The Waikato region reaches the sea on two sides: the Coromandel Peninsula, which lines the Firth of Thames and whose east coast belongs to the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, and a west coast of harbours at Port Waikato, Raglan, Aotea and Kawhia that runs south to Mōkau. The region has no LINZ standard port of its own, so its tides are worked out from Auckland, Tauranga and Port Taranaki.
Reports current for Thursday, 8 October
Every one of the 10 Waikato waters we cover has a live read this morning. 3 are scoring 4 out of 5 or better, and none is slow. Water runs 14 °C to 16 °C. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind.
Best right now: Pauanui 4/5, Tairua 4/5, Whangamatā 4/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
A west-coast harbour town with five council boat ramps, a rebuilt wharf precinct and a bar watched by a live camera.
A town at the southern end of the Firth of Thames, with council ramps at Kōpū and along the Thames Coast road to the north.
A surf town on Whangamatā Harbour whose main council ramp, on Beach Road, is an all-tide facility of six lanes or more inside an entrance the council says needs care.
A Mercury Bay town on Whitianga Harbour, with two all-tide council ramps, public wharves and jetties, and DOC’s Te Whanganui-o-Hei / Cathedral Cove Marine Reserve towards Hahei.
A west-coast settlement on Kāwhia Harbour, where the open-coast set-net ban is drawn straight across the harbour mouth.
The main town on Coromandel Harbour, with council ramps from Te Kouma to Amodeo Bay and a high protection area around the Motukawao Islands to the north.
A settlement at the Waikato River mouth, with a council boat ramp on Tuakau Bridge-Port Waikato Road and set nets banned at the river entrance.
A harbour town on the western side of Tairua Harbour, with an all-tide council ramp on Wharf Road, a free ramp at Paku and a set-net ban on the coast outside the entrance.
A beach town on the eastern side of Tairua Harbour, with three council ramps, two public jetties and a high protection area around Slipper Island to the south-east.
One of the Waitomo District’s beach settlements, at the mouth of the Mōkau River, where the west-coast set-net ban is drawn across the river entrance.
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 |
| Scallop season | Open 2026-07-15 to 2027-02-14 | Scallop season 15 July to 14 February. | Fisheries (Amateur Fishing) Regulations 2013, read 2026-10-07 |
| Spiny rock lobster closed, Cape Rodney to Port Jackson | Closed, no reopening date | Since 1 April 2025 spiny (red) rock lobster may not be taken or possessed in the Hauraki Gulf area between Cape Rodney and Port Jackson. | Fisheries New Zealand (MPI), Auckland and Kermadec area fishing rules, read 2026-10-07 |
| Water | Type | Live data | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raglan fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Thames fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Whangamatā fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Whitianga fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Kawhia fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Coromandel fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Port Waikato fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Tairua fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Pauanui fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Mōkau fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
Thames-Coromandel District Council’s list of east coast ramps runs from Whangamatā through Pauanui, Tairua, Cooks Beach, Whitianga, Kūaotunu and Matarangi to Whangapoua, and for Whangamatā it warns of shifting sands, strong currents and unpredictable swells at the harbour bar. Te Whanganui-o-Hei (Cathedral Cove), on that coast, is a marine reserve. Scallops are closed throughout the Coromandel fishery, and MPI lists no set netting at Pauanui, Cape Colville and most of the Mercury Islands. At Ahuahu Great Mercury Island the western bays between Maunganui Point and Ahikopua Point, Huruhi Harbour included, are a controlled area where fishing methods that touch the seabed are banned.
Waikato District Council lists ramps at Port Waikato, at the Raglan wharf, Papahua Domain and Manu Bay, and on Te Papatapu Road for Aotea Harbour. MPI bans set netting at the entrances to Raglan Harbour and the Waikato Harbour, inside the wider west coast set-net restrictions. The rules change along this coast at Tīrua Point, the boundary MPI uses between its Auckland and Kermadec and Central areas: Kawhia and the harbours north of it follow the Auckland and Kermadec rules, while Mōkau, further south, is in the Central area.
In LINZ’s secondary-port table Thames and Coromandel Harbour are referred to Auckland; Whitianga, Tairua, Pauanui and Whangamatā to Tauranga; and Port Waikato, Raglan, Aotea Harbour, Kawhia and the Mōkau River entrance to Port Taranaki. LINZ publishes daily tables for Thames, Whitianga, Raglan, Manu Bay and Kawhia.
Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game manages most of the region’s trout water: brown trout in the Waikato River and its hydro lakes, spring creeks in the south Waikato, the Coromandel rivers and King Country headwaters of the Waipā, Whanganui, Whakapapa and Awakino. Eastern Fish & Game’s area reaches the Waikato River at Huka Falls and Lake Maraetai. Lake Taupō and its tributaries, with the Waikato River down to Huka Falls, are DOC’s Taupō fishing district, which sells its own licence from 1 July to 30 June.
North of Tīrua Point, including Port Waikato, Raglan, Aotea and Kawhia, the Auckland and Kermadec rules; south of it, at Mōkau, the Central rules. The place pages show the right set for each.
No. MPI has closed all of the Coromandel scallop fishery (SCA CS) since 17 March 2023, after most of it closed in April 2022, and also lists East Coromandel as closed to scallops.
No. The Taupō fishing district is administered by DOC and needs its own licence, and DOC says that licence is not valid in Fish & Game areas either.
Both are LINZ daily predictions, but on different references: Raglan is tied to Port Taranaki and Whitianga to Tauranga in LINZ’s secondary-port table.
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.