Blue cod
Good
The spawning season runs through late winter and spring: fish reef and gravel patches with cut bait on a large hook.
Porirua Tide Times & Bite Times Today
Updated Thu, 8 Oct 2026 from LINZ tide predictions and the weather forecast
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.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 9:19 am LINZ
Air / High
9 °C / 16 °C
Wind
SSE 11 km/h
Sources: LINZ tide predictions, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Porirua tide times for the next 7 days
High and low tides in New Zealand time, LINZ's daily prediction for Mana Marina, 4.7 km from Porirua. Next: high tide at 9:19 am.
| Day | High tide | Low tide |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 8 Oct (today) | 9:19 am (1.5 m) · 9:45 pm (1.6 m) | 3:21 am (0.7 m) · 4:03 pm (0.8 m) |
| Fri 9 Oct | 10:00 am (1.6 m) · 10:19 pm (1.7 m) | 3:58 am (0.6 m) · 4:27 pm (0.7 m) |
| Sat 10 Oct | 10:36 am (1.7 m) · 10:52 pm (1.8 m) | 4:31 am (0.6 m) · 4:50 pm (0.6 m) |
| Sun 11 Oct | 11:10 am (1.7 m) · 11:24 pm (1.8 m) | 5:02 am (0.5 m) · 5:14 pm (0.5 m) |
| Mon 12 Oct | 11:41 am (1.8 m) · 11:54 pm (1.8 m) | 5:31 am (0.5 m) · 5:37 pm (0.5 m) |
| Tue 13 Oct | 12:11 pm (1.8 m) | 5:59 am (0.5 m) · 5:59 pm (0.5 m) |
| Wed 14 Oct | 12:23 am (1.8 m) · 12:39 pm (1.8 m) | 6:26 am (0.5 m) · 6:21 pm (0.5 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
Porirua is fishing in the cool band: give each spot time and work the tide change. Today brings clear skies, wind SSE around 11 km/h, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 16 °C. Tides: high 9:19 am and 9:45 pm, low 3:21 am and 4:03 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the waning crescent, the solunar majors run 10:13 AM-12:13 PM and 10:29 PM-12:29 AM: the windows to build the day around.
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.
Tarakihi
Good
Anchor or hold over the deeper reef edges with small baits close to the bottom, and move when a mark goes quiet.
Red gurnard
Good
Fish slower as the water cools: an anchored ledger rig in harbour channels or on the sand off the beaches, with fresh bait.
Snapper
Good
In spring the schools bunch up before moving onto their spawning grounds; in autumn and winter they spread into deeper, more open water. Either way, fish the 15 to 60 metre marks with baits on the bottom and time the session around the tide change.
Sea perch
Good
Drop to the bottom over reef and foul ground with cut bait, holding position over the rough patches.
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: 10:13 AM-12:13 PM, 10:29 PM-12:29 AM, 4:56 AM-5:56 AM. Warmer at 19 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Fishing times for Porirua today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:43), sunset (19:33), the moon and today's score, with the tide times above. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:13 AM-12:13 PM and 10:29 PM-12:29 AM; minor 4:56 AM-5:56 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 Mana Marina, 4.7 km from Porirua. Heights above chart datum. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
Thu
LOW3:21 am0.70 m
HIGH9:19 am1.50 m
LOW4:03 pm0.80 m
HIGH9:45 pm1.60 m
Fri
LOW3:58 am0.60 m
HIGH10:00 am1.60 m
LOW4:27 pm0.70 m
HIGH10:19 pm1.70 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp9 °C
High / Low16 °C / 8 °C
WindSSE 11 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1023.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain14% cloud, 68%
Sunrise / Sunset06:43 / 19:33
MoonWaning Crescent, 9%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Porirua
The best day on Porirua this week looks like Monday 12 Oct, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Monday, 12 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
- 10:13 AM-12:13 PM and 10:29 PM-12:29 AM
- Minor period
- 4:56 AM-5:56 AM
- Sun
- 06:43 to 19:33
- Moon
- Waning Crescent, 9% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 23 km/h
- Rain chance
- 68%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Porirua: 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.
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.
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.
Red gurnard
Year-round; spawning through spring and summer, peaking in early summer
Kumukumu in te reo Māori. Red gurnard live across harbours and shallow coastal waters, which the Plenary says makes them an important recreational species, often caught by people fishing for snapper and tarakihi. They spawn through spring and summer, and small juveniles shelter in shallow harbours. Fish slower as the water cools: an anchored ledger rig in harbour channels or on the sand off the beaches, with fresh bait.
