June 2022 Fishing Forecast

The constant rain and wind has signalled the arrival of winter, yet in the North the water temps are holding strong and some phenomenal fishing is on offer. In the South it looks like the canal fishing couldn’t be any hotter!

In the north the weather has turned and we are getting consistent wind and rain with the odd fleeting weather window. One bonus is the water is still reasonably warm, a trip to the Far North late May still had us seeing water temps of 19 - 20 degrees. The positive here is the fish are still feeding aggressively before the water temp really drops.

Usually June would see a change of tactics for the saltwater anglers and a shift in to winter mode. But from our recent trip up North I’d suggest almost anything you throw out will likely return a positive result!

On the Snapper front, we couldn’t go wrong. They were smashing BaitJunkies in the shallows and out in the deep, the consistent colour was Baby Bass in the 7” Jerkshad. We also did well straylining in 5 and 15 metres of water, the key here was to get the wind and the tide in the same direction combined with a steady burley trail. Pillys were getting smashed by the smaller models & the larger models were taking a liking to fresh Kahawai, Jack Macs & Slimy Mackerel. For June & Snapper in the North I’d be employing the same tactics as above to get into some prime conditioned Snapper.

The Kingfish were also feeding aggressively and unfortunately the sharks were still in attendance. Fortunately, with a couple of moves we left the sharks behind and found the kings. It was fair to say the Kings were super aggressive when it came to a well presented stickbait & it seemed that the natural colours were performing the best. The standout bait was the Divestar in the Flying Fish colour, it consistently caught the most even when up against some of the more expensive Japanese handmade baits, maybe it was just the anglers superior technique...? For June I’d definitely have a stickbait at the ready as it is likely to provide some spectacular action! Interestingly stickbaiting out fished live baits in the shallows and jigs also outperformed them in the deep, food for thought in June.

Our crew in the South Island are reporting some next level fishing. Doug Clifton has had some unreal Kingy action at the top of the South with some absolute hogs on topwater. The Snapper fishery is also looking like it is firing up with some quality fish hitting the deck. Ben Booth has been having a ball on the Canals with his clients, with some incredible condition fish hitting the net, by all accounts Ben and his clients couldn’t be any happier with the fishing on offer at the moment. Now is the time to make the pilgrimage if you want a shot a catching a once in a lifetime Rainbow or Brown trout. Over the later part of May, Ben and Doug caught up & had some exceptional fishing, check out their social channels to see how
their recent adventures have been unfolding.

If the fishing in May was anything to go off, June has the potential to be equally as impressive, good luck out there!