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.
Hokitika Tide Times & Bite Times Today
Updated Thu, 8 Oct 2026 from LINZ tide predictions and the weather forecast
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.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 10:00 am LINZ
Air / High
8 °C / 19 °C
Wind
E 2 km/h
Sources: LINZ tide predictions, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Hokitika tide times for the next 7 days
High and low tides in New Zealand time, calculated from LINZ's prediction for Westport, its standard port, with the differences LINZ publishes for Hokitika River Bar. Next: high tide at 10:00 am.
| Day | High tide | Low tide |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 8 Oct (today) | 10:00 am (2.0 m) · 10:18 pm (2.1 m) | 3:42 am (0.3 m) · 4:04 pm (0.3 m) |
| Fri 9 Oct | 10:44 am (2.1 m) · 11:00 pm (2.2 m) | 4:29 am (0.2 m) · 4:47 pm (0.3 m) |
| Sat 10 Oct | 11:24 am (2.1 m) · 11:38 pm (2.2 m) | 5:10 am (0.2 m) · 5:26 pm (0.2 m) |
| Sun 11 Oct | 12:00 pm (2.1 m) | 5:48 am (0.2 m) · 6:03 pm (0.2 m) |
| Mon 12 Oct | 12:14 am (2.2 m) · 12:34 pm (2.1 m) | 6:24 am (0.2 m) · 6:38 pm (0.2 m) |
| Tue 13 Oct | 12:48 am (2.1 m) · 1:07 pm (2.1 m) | 6:59 am (0.3 m) · 7:14 pm (0.3 m) |
| Wed 14 Oct | 1:23 am (2.1 m) · 1:41 pm (2.0 m) | 7:34 am (0.3 m) · 7:50 pm (0.4 m) |
LINZ marks its data for Hokitika River Bar as approximate. Times and heights follow LINZ's method for secondary ports (the standard port's prediction plus the published mean differences and range ratio); checked against LINZ's own daily prediction for Raglan over a week on 7 October 2026, the method came within 13 minutes and 0.2 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
Hokitika is in its cooler-water pattern: slower baits and the turn of the tide. Today brings cloud cover, wind E around 2 km/h, steady pressure near 1023 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Tides: high 10:00 am and 10:18 pm, low 3:42 am and 4:04 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 10:29 AM-12:29 PM and 10:44 PM-12:44 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Blue cod
Good
The spawning season runs through late winter and spring: fish reef and gravel patches with cut bait on a large hook.
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.
Red cod
Slow
Late autumn is the tail of the run and late spring its start; between them the schools are offshore.
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: 10:29 AM-12:29 PM, 10:44 PM-12:44 AM, 5:14 AM-6:14 AM. Similar at 19 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Fishing times for Hokitika today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:58), sunset (19:50), the moon and today's score, with the tide times above. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:29 AM-12:29 PM and 10:44 PM-12:44 AM; minor 5:14 AM-6:14 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)
Calculated from LINZ's prediction for Westport, its standard port, with the differences LINZ publishes for Hokitika River Bar. Heights above chart datum. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
Thu
LOW3:42 am0.32 m
HIGH10:00 am2.00 m
LOW4:04 pm0.32 m
HIGH10:18 pm2.14 m
Fri
LOW4:29 am0.18 m
HIGH10:44 am2.07 m
LOW4:47 pm0.25 m
HIGH11:00 pm2.21 m
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp8 °C
High / Low19 °C / 8 °C
WindE 2 km/h, gusts 5 km/h
Pressure1022.6 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain99% cloud, 15%
Sunrise / Sunset06:58 / 19:50
MoonWaning Crescent, 9%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Hokitika
The best day on Hokitika 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
- 10:29 AM-12:29 PM and 10:44 PM-12:44 AM
- Minor period
- 5:14 AM-6:14 AM
- Sun
- 06:58 to 19:50
- Moon
- Waning Crescent, 9% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 15%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Hokitika: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
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.
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.
Red cod
About November to June on the Canterbury coast; the schools leave for deeper water over winter
Hoka in te reo Māori. A fast-growing, short-lived species. The Plenary says feeding schools arrive in the Canterbury Bight and around Banks Peninsula around November and are gone by about June, and that recruitment swings widely, so catches change a lot from year to year. The 2022–23 national survey estimated a recreational harvest of about a tenth of the 2017–18 figure. Late autumn is the tail of the run and late spring its start; between them the schools are offshore.
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.
Fishing rules at Hokitika: MPI Challenger 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 Hokitika is in the Challenger 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 | Challenger area, excluding baitfish (50) and eels (6) | 20 | — |
| Snapper | Challenger | 10 | 25 cm |
| Snapper | Marlborough Sounds area | 3 | 25 cm |
| Kahawai | Challenger area | In the combined limit | None set |
| Kingfish | Challenger area | 3 | 75 cm |
| Trevally | Challenger area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Gurnard | Challenger area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Tarakihi | Challenger area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Blue cod | Tasman: Farewell Spit to Clarence River incl. Marlborough Sounds; whole or gutted; possession up to 4 when entering from outside with proof | 2 | 33 cm |
| Blue cod | Kahurangi: Heaphy River to Farewell Spit | 10 | 33 cm |
| Blue cod | Westland: south bank of Haast River to Heaphy River; headed and gutted allowed, 24 cm headed | 15 | 33 cm |
| Blue cod | South West: Sandhill Point to south bank of Haast River | 10 | 33 cm |
| Red cod | Challenger area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Flounder | Challenger area; flatfish 25 cm; no separate sand flounder row | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| John Dory | Challenger area; not listed; "all other finfish" | In the combined limit | None set |
| Shellfish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scallops | Challenger area; season 15 Jul to 14 Feb | 50 | 90 mm |
| Cockles | Challenger area | 150 | None set |
| Pāua (blackfoot) | Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough | 5 | 125 mm |
| Pāua (yellowfoot) | Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough | 5 | 80 mm |
| Pāua (blackfoot) | All other Challenger areas | 10 | 125 mm |
| Pāua (yellowfoot) | All other Challenger areas | 10 | 80 mm |
| Pāua (blackfoot) | Marfells Beach to Conway River (season 1 May–31 Aug) | 3 | 130 mm |
| Pāua (yellowfoot) | Marfells Beach to Conway River (season 1 May–31 Aug) | 3 | 80 mm |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | Challenger | 6 (no more than 3 packhorse) | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
- Scallops: Marlborough Sounds, Tasman Bay, Golden Bay and Port Underwood closed since 15 Jul 2018 (SCA 7) until further notice
Rules change often, sometimes at short notice: check MPI's Challenger 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 Hokitika 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
Kahawai
Blue cod
Red cod
Red gurnard
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 Hokitika today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataWed, Oct 7
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Kahawai led the card at excellent. High of 15 °C, wind to 10 km/h.
Tue, Oct 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Kahawai led the card at excellent. High of 16 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Mon, Oct 5
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Kahawai led the card at good. High of 14 °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 Hokitika 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
Hokitika is a bay or coastal water in West Coast, New Zealand, covered from the West Coast reports and listed in all New Zealand waters.
Fishing Hokitika: the full guide
Beach and river mouth
Westland District Council warns that its beaches, Hokitika Beach included, can be dangerous, with rips, drifts, strong currents and heavy waves, and that many have no lifeguards. It lists the Hokitika beachfront on Beach Street, the Sunset Point recreation area and Pierson Esplanade, west of the bridge on Gibson Quay, among its reserves.
Set nets and West Coast whitebait rules
The amateur fishing regulations ban set nets from Farewell Spit lighthouse to Awarua Point, out to 2 nautical miles, with a straight line across the Hokitika River mouth as the boundary there. DOC’s whitebaiting rules are different on the West Coast of the South Island: screens must be set from the water’s edge and only on the bank side of the net, only one net may be used from a licensed stand, fishing from an unlicensed structure is not allowed, and drag nets are banned.
Common questions
Can I use a drag net for whitebait at Hokitika?
No. DOC’s additional rules for the West Coast of the South Island ban drag nets and require screens to sit on the bank side of the net, at the water’s edge.
Which tide station covers Hokitika?
LINZ’s Hokitika River Bar secondary port, about 400 m from the town point, calculated from Westport; high water there averages 10 minutes after Westport.
Where do the tide times for Hokitika come from?
They are calculated from LINZ’s prediction for Westport with the time differences LINZ publishes for Hokitika River Bar, using LINZ’s own method. LINZ marks its data for Hokitika River Bar as approximate.
Is fishing good at Hokitika 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
- westlanddc.govt.nz/recreation/beaches-parks-and-reserves
- legislation.govt.nz/secondary-legislation/pco-drafted/2013/482/en/late
- mpi.govt.nz/fishing-aquaculture/recreational-fishing/fishing-rules/cha
- doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/fishing/whitebaiting/whi
- doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/whitebaiting/u
- linz.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2026-06/NZNA_Secondary-ports-2026-27.
- 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.