Best time to fish in Whangamata
Today, Thursday, October 29, 2026 · local time (GMT+13) · Waikato, New Zealand Today, Thu, Oct 29 · GMT+13- High tides
- 10:07 am and 10:23 pm
- Major periods
- 2:10–4:10 am and 2:43–4:43 pm
- Solunar activity
- Medium
- Sun
- 6:15 am–7:47 pm
Today, Thursday, October 29, the best time to fish in Whangamata is 2:40 am to 4:10 am, with the 3:41 am low tide, a major period and falling pressure, though with moderate wind. It's an average day (6/10). The best day this week is Monday, November 2, at 8/10.
Your day in Whangamata at a glance
The strip runs from midnight to midnight, local time. Night in gray, daylight in yellow; the blue curve is the tide; below, the solunar periods and the best windows.
Fishing forecast for the next 7 days
| Day | Rating | Best times | High tides | Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 6average day | 2:40–4:10 am3:10–4:40 pm | ▲ 10:07 am ▲ 10:23 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Fri 30 | 6average day | 3:30–5:10 am4:00–5:50 pm | ▲ 10:58 am ▲ 11:16 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Sat 31 | 6average day | 5:40–6:20 am5:00–6:50 pm | ▲ 11:51 am | Waning gibbous |
| Sun 1 | 6average day | 5:40–6:50 am5:50–7:50 pm | ▲ 12:10 am ▲ 12:47 pm | Waning gibbous |
| Mon 2 | 8good day | 7:10–8:20 pm6:10–8:10 am | ▲ 1:07 am ▲ 1:45 pm | Last quarter |
| Tue 3 | 7good day | 8:30–9:10 am7:30–9:30 pm | ▲ 2:07 am ▲ 2:44 pm | Waning crescent |
| Wed 4 | 6average day | 8:50–10:20 pm8:10–10:00 am | ▲ 3:10 am ▲ 3:44 pm | Waning crescent |
Each day's rating comes from the tide, the solunar periods, the light and, when we have the forecast, the weather.
What can you catch in Whangamata?
Sport fishing species with the most records within about 19 mi of Whangamata: Australasian snapper, yellowtail amberjack, shortfin mako, John Dory and striped marlin.
- Australasian snapper Pagrus auratus · fish · 800 records Photo: Gary Brooks · CC BY 4.0 · GBIF
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Yellowtail amberjack Seriola lalandi · fish · 166 records Photo: Nholtzha · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Shortfin mako Isurus oxyrinchus · shark · 89 records Photo: Mark Conlin, SWFSC Large Pelagics Program · public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- John Dory Zeus faber · fish · 73 records Photo: de:Benutzer:Kleines.Opossum · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Striped marlin Kajikia audax · fish · 71 records Photo: Auckland Museum · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
- Blue shark Prionace glauca · shark · 8 records Photo: Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- JanJ
- FebF
- MarM
- AprA
- MayM
- JunJ
- JulJ
- AugA
- SepS
- OctO
- NovN
- DecD
These are sightings and catches recorded since 1970 (reports from divers and anglers, scientific surveys and museum collections), not a promise that you will catch them. The months come from sightings only, adjusted for how many there are each month; hatched months have too few to tell.
Source: GBIF.org, which also gathers OBIS data. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0, from 1,130 datasets (retrieved October 24, 2026). Where the data comes from
Photos: each species' image on Wikidata (Wikimedia Commons) or, if there isn't one, one from GBIF; only licences that allow this use, each with its author and licence.
Piers, ramps and tackle shops nearby
Map: OpenFreeMap · © OpenMapTiles · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Within 9.3 mi. A spot may be missing or closed. Open the map on OpenStreetMap · Missing one? Add it to OpenStreetMap
Spots: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Overture Maps.
How we work out the best time
We score every moment of the day, every 10 minutes, with simple rules anglers have used for decades:
- Tide: 2 to 3.5 points in the hour before and the hour after each high and low tide. Spring tides (high coefficient) score more, because the water moves faster.
