The Bay of Plenty is fished from Tauranga Harbour in the west, through the river mouths at Maketu, the Kaituna and Whakatāne, to Ōhiwa Harbour and Ōpōtiki in the east, with Tūhua (Mayor Island), Mōtītī Island and the Volkner Rocks offshore. The whole coast is in MPI’s Auckland and Kermadec area as far as Cape Runaway, and Tauranga is its LINZ standard port.
Reports current for Thursday, 8 October
Every one of the 14 Bay of Plenty waters we cover has a live read this morning. 3 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better, and none is slow. Water is around 16 °C. Pressure is falling on 7 of them, the trend our model scores highest. 9 have a better-than-even chance of rain.
Best right now: Bowentown 4/5, Katikati 4/5, Waihi Beach 4/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Te Awanui Tauranga Harbour and the city’s free council ramps, with a mātaitai reserve around Mauao and new shipping-lane rules from October 2026.
A river-mouth harbour and fishing base with a council ramp on Muriwai Drive, launch fees from 1 October 2026 and a bar the regional council marks as dangerous.
An open-coast locality south-east of Mount Maunganui, where the Maketu taiapure begins at the old mouth of the Wairakei Stream.
A river town whose new harbour, built between twin seawalls, leads to a council wharf and boat ramp, though the regional council still flags the bar as dangerous.
A western Bay of Plenty beach town near Bowentown and the Katikati Entrance to Tauranga Harbour, a bar the regional council flags as dangerous.
An estuary settlement inside the Maketu taiapure, where a regional council project has returned part of the Kaituna River’s flow to the estuary.
A peninsula on the western Tauranga Harbour with daily LINZ tide predictions of its own and a boat ramp on the regional council’s boating map.
An open Bay of Plenty surf beach on the Ōhope spit, with Port Ōhope’s wharves and the Ōhiwa boat ramp at the harbour end and LINZ’s Port Ōhope Wharf station for the tide.
A long Bay of Plenty beach east of Maketu, with a council boat ramp on Pukehina Parade and the Waihi Estuary behind its western end.
The peninsula at the Tauranga Harbour entrance, with free city ramps at Pilot Bay and Whareroa, a mātaitai around Mauao and LINZ’s Tauranga standard port next door.
A town at the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, with council ramps at Beach Road, Tanners Point and Ongare Point and a long timber jetty at Kauri Point.
The Rangitaiki River mouth west of Whakatāne, a council boat ramp at Thornton Beach Road and a river bar that surfcasters share with boats.
Ōhiwa Harbour between Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki: deep channels between sandbanks, an entrance at the eastern tip of the Ōhope spit, and a council boat ramp on Harbour Road.
The headland at the northern entrance to Tauranga Harbour, with the Anzac Bay ramp inside, a regional bar camera on the entrance and LINZ’s Bowentown station beside it.
Species activity across the covered waters, written for the southern year. Peak of the year: January.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for the dominant water type here, in degrees Celsius (estimated, not a reading).
Read from the agency page named on each row, on the date shown, and calculated for 2026 from the rule as written: a date written as a day of the week is computed, not copied. Species with no published closure are not listed, which is not the same as open.
| Fishery | 2026 | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitebait season | Open 2026-09-01 to 2026-10-30 | Whitebaiting is allowed only from 1 September to 30 October inclusive, 5 am to 8 pm (6 am to 9 pm in daylight saving). The West Coast has its own gear rules, not different dates. | Department of Conservation, whitebaiting regulations, read 2026-10-07 |
| Coromandel scallop fishery (SCA CS) closed | Closed, no reopening date | All of the Coromandel scallop fishery, from Cape Rodney to Town Point near Maketu, is closed to scallop fishing; the last two open beds (Hauturu/Little Barrier and Colville Channel) closed in March 2023. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Scallop season, Auckland and Kermadec | Open 2026-09-01 to 2027-03-31 | Where scallop beds are not closed, the season runs 1 September to 31 March; 20 a day, 100 mm minimum. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Water | Type | Live data | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tauranga fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Whakatāne fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Papamoa fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Ōpōtiki fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Waihi Beach fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Maketu fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Ōmokoroa fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Ōhope fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Pukehina fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Mount Maunganui fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Katikati fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Thornton fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Ōhiwa fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Bowentown fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
Bay of Plenty Regional Council describes Tauranga Harbour (Te Awanui) as a tidal estuary of 218 km² with two entrances: the deep one beside Mauao used by the port’s ships, and the shallower one at Bowentown that recreational boaties often use. The council keeps live cameras on the Bowentown bar, the Whakatāne River entrance and the Kaituna River bar, and its bar advice is to avoid low tide and the ebb and to call Coastguard before and after crossing.
Tūhua (Mayor Island) and Te Paepae o Aotea (Volkner Rocks) are marine reserves where no fishing is allowed, and MPI adds a ban on set nets and set lines around Tūhua. The three reef areas of the Motiti Protection Area around Mōtītī Island, set up by the regional council after an Environment Court direction, are closed to taking marine life except for customary fishing authorised under the Kaimoana Customary Fishing Regulations.
MPI requires telson clipping on every spiny rock lobster kept between Te Ārai Point and Cape Runaway. Local measures include the Maketu Taiāpure, the mātaitai at Mount Maunganui and part of Tauranga Harbour, a mussel closure in Ōhiwa Harbour, and a ban on set nets and set lines at Okatoa Rock, near the Motu River mouth, from 1 December to 31 March. Cape Runaway itself is closed to set netting and marks the start of MPI’s Central area.
LINZ refers Bowentown, Ōmokoroa, Maketu, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki Wharf and Whakaari / White Island, among others, to Tauranga, and publishes daily tables for Ōmokoroa, Moturiki Island, the Kaituna and Rangitaiki river entrances, Whakatāne, Port Ōhope Wharf and Ōpōtiki Wharf. Inland, the Rotorua lakes are Eastern Fish & Game water; at Lake Ōkataina an MPI controlled area notice means boats must be washed at The Wash Place in Rotorua before the gate code is issued.
Not inside the three areas of the Motiti Protection Area, where taking any marine life is banned for recreational and commercial users. You may anchor there if you follow the regional council’s guidelines.
Not in the marine reserve, and MPI also lists Tūhua as closed to set nets and set lines. Beyond its boundary you fish under MPI’s general limits for the area.
Yes. MPI requires the central part of the tail fan to be cut off every spiny rock lobster you keep between Te Ārai Point and Cape Runaway, as soon as it is taken.
Yes, a Fish & Game licence: the lakes sit in the Eastern Fish & Game region. Sea fishing in the Bay of Plenty needs no licence.
The facts on this page were checked against these pages, from the agencies, park services and operators that manage the water on 7 October 2026; anything we could not verify was taken out.