Spearfishing in New Zealand

Written by Reid Quinlin


If you are thinking of visiting NZ, click here first for details on locations, big kingfish, charters, etc.

We have a huge selection of spearfishing available here. From Auckland we dive the outer Hauraki Gulf islands as much as possible, where the visibility ranges from 5 to 20 metres depending upon the time of year and plankton blooms. The water is cold - about 13 to 18 degrees C throughout the year and 19 to 22 degrees in the summer.

Click here to see a map of where we dive. Click here to see National records.

There are plenty of big Yellowtail , (commonly called Kingfish here), which we would see on the majority of dives, ranging from 10kg to 20 kg mostly, but with a few specimens shot every year in the range between 20 kg to 40 kg. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a bloody big yellowtail in anyone's language !!!!. The Kingy's go deep during the winter and are in ones and twos, but usually return in February through to April en masse, with lots of "Rats" (fish less than 10 kg) around at that time.

When we're not hunting Yellowtail off the rocky points and reefs, we are "snooping" for Snapper in the shallows. Our local snapper only get big by being alert and the faintest sound can send them hammering off into the mirk, their tails making a "brrrrr" sound as they disapear.

The biggest snapper are around 14 to 15kg, but it's pretty impressive to pick up one over 10 kg.

And of course there is plenty of weedline diving - where the kelp stops and the sandy bottom starts. Here you will find everything from Tarakihi, Trevally, Kingfish, Snapper, John Dory, Giant Boarfish, Porae, and plenty of others suitable for the pot.
For the deeper divers, Golden Snapper usually hang out below 20 metres. They are found in more remote areas, often under overhangs or in caves, but mostly where there is plenty of other fish life around.

In summer, there are Bluewater Gamefish around off the Bay of Islands, Three Kings Islands, East Cape, and the West Coast.

The first Striped Marlin, a world record of 134.4 kg, was speared by Chris Browne off the Hen and Chickens Islands a few of years ago, and four more were speared, including a new world record in the summer of 2003/2004. No doubt it will be an exciting couple of years ahead too.

Keen divers off East Cape/Whakatane have been at it for a while with some success, and this is where Darren Shields speared the current NZ record Yellowfin Tuna, followed by a successful Bluefin Club trip there which produced 3 smaller Yellowfins.


Giant Boarfish 		Snapper
Pagrus Auratus

John Dory
Zeus Faber

Porae

Tarakihi

Golden Snapper Crayfish