Snapper
Year-round; spawning schools gather in November and December, and winter fish sit deeper
Tāmure or kouarea in te reo Māori. MPI describes snapper as the dominant fish of northern inshore waters, most common where the sea is warmer and especially in the Hauraki Gulf, at home on reef as well as sand and mud, usually between 15 and 60 metres. The Fisheries Assessment Plenary calls it the largest recreational fishery in New Zealand. In spring the schools bunch up before moving onto their spawning grounds; in autumn and winter they spread into deeper, more open water. Either way, fish the 15 to 60 metre marks with baits on the bottom and time the session around the tide change.
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.
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.
Fishing rules at Porirua: MPI Central 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 Porirua is in the Central 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.
Near an area or zone boundary. Central blue cod split at Titahi Bay (FMA 8 north/west: 2 a day; FMA 2 south/east: 20 a day). Porirua Harbour opens north of the Titahi Bay line, so FMA 8 is assumed; confirm on the MPI map.
| Fish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum length |
|---|---|---|---|
| All finfish combined | Central area, excluding baitfish (50 combined) and freshwater eels (6) | 20 | — |
| Snapper | Central area | 10 | 27 cm |
| Kahawai | Central area | In the combined limit | None set |
| Kingfish | Central area | 3 | 75 cm |
| Trevally | Central area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Gurnard | Central area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Tarakihi | Central area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Blue cod | Taranaki to Titahi Bay (FMA 8); landed whole or gutted | 2 | 33 cm |
| Blue cod | Titahi Bay to Cape Runaway (FMA 2); landed whole or gutted | 20 | 33 cm |
| Red cod | Central area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Flounder | Central area | In the combined limit | None set |
| John Dory | Central area; not listed; "all other finfish" | In the combined limit | None set |
| Shellfish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scallops | Central area; season 15 Jul to 14 Feb | 20 | 100 mm |
| Cockles | Central area | 150 | None set |
| Pāua (blackfoot) | Central area | 5 | 125 mm |
| Pāua (yellowfoot) | Central area | 5 | 80 mm |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | Cape Runaway to Wairoa River | 3 spiny, 3 packhorse | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | South of Wairoa River | 6 (no more than 3 packhorse) | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
- Rock lobster (crayfish): Telson clipping from Cape Runaway to East Cape lighthouse.
Rules change often, sometimes at short notice: check MPI's Central 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 Porirua 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
Kahawai
Tarakihi
Red gurnard
Snapper
Sea perch
Flounder
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 13 °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 Porirua 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 14 °C, wind to 31 km/h.
Tue, Oct 6
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 14 °C, wind to 29 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 13 °C, wind to 13 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 Porirua 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
Porirua is a bay or coastal water in Wellington, New Zealand, covered from the Wellington reports and listed in all New Zealand waters.
Fishing Porirua: the full guide
Set nets and Pukerua Bay
The amateur fishing regulations ban set nets in Pāuatahanui Inlet (regulation 88), and the Hawera to Wellington set-net area under regulation 90 is defined to include all of Porirua Harbour. At Pukerua Bay, regulation 91 allows fish, aquatic life and seaweed to be taken only by hand-held line; MPI’s map shades the water from Pukerua Bay north-east to a point beside the Centennial Highway.
Launch sites around the harbour
Greater Wellington lists the Porirua launching places. Paremata Bridge is a public sandy-beach launch maintained by Porirua City Council, difficult at low tide; Onepoto Ramp is concrete and unaffected by wind; and boats can be launched from both ends of Tītahi Bay, where GW warns that driving or parking on the fossil forest under the central beach is illegal. The Mana Cruising Club ramp is usable in all tides and winds, the two Plimmerton Boating Club ramps are for members, and Pukerua Bay has a small, steep ramp for smaller boats.
Common questions
Can I set net in Porirua Harbour?
No. Regulation 88 bans set nets in Pāuatahanui Inlet, and the regulation 90 prohibition area includes all of Porirua Harbour.
What are the rules at Pukerua Bay?
Only hand-held lines may be used to take anything there, shellfish and seaweed included. MPI’s Central page gives the boundary points and a map.
Which tide station is used for Porirua?
LINZ’s Mana Marina station, about 5 km from the city point, for which LINZ publishes daily predictions.
Is fishing good at Porirua 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
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- legislation.govt.nz/secondary-legislation/pco-drafted/2013/482/en/late
- mpi.govt.nz/fishing-aquaculture/recreational-fishing/fishing-rules/cen
- mpi.govt.nz/assets/On-page-images/fishing-rules/maps/pukerua__ResizedI
- gw.govt.nz/environment/harbours-and-coasts/boating-facilities
- static.charts.linz.govt.nz/tide-tables/maj-ports/csv/Mana%20Marina%202
- 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.