Greater Wellington Regional Council’s waters run from the south coast of Wellington up the west coast to the Ōtaki River and across to the Mataikona River north of Castlepoint, with two harbours, Wellington and Porirua, and about 500 km of coastline. All of it is in MPI’s Central area.
Reports current for Thursday, 8 October
Every one of the 6 Wellington waters we cover has a live read this morning. They are all sitting in the middle of the scale today. Water runs 13 °C to 14 °C. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind. 3 have a better-than-even chance of rain.
Best right now: Castlepoint 3/5, Ōtaki 3/5, Paraparaumu 3/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
The capital on Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, with seven city council boat ramps and the Taputeranga Marine Reserve on its south coast.
A Kāpiti Coast town facing Kapiti Island, where boats launch off the beach by tractor and the Kapiti Marine Reserve stretches across to the island.
A Kāpiti Coast town with surfcasting from Ōtaki Beach, council limits on where you can drive on the sand, and a set-net ban drawn across the Ōtaki River mouth.
A city on Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour, where set nets are banned throughout the harbour and Pāuatahanui Inlet, and Pukerua Bay is limited to hand-held lines.
A Wairarapa beach settlement where boats launch off a sheltered sandy spit and the reef, lagoon and Castle Rock lie within a DOC scenic reserve.
A town on the Waikanae River whose beach launch is run by the Waikanae Boating Club and whose river mouth is where the Kapiti Marine Reserve meets the mainland.
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 |
| 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 |
| Water | Type | Live data | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Paraparaumu fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Ōtaki fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Porirua fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Castlepoint fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Waikanae fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
At Pukerua Bay only hand-held lines may be used, and Pāuatahanui Inlet is closed to set netting. Blue cod rules split at Tītahi Bay: MPI manages the coast north and west of it together with Taranaki, and the coast from Tītahi Bay round to Cape Runaway as a separate area. Two marine reserves are closed to all fishing: Taputeranga, about 6 km from the city centre, and Kāpiti, in eastern and western parts.
Wellington has the smallest mean spring range of LINZ’s 16 standard ports, 1.31 m. LINZ refers Cape Palliser / Mātakitaki-a-Kupe and Ngawi to Wellington, but the Kāpiti Coast (Paraparaumu Beach, the Waikanae River entrance, Ōtaki Beach and Mana Marina) to Port Taranaki, and Castlepoint on the Wairarapa coast to Napier. The regional council also publishes measured tide and water temperature at Queens Wharf and in Porirua Harbour.
Wellington Fish & Game’s region stretches roughly from Waiouru across to Norsewood and south to Cook Strait, and within this region it covers the Hutt and Ruamāhanga catchments and the Kāpiti and Wairarapa districts.
Only with a hand-held line: MPI closes the bay to all other fishing and seafood gathering, and gives GPS points for the boundary.
LINZ refers the Kāpiti Coast to Port Taranaki rather than to Wellington, so its high and low waters are calculated from a different port.
Taputeranga on the city’s south coast and Kāpiti around Kāpiti Island; no fishing of any kind is allowed in either.
Yes, a Fish & Game licence; the Hutt is part of Wellington Fish & Game’s region. Fishing from the beaches and wharves needs none.
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.