Best time to fish in Paekakariki

Today, Thursday, October 29, 2026 · local time (GMT+13) · Wellington, New Zealand Today, Thu, Oct 29 · GMT+13

Today's rating Average day 6 out of 10

Best time today 5:40–6:30 am Also 3:30–4:30 pm

High tides: 12:05 am and 12:30 pm
Major periods: 2:14–4:14 am and 2:46–4:46 pm
Solunar activity: High
Sun: 6:12 am–7:57 pm

Today, Thursday, October 29, the best time to fish in Paekakariki is 5:40 am to 6:30 am, with the 6:19 am low tide, sunrise and falling pressure, though with moderate wind and rough seas. It's an average day (6/10). The best day this week is Tuesday, November 3, at 6/10.

Your day in Paekakariki at a glance

Night Day Tide Major Minor Best windows 1 5:40–6:30 am2 3:30–4:30 pm

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	5:40–6:30 am3:30–4:30 pm	▲ 12:05 am ▲ 12:30 pm	Waning gibbous
Fri 30	6average day	6:10–6:50 am7:20–8:30 pm	▲ 12:55 am ▲ 1:20 pm	Waning gibbous
Sat 31	6average day	7:40–8:30 pm5:40–6:20 am	▲ 1:51 am ▲ 2:17 pm	Waning gibbous
Sun 1	4fair day	5:40–6:50 am6:30–7:50 pm	▲ 2:53 am ▲ 3:22 pm	Waning gibbous
Mon 2	5average day	7:20–8:30 pm6:20–7:30 am	▲ 4:03 am ▲ 4:36 pm	Last quarter
Tue 3	6average day	7:40–8:30 pm5:40–6:20 am	▲ 5:17 am ▲ 5:51 pm	Waning crescent
Wed 4	6average day	7:30–8:30 pm5:30–6:40 am	▲ 6:29 am ▲ 6:58 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 Paekakariki?

Australasian snapper Pagrus auratus · fish · 41 records Photo: Gary Brooks · CC BY 4.0 · GBIF
1. JanJ
2. FebF
3. MarM
4. AprA
5. MayM
6. JunJ
7. JulJ
8. AugA
9. SepS
10. OctO
11. NovN
12. DecD
Yellowtail amberjack Seriola lalandi · fish · 32 records Photo: Nholtzha · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
1. JanJ
2. FebF
3. MarM
4. AprA
5. MayM
6. JunJ
7. JulJ
8. AugA
9. SepS
10. OctO
11. NovN
12. DecD
John Dory Zeus faber · fish · 16 records Photo: de:Benutzer:Kleines.Opossum · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
1. JanJ
2. FebF
3. MarM
4. AprA
5. MayM
6. JunJ
7. JulJ
8. AugA
9. SepS
10. OctO
11. NovN
12. DecD
Tope shark Galeorhinus galeus · shark · 13 records Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · public domain · Wikimedia Commons
1. JanJ
2. FebF
3. MarM
4. AprA
5. MayM
6. JunJ
7. JulJ
8. AugA
9. SepS
10. OctO
11. NovN
12. 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 3.8 of 5, moon 1 of 2, coefficient 2 of 2 and lineup 0 of 1; the weather multiplies the rating by 0.83.

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 Paekakariki

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.

Ministry for Primary Industries · National rules

Questions about fishing in Paekakariki

What's the best time to fish in Paekakariki today?

5:40 am to 6:30 am, with the 6:19 am low tide, sunrise and falling pressure, though with moderate wind and rough seas. Also 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Today's rating: 6/10 (average day).

What about tomorrow? When's the best time to fish in Paekakariki?

Tomorrow, Friday, October 30: 6:10 am to 6:50 am, with a rating of 6/10.

Which day this week is best for fishing in Paekakariki?

Tuesday, November 3, at 6/10. Its best window is 7:40 pm to 8:30 pm.

What can you catch in Paekakariki?

Sport fishing species with the most records within about 19 mi of Paekakariki: Australasian snapper, yellowtail amberjack, John Dory and tope shark. October is one of the months when these are seen most: yellowtail amberjack. These are sightings and catches recorded in GBIF and OBIS, not a promise that you will catch them.

When are the solunar periods in Paekakariki today?

Major: 2:14–4:14 am and 2:46–4:46 pm. Minor: 7:10–8:10 am and 11:27 pm–12:27 am. Solunar activity today: high.

Does the tide affect fishing in Paekakariki?

Yes. Today high tide is at 12:05 am and 12:30 pm and low tide at 6:19 am and 6:44 pm, with a tide coefficient of 94 (spring 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 (−0.19 inHg in 24 h), moderate onshore wind (18 mph) and rough sea: 9.0 ft waves. Strong wind and big waves lower the rating; falling pressure raises it a little.

What are the fishing rules in Paekakariki?

Recreational fishing rules in Paekakariki (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 Paekakariki today

Our own calculation: tide from Waikanae River Entrance (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 Port Taranaki in the Slackwater database (https://github.com/openwatersio/slackwater-database).

Spotted a mistake? Tell us · How we calculate the tides