North Island Fire: Snapper, Kings, and Kahawai Pumping This Autumn Saturday

G'day, mates, this is Artificial Lure here with your North Island fishing report for Saturday, 18 April 2026, right around 11am. Weather's looking classic autumn—mostly sunny with a light southerly breeze at 10-15 knots, temps sitting comfy at 18-20°C, perfect for a day on the water. Sunrise was at 6:52am, sunset 6:05pm, giving ya a solid 11 hours of light to chase the bite.

Tides today? Low at 7:34am (-0.2m) and 8:37pm (0.4m), highs at 2:14pm (3.5m) and 1:20am tomorrow (2.8m)—currents easing off with a low coefficient around 59, so fishin' should be steady without the big rips. Solunar peaks hit mid-morning and late arvo, line up with those for best action.

Fish are fired up post a warm spell—reports from locals say snapper's the star, with good numbers up to 5kg off the rocks and reefs, kings smashing pilchards on the troll, and kahawai boiling in the washes. Tarakihi and gurnard coming thick from 40m bottoms, a few big blue cod too. Recent catches: 20+ snapper bags from boats yesterday, and shore lads pulling 5-10 kahawai each at dawn.

For lures, stick to **neon paddle tails** or **glow jigheads** in 20-40g for snapper—work 'em slow on the drop. Soft plastics like Gulp! in berley trails are deadly. Bait? Fresh pilchards or squid strips rule, skipjack for kings. Nymphin' style with weighted worms if you're bottom bashin'.

Hot spots? Raglan Rocks for kahawai and kings from shore, and the Ninety Mile Beach gutters—hit the incoming tide for snapper frenzy. Further out, Mokohinau Islands if you're trailered, epic for big reds.

Get out there safe, check regs, and tight lines!

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI