Blue cod
Good
The spawning season runs through late winter and spring: fish reef and gravel patches with cut bait on a large hook.
Riverton/Aparima Tide Times & Bite Times Today
Updated Thu, 8 Oct 2026 from LINZ tide predictions and the weather forecast
Riverton/Aparima’s harbour, where the regional council bans anchoring near the harbour leads and the district council has budgeted a new T wharf.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
Low 5:57 am LINZ
Air / High
9 °C / 18 °C
Wind
ESE 9 km/h
Sources: LINZ tide predictions, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Riverton/Aparima tide times for the next 7 days
High and low tides in New Zealand time, LINZ's daily prediction for Riverton / Aparima, 1.6 km from Riverton/Aparima. Next: low tide at 5:57 am.
| Day | High tide | Low tide |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 8 Oct (today) | 12:11 pm (2.8 m) | 5:57 am (0.9 m) · 6:23 pm (0.9 m) |
| Fri 9 Oct | 12:31 am (2.9 m) · 12:57 pm (2.9 m) | 6:47 am (0.9 m) · 7:09 pm (0.9 m) |
| Sat 10 Oct | 1:16 am (3.0 m) · 1:39 pm (2.9 m) | 7:32 am (0.8 m) · 7:52 pm (0.8 m) |
| Sun 11 Oct | 1:59 am (3.0 m) · 2:19 pm (2.9 m) | 8:15 am (0.9 m) · 8:33 pm (0.8 m) |
| Mon 12 Oct | 2:39 am (2.9 m) · 2:57 pm (2.9 m) | 8:56 am (0.9 m) · 9:13 pm (0.9 m) |
| Tue 13 Oct | 3:18 am (2.9 m) · 3:33 pm (2.8 m) | 9:35 am (1.0 m) · 9:51 pm (1.0 m) |
| Wed 14 Oct | 3:56 am (2.8 m) · 4:09 pm (2.7 m) | 10:12 am (1.1 m) · 10:29 pm (1.1 m) |
Heights are above chart datum. These are LINZ predictions, not the official tide tables for navigation, and wind and air pressure can move the real tide by tens of minutes.
Today's Fishing Report
Riverton/Aparima is in its cooler-water pattern: slower baits and the turn of the tide. Today brings cloud cover, wind ESE around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Tides: high 12:11 pm, low 5:57 am and 6:23 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 12 °C for the season (estimated). With the waning crescent, the solunar majors run 11:06 PM-1:06 AM and 10:42 AM-12:42 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Sea perch
Good
Drop to the bottom over reef and foul ground with cut bait, holding position over the rough patches.
Tarakihi
Good
Anchor or hold over the deeper reef edges with small baits close to the bottom, and move when a mark goes quiet.
Kahawai
Good
Schools are harder to find, so go to them: river mouths and harbour channels at the turn of the tide, with a strip of fresh bait under a float or a soft bait retrieved slowly.
Tie on: Two-hook ledger, fresh bait · Slow jig worked close to the bottom · Flasher rig, slow drift · Strip of kahawai or mullet. Prime windows: 11:06 PM-1:06 AM, 10:42 AM-12:42 PM, 5:30 AM-6:30 AM. Similar at 17 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Fishing times for Riverton/Aparima today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:06), sunset (20:05), the moon and today's score, with the tide times above. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:06 PM-1:06 AM and 10:42 AM-12:42 PM; minor 5:30 AM-6:30 AM. Waning Crescent, 9% lit.
The moon phase here is astronomy, not a maramataka: what the maramataka is, and why this site does not rate days by it.
Water and weather
Today's tides from LINZ and the forecast for the day, which is a model.
