Mate, I don’t say this lightly, but what we’re seeing out there right now is as good as it gets. September has flipped a switch in the Hauraki Gulf, and the kingfish have come back in numbers that genuinely have us shaking our heads at the end of every trip.
Bait Is Flooding In, and the Kings Are Following
The bait just keeps on coming. Wave after wave of it is pouring into the Gulf, and everything that eats for a living has followed it straight to our doorstep. We’re seeing more whales and more dolphins moving through than we have in ages, working the same grounds we are, and as they push on through, the kingfish erupt out of nowhere in packs that stop punters mid-sentence. One minute it’s flat calm, the next the surface is boiling with acres of angry kingfish smashing bait right beside the boat. It’s a hell of a show, plain and simple, and nobody who’s seen it forgets it in a hurry.
Sight-Fishing Kings on Light Tackle, Here’s How We’re Doing It
Because most of this action is happening over clean sand, it’s perfect territory for light tackle. We’ve been getting stuck into these fish on gear that would normally seem far too light for kingfish this size, and honestly, that’s half the fun.
Here’s the tip that’s been paying off for us all month: back the drag off and stop trying to bully them. Heavy drag and brute force are exactly how you lose a fish of a lifetime on light line: a hard lockup meets a hard-charging kingfish, and something’s got to give, and it’s never the fish. Play it patient, let the fish run when it wants to run, and work it back a little at a time. Do that, and you’ll land fish you had no business landing on gear that light. It’s the extra reward for playing it smart instead of playing it strong.
And the sizes backing this up are the real story. We’re sighting kingfish pushing mid-30kg out there, with several landed in the mid-20kg bracket already, a proper tackle-testing fish, and every one of them absolutely rolling in condition.
Fat Fish Everywhere You Look
It’s not just the kingfish putting on the condition, either. The snapper, trevally, and gurnard coming aboard right now are as fatty as we’ve seen all year. When the knife goes in at the filleting bench, it’s loaded with properly marbled, glistening fillets from every species we’re bringing home.
This is genuinely the best time of year to eat fish. The sashimi we’re cutting off these kingfish right now is as good as it gets, full stop. If you want to take it up another notch, try dry-aging your fillets for a couple of days before you eat them; it firms up the texture and deepens the flavour in a way fresh-cut fish just can’t match. If you’ve never tried it, this is the season to start.
Spring Is About to Flip the Switch Again
You can feel it changing by the day. The trees around Auckland are already in flower, some fully blossoming, and the days are stretching out longer and warmer with every trip we do. We all know exactly what that means for the Gulf: this action is about to step up another gear, and we genuinely can’t wait to see what this spring brings.
If the Gulf is firing like this before spring has even properly kicked in, hold onto your hats for what’s coming next.
Don’t miss out on it. Book your Fish n Dips charter today and come see the kings for yourself.
www.fishndips.co.nz/bookings, or if you’re after a larger boat, our bigger sister site: www.tritoncharters.co.nz
by Roy | Hauraki Gulf, Kingfish, Snapper, Trevally, Gurnard
