights
Water temp is 19-20 deg C.
A trip to the south Makara coast produced a good catch of tarakihi and plenty of action from tope, good if you like sportfishing for sharks.
Back to Christmas and good fishing was had here on the west coast of Wellington with us landing warehou, tarakihi, blue cod, groper and rays bream a trip to Wellington's south coast produced big tarakihi, groper and blue cod.
Groper were targetted here on the west coast this week and we scored a dozen along with big blue cod, the puka's were up to 9kg.
Snapper are showing up regularly in our catch, fish up to 3kg mainly, a good option would be an evening trip on a calm summer's evening, sit back with a beer and wait for the snapper to start biting.
We are able to cater for individualls regularly this season.

Trip report November .

After a spell of bad weather earlier in the month things are settling down again and some quality fishing has been had.
A recent trip to the south Makara coast produced everything, big blue cod, tarakihi, john dory, groper, snapper.

The water temp is coming up so now it is time to target snapper and kingis.
Deep water fishing for groper has been good also, not big groper but up to 15kg, this is a good time of the year to go for groper.

Trip report September .

As I said last month the good weather arrived and we have had some good fishing, mainly tarakihi and blue cod from the Makara area with Hunters producing tarakihi, big blue cod, trevally, snapper, kahawai, the trevally have been plentiful there and the snapper was an unexpected bonus.
We can expect groper to be more common soon and the kingfish and snapper will start to come in also during october and crayfish are now coming out of berry for us divers.

Trip report August Winter .

Due to bad weather there have been no trips recently except for a crack at the bluenose off the trench, where the best one went 6.5kg.
All we need though is a spell of good weather that we could get anytime, so dont forget about us, there is some good fishing to be had. Mainly targetting blue cod, tarakihi and warehou on the west.

Trip report 19th March.

Well, our weather has settled down nicely now, I haven't had to cancel any trips for some time.

I have been able to claim that snapper are caught on every trip, and they have been for the last dozen trips up until today when we only got 22 good sized tarakihi, but between 2 guys on a half day trip there was no complaints.

South east winds for the rest of this week mean great conditions on this west coast.

For the divers the viz is great and I'm hoping to get in myself this week.

I did a couple of charters for groups of twelve at the weekend, we went out on the Antaeus skippered by Daryl Edwards and my role was to supply tackle and look after the fishing.

The weather was great and everyone took home fish.

The Antaeus is a 55ft cat and is a luxurious but practical boat, Daryl is a top skipper.

I can organise trips for up to 12 anglers on this vessel.

A recent trip turned out well for some English visitors last week, after only being on the spot for 15 mins one angler landed a superb 6kg snapper, several others were landed slightly smaller along with a trevally, we filleted the catch on the way home and had a line over which caught a nice gurnard.

The next day was a little slow with only two school snapper and 4 terakihi, but you cant expect it to be full on every single time.

The crew from Taylor Preston had a good time a couple of weeks ago drifting onto some good groper followed by cod,tarakihi and snapper closer to shore, great bunch of guys.

Here's hoping the good weather sticks around.

Available dates:

7th & 8th April

14th & 15th

22nd

3 places on the 28th and midweek is usually available although we are getting bookings at short notice.

 

Latest trip report 8/02/01,
When weather has permitted we have been out there and have produced the goods, last week I put an Australian visitor on to his first groper, he was delighted, it went on the barbie.

Other fish caught that day were tarakihi and kahawai.

Later in the week Kingfish were the target species and one was scored with the second drop of the jig, plenty of kahawai were again caught, they are really prolific at the moment and going for everything.

Other fish caught that day were tarakihi gurnard and blue cod, these clients were from USA and really enjoyed the different fishing, we had them round for a barbeque after,the kingi was delicious. It was this time of the year that I took graeme sinclair and pete lamb out for the gone fishing show several years ago, you would have seen some kingfish caught on the episode, petelambfishing provided the bait.

Saturday saw us targetting tarakihi on a 70 metre spot, the only species caught was terakihi and barracouta but this was some of the best tarakihi fishing we have had for some time, plenty of fish were landed with many going 2kg.

Snapper are appearing in the catches, mainly school sized fish.

As of today we have weekends 24-25 feb available

4 march

18 march onwards

Many midweek places with 5 - 10 march having someone available to share.

There are a couple of places on a dive trip late feb - early March

Cheers Neil.

 

Trip report as at 18/01/01
All the good fish are here now in Wellington the rising water temperature has seen to this.
Our last few trips have seen us landing snapper up to 6kg, groper up to 20kg, plenty of tarakihi, trevally and kahawai.
We haven't had much of a crack at the kingfish yet but I have heard that they are being caught so could get into them this weekend.
Out of the ordinary catches have been 3 groper that we got extremely close to shore last weekend, they were6kg fish not huge but a huge fish on the lighter gear we were using, they fought all the way up.
Also a client landed a 2.5kg crayfish on the rod this is the second cray we have had in the last couple of months.
From now until April is the best time for fishing in the Wellington region, weekends are booked in jan but feb still has some available and midweek is available jan onwards, midweek is a good time to go as we would have the sea to ourselves.
Midweek trips have free tackle hire.
We are still getting the odd trip with one or two places up for grabs if someone pulls out so it always pays to inquire. 2 places available jan 20th.

Neil

 

 

   
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