Tide times (LINZ)
LINZ's daily prediction for Riverton / Aparima, 1.6 km from Riverton/Aparima. Heights above chart datum. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
Thu
LOW5:57 am0.90 m
HIGH12:11 pm2.80 m
LOW6:23 pm0.90 m
Fri
HIGH12:31 am2.90 m
LOW6:47 am0.90 m
HIGH12:57 pm2.90 m
LOW7:09 pm0.90 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp9 °C
High / Low18 °C / 8 °C
WindESE 9 km/h, gusts 17 km/h
Pressure1027.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain98% cloud, 33%
Sunrise / Sunset07:06 / 20:05
MoonWaning Crescent, 9%
Water temp (seasonal)~12 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Riverton/Aparima
The best day on Riverton/Aparima this week looks like Sunday 11 Oct, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Sunday, 11 Oct — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 8 Oct — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:06 PM-1:06 AM and 10:42 AM-12:42 PM
- Minor period
- 5:30 AM-6:30 AM
- Sun
- 07:06 to 20:05
- Moon
- Waning Crescent, 9% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 18 km/h
- Rain chance
- 33%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Riverton/Aparima: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Blue cod
Year-round; spawning in late winter and spring
Rāwaru or pākirikiri in te reo Māori. A bottom fish found only in New Zealand, living near rough ground to 150 metres and more common south of Cook Strait. The Plenary rates it the most important recreational finfish in Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. Blue cod can change sex from female to male, and males grow larger. The spawning season runs through late winter and spring: fish reef and gravel patches with cut bait on a large hook.
Flounder
Year-round in harbours and estuaries; young adults move offshore to spawn in winter and spring
Pātiki in te reo Māori. Four flounder species make up most of the recreational flatfish catch, taken in harbours, estuaries, coastal lakes and inlets around the country (Plenary). Most are netted or speared from the shore rather than caught on a line. Flatfish stay in water shallower than about 50 metres, and juveniles grow up on sheltered mud and sand flats. Fish the deeper harbour channels at low water and the flats as the tide comes back in.
Sea perch
Year-round on reef and foul ground
Pōhuiakaroa in te reo Māori. The Plenary says sea perch are seldom targeted but widely caught, almost all on rod and reel from boats, and are now more often kept as an eating fish. The 2022–23 national survey placed most of the recreational harvest off the east coast of the South Island. The inshore species lives on or near the seafloor, mostly shallower than 250 metres. Drop to the bottom over reef and foul ground with cut bait, holding position over the rough patches.
Tarakihi
Year-round on deeper reef; spawning in summer and autumn
Tarakihi are mostly taken on lines, often by people fishing for snapper or blue cod (Plenary). Juveniles grow up in shallow inshore nurseries such as Tasman Bay, the Kaikōura coast, northern Pegasus Bay, the Canterbury Bight and Otago, then move out to 50 to 200 metres at about 25 cm. The minimum fork length is 25 cm in every area. Anchor or hold over the deeper reef edges with small baits close to the bottom, and move when a mark goes quiet.
Kahawai
Year-round on every coast; most fishing trips happen in summer
Kahawai (Arripis trutta) live right around New Zealand in coastal seas, harbours and estuaries, and run into the brackish lower reaches of rivers. A schooling fish that takes bait readily and eats mostly small fish and krill; MPI notes a second species, the Kermadec kahawai, which turns up seasonally around Northland. The Plenary records kahawai as an important customary food fish for Māori. Schools are harder to find, so go to them: river mouths and harbour channels at the turn of the tide, with a strip of fresh bait under a float or a soft bait retrieved slowly.
Fishing rules at Riverton/Aparima: MPI Southland area
You do not need a licence to fish in the sea around New Zealand, but the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sets daily limits, minimum sizes and closures for each area, and Riverton/Aparima is in the Southland area. The figures below are per person per day, as MPI's area page printed them on 7 October 2026. Fishing in rivers and lakes needs a licence: New Zealand fishing licence.