- Solunar: 2.5 points in the major periods (moon overhead or underfoot) and 1.5 in the minor ones (moonrise and moonset).
- Light: 2 points at dawn and dusk, from first light to the end of the morning golden hour and from the evening golden hour to the end of twilight.
- Weather: falling pressure adds 1 point and rising pressure takes 1 away; wind takes points away from force 4 (about 12 mph), up to 5 points in a gale; waves of 1.6 ft to 4.9 ft add half a point (they stir up the water) and from 8.2 ft they take points away (up to 4).
- Best windows: the stretches of 40 minutes to 3 hours with the most points, at least an hour apart.
- Day's rating out of 10: the best window (up to 5), the moon (up to 2, near new or full moon), the tide coefficient (up to 2) and whether a solunar period lines up with sunrise or sunset (1). Without a tide, we score out of 8 and scale it to 10. Good weather adds up to 1 point and bad weather pulls it down.
Today: best window 3.4 of 5, moon 1 of 2, coefficient 1.5 of 2 and lineup 0 of 1; the weather adds 0.4.
It's a guide, not a guarantee: fish don't read tide tables. Always check the sea conditions and local fishing rules before you go.
Learn more
Fishing rules in Whangamata
Licenses, size limits, bag limits and closed seasons are set by the authorities and change often. We don't copy them here: check the official website before you go.
Questions about fishing in Whangamata
What's the best time to fish in Whangamata today?
2:40 am to 4:10 am, with the 3:41 am low tide, a major period and falling pressure, though with moderate wind. Also 3:10 pm to 4:40 pm and 9:20 pm to 11:20 pm. Today's rating: 6/10 (average day).
What about tomorrow? When's the best time to fish in Whangamata?
Tomorrow, Friday, October 30: 3:30 am to 5:10 am, with a rating of 6/10.
Which day this week is best for fishing in Whangamata?
Monday, November 2, at 8/10. Its best window is 7:10 pm to 8:20 pm.
What can you catch in Whangamata?
Sport fishing species with the most records within about 19 mi of Whangamata: Australasian snapper, yellowtail amberjack, shortfin mako, John Dory and striped marlin. These are sightings and catches recorded in GBIF and OBIS, not a promise that you will catch them.
When are the solunar periods in Whangamata today?
Major: 2:10–4:10 am and 2:43–4:43 pm. Minor: 7:21–8:21 am and 11:08 pm–12:08 am. Solunar activity today: medium.
Does the tide affect fishing in Whangamata?
Yes. Today high tide is at 10:07 am and 10:23 pm and low tide at 3:41 am and 4:09 pm, with a tide coefficient of 86 (average tides). The hours around each tide change tend to fish best, because moving water carries food.
How is the rating worked out?
From the tide, the solunar periods, the light at dawn and dusk, the moon phase and, when we have the forecast, the pressure, the wind and the waves. Each factor gives a fixed number of points and the rating sums them up out of 10.
Does it take the weather into account?
Yes. During today's best window: falling pressure (−0.11 inHg in 24 h), moderate offshore wind (13 mph) and calm sea (1.4 ft waves). Strong wind and big waves lower the rating; falling pressure raises it a little.
What are the fishing rules in Whangamata?
Recreational fishing rules in Whangamata (licenses, size limits, bag limits and closed seasons) are set by the authorities: Ministry for Primary Industries. They change often: check the official website before you go.
More about Whangamata today
Our own calculation: tide from Whangamatā (LINZ), sun and moon with astronomy-engine and, when available, weather and sea from Open-Meteo (ECMWF, NOAA GFS and Copernicus Marine, CC BY 4.0). This work is based on Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand data which are licensed by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Modified: secondary port of the LINZ Secondary Ports table 2026-27 (https://www.linz.govt.nz/products-services/tides-and-tidal-streams/tide-predictions), computed by TidePlanet with the LINZ method from the harmonic constants of Tauranga in the Slackwater database (https://github.com/openwatersio/slackwater-database).