Bill Hohepa's

Maori Fishing Calendar

 

This is the best guide to weather you should go fishing or not...

"The Bill Hohepa fishing calendar has taken information from a variety of historical sources, including Mr Best’s book, together with actual fishing research taken over the past 30 years on when and how long fish bite in relation to the moon phases. There are many variables that contribute to fish feeding habits including the effect of the moon, barometric pressure, water temperature etc, so the calendar is only a guide.
One thing I have noticed though over the years, in particular, is the influence of the tide. It seems to me that the fishing is better on an incoming tide when the moon is waning, and fishing is better on the outgoing tide when the moon is waxing. If you can see the moon, the best time in my experience, is when it is at the 2 o'clock position in the sky.

Excellent means up to 1 hour's good fishing - Good means up to 30 minutes and Poor up to 15 minutes. The Bite Times quoted are am and pm. Good luck" - Billy Ho.

 
Calendar Key
 Bad
 Fair
 Good
  
 
 

 

March 2013

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat

01

4.00
 

 

 

 

 

 

01

4.00

02

4.53

03

5.48

04

6.16

05

7.14

06

8.13

07

9.11

08

10.08

9

11.02

10

11.54

11

12.44

12

1.33

13

2.20

14

3.07

15

3.31

16

4.42

17

5.30

18

6.18

19

6.42

20

7.30

21

8.17

22

9.05

23

9.52

24

10.38

25

11.25

26

12.13

27

1.01

28

1.52

29

2.45

30

3.41
 
 

 

For Bill Hohepa’s Fishing Show info and dates click HERE

 

Visit Bill’s website at www.fishinghohepa.co.nz for more information.

 

 

 

New Zealand Date/Time:
Sat, May 25, 2013, 6:06:19 PM
Fishing

Fishing Regulations

Finfish

Bag limits and size restrictions:

In the Northern Region there is a combined daily limit of 20 or any combination of the following finfish:

Fish Species
 Minimum Fish Length
(cm)
 Minimum Set Net Mesh Size
(mm)
 Minimum Drag Net Mesh Size
(mm)
Blue Cod 30 100 100
Blue Moki 40 114 115
Bluenose - 160 100
Butterfish 35 108 108
Elephant Fish - 150 150
Flatfish (except Sand Flounder) 25 114 100
John Dory - 100 100
Kahawai - 90 85
Parore - 114 100
Porae - 100 100
Red Cod 25 100 100
Red Gurnard 25 100 100
Red Moki 40 115 115
Red Snapper - 114 100
Rig - 125 150
Sand Flounder 23 114 100
School Shark - 125 100
Tarakihi 25 100 100
Trevally 25 125 100

In addition to the combined limit, you can take a maximum of:

Fish Species
 Minimum Fish Length
(cm)
 Maximum Daily Limit Per Person Minimum Set Net Mesh Size
(mm)
 Minimum Drag Net Mesh Size
(mm)
Eels - 6 12 12
Grey Mullet - 30 90 85
Snapper SNA8 27 10 125 100
Snapper SNA1 27 9 125 100

#SNA1 refers to the area from North Cape to Cape Runaway, out to a distance of 200 nautical miles offshore (see diagram.)

In addition to the previously mentioned limits you may take the following:

A combined daily limit of 5 with no more than 3 kingfish) or the following finfish:

Fish Species
 Minimum Fish Length
(cm)
 Minimum Set Net Mesh Size
(mm)
 Minimum Drag Net Mesh Size
(mm)
Groper / Hapuka / Bass - 160 100
Kingfish 75 100 100

No daily bag limit applies to the following finfish:

Fish Species Minimum Fish Length
(cm)
 Minimum Set Net Mesh Size
(mm)
 Minimum Drag Net Mesh Size
(mm)
Garfish (Piper) - 25 25
Pilchard - 25 25
Yellow Eyed Mullet - 25 25
All Others - 100 100

Shellfish/Lobster

The following restrictions on taking and possessing shellfish apply to all areas, unless specified.

Species


Cockle 150 50 None
Kina (sea eggs) 50 50 None
Lobster 6 6
Mussels 50 25 None
Oysters - Dredge 50 50 58
Oysters - Rock & Pacific 250 100 None
Paua - Ordinary 10 10 125
Paua - Yellow Foot 10 10 80
Pipi 150 50 None
Scallops 20 20 100
Toheroa Prohibited Prohibited Prohibited
Tuatua 150 50 None
All Others (Combined) 50 50 None

Finfish length is measured from the tip of the nose to the “V” in the tail (as shown in diagram below).

For more information visit: www.fish.govt.nz or 0800 4 RULES

NZ Scallop Season

Regional dates:

North Island 1 September  to 31 March  incl.
Central

15 July  to 14 February incl.
South Island

(excluding Southland and Fiordland)
15 July  to 14 February  incl.
Southland 1 October  to 15 March incl.
Fiordland 1 October to 15 March incl.

 
 
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