| Fish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum length |
|---|---|---|---|
| All finfish combined | Southland area, excluding baitfish (50) and eels (6) | 30 | — |
| Snapper | Southland area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Kahawai | Southland area | 15 | None set |
| Kingfish | Southland area; groper/bass and kingfish 5 combined, no more than 3 kingfish | In the combined limit | 75 cm |
| Trevally | Southland area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Gurnard | Southland area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Tarakihi | Southland area | 15 | 25 cm |
| Blue cod | Southern: Taiaroa Head to Sand Hill Point; whole, gutted or headed and gutted | 10 | 33 cm |
| Blue cod | South West: Sandhill Point to Haast River (excl. Fiordland) | 10 | 33 cm |
| Blue cod | Te Whaka ā Te Wera/Paterson Inlet mātaitai | 10 | 33 cm |
| Red cod | Southland area | 10 | 25 cm |
| Flounder | Southland area; Paterson Inlet mātaitai: flatfish 10, 25 cm | In the combined limit | None set |
| John Dory | Southland area; not listed | In the combined limit | None set |
| Shellfish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scallops | Southland area; season 1 Oct to 15 Mar | 10 | 100 mm |
| Cockles | Southland area | 150 | None set |
| Pāua (blackfoot) | Southland area | 10 | 125 mm |
| Pāua (yellowfoot) | Southland area | 10 | 80 mm |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | Southland | 6 (no more than 3 packhorse) | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
| Dredge oysters | Southland area; season 1 Mar to 31 Aug | 50 | 58 mm |
| Mussels | Southland area | 25 | None set |
- Mussels: 50 at Stewart Island
Rules change often, sometimes at short notice: check MPI's Southland fishing rules or the NZ Fishing Rules app before you keep any fish. Source: Ministry for Primary Industries and licensed by MPI for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
When to come: the Riverton/Aparima calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Blue cod
Flounder
Sea perch
Tarakihi
Kahawai
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 12 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Riverton/Aparima today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataWed, Oct 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Blue cod led the card at good. High of 19 °C, wind to 26 km/h.
Tue, Oct 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Blue cod led the card at good. High of 15 °C, wind to 37 km/h.
Mon, Oct 5
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Blue cod led the card at excellent. High of 17 °C, wind to 8 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
No licence is needed to fish the sea around New Zealand (MPI). Rivers and lakes need a licence: New Zealand fishing licence.
Regulations
Daily limits, minimum sizes and closures are set by MPI for each area and change often: the rules for Riverton/Aparima are above, with the date they were read and the link to check them before you keep anything.
Access
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About this water
Riverton/Aparima is a bay or coastal water in Southland, New Zealand, covered from the Southland reports and listed in all New Zealand waters.
Fishing Riverton/Aparima: the full guide
Harbour rules
Environment Southland’s Riverton Harbour guide forbids anchoring within 540 metres either side of the leads into Riverton/Aparima, except in an emergency or with the harbourmaster’s permission, and asks boats to pass under the Riverton Bridge only where signs show and in the direction marked. The 5-knot limit applies within 200 m of the shore, apart from a marked strip 10 m off the shore where craft moving anti-clockwise are exempt as long as they keep out of the way of commercial fishing boats entering or leaving.
Wharf and radio
Southland District Council’s 2025/26 annual plan sets aside NZ$814,000 to demolish and rebuild the Riverton T Wharf. For trip reports, Environment Southland’s guide points boaties to Bluff Fishermen’s radio on VHF channel 63.
Common questions
Can I anchor off Riverton?
Not within 540 m either side of the harbour leads, except in an emergency or with the harbourmaster’s permission.
What tide data does this page use for Riverton?
LINZ publishes daily predictions for Riverton / Aparima, about 1.6 km from the town point, and lists it under the Bluff standard port.
Where do the tide times for Riverton/Aparima come from?
They are LINZ’s daily predictions for Riverton / Aparima, 1.6 km away.
Is fishing good at Riverton/Aparima right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby places
Where this page's numbers come from
- Tide times
- Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), tide predictions for Riverton / Aparima
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
The forecast refreshes on a 30-minute window; tide predictions are LINZ’s for the year. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.