The West Coast faces the open Tasman from Kahurangi Point, north of Karamea, to Awarua Point south of Haast, and is fished from beaches, river mouths and bar harbours such as Westport and Greymouth. All of it is in MPI’s Challenger area, and it has its own whitebaiting rules.
Reports current for Thursday, 8 October
Every one of the 3 West Coast waters we cover has a live read this morning. They are all sitting in the middle of the scale today. Water is around 13 °C. Pressure is holding steady on most of them, so the day comes down to water temperature and wind.
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
A river port at the Buller River mouth, with a free yacht-club ramp into the Floating Basin and a harbour bar that calls for advice before crossing.
A port town at the mouth of the Grey River/Māwheranui, where boats cross a bar between breakwaters to reach Erua Moana Lagoon.
A West Coast town at the Hokitika River mouth, on a beach the district council warns is dangerous, with a coastal set-net ban and the West Coast’s own whitebaiting rules.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westport fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Greymouth fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
| Hokitika fishing report | Coast | modelled tide | Jan |
MPI closes a strip 2 nautical miles wide to set nets all the way from Farewell Spit to Awarua Point, which takes in the whole of this coast. MPI divides blue cod into its Kahurangi (Heaphy River to Farewell Spit), Westland (Haast River south bank to the Heaphy) and South West areas. Since 1 October 2025 nine Makaawhio mātaitai near Haast, among them Ōkārito Lagoon, Bruce Bay and Jackson Head, have had their own bylaws, with reduced limits, vessel limits and some species that may not be taken.
DOC lists five on this coast: Kahurangi, in the far north; Punakaiki, around the pancake rocks at Dolomite Point; Waiau Glacier Coast, fed by two lagoons and the Waiho River; Tauparikākā; and Hautai, which DOC calls the most remote mainland marine reserve in the country, two days’ walk from the nearest road end.
The Westport harbour page asks skippers to get advice from the Harbour Master or the port information line before crossing, warns against entering when waves are breaking on the bar, and notes that the Buller’s run can reach 8–10 knots 12 to 18 hours after heavy rain in the mountains. Westport is the LINZ standard port, and LINZ refers Karamea River Entrance, Charleston, Greymouth, Hokitika River Bar, Ōkārito, Bruce Bay, Haast River Entrance and Jackson Bay to it.
The 2026 whitebait season is 1 September to 30 October everywhere, but DOC says the West Coast has its own gear rules: only one net from a stand, and no free choice of net and screen layout. West Coast Fish & Game reports brown trout and salmon from the mountains to the sea, with almost 90% of the region in public ownership.
Anywhere from Farewell Spit to Awarua Point within 2 nautical miles of the shore, under MPI’s Challenger rules.
Not in dates: DOC gives 1 September to 30 October 2026, the same as the rest of New Zealand. What differs is the gear, set out in DOC’s additional West Coast regulations.
A LINZ secondary-port calculation from Westport; the same standard port serves Hokitika, Karamea and the coast south to Jackson Bay.
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.