Motunau Beach – A Guide to Fishing & Angler Etiquette

Plan Your Trip Around the Tides

The Motunau bar is generally navigable for most trailer boats from 1½ to 2½ hours either side of high tide. Most fishers head out on the incoming tide and return within this window. If high tide falls too early, some choose to depart on the outgoing tide and return about eight hours later on the next incoming tide.

✅ Key tip: Always ensure you have enough water under the keel to avoid running aground.

Prep Your Boat Before You Hit the Ramp

Use the staging area to prepare your boat before heading to the slipway. No one appreciates delays caused by unprepared launches.

❌ Avoid:

• Blocking the center of the two-lane slipway

• Diagonal launching

• Faffing about at the ramp

Pro tip: Watch how others launch to spot shallows near the breakwater. If you’re new to Motunau, consider a low tide recce first.

Crossing the Bar Safely

Some say the most dangerous bar in Motunau is at the Greta Valley Pub—but that’s another story.

There are two main techniques for crossing the bar:

✅ 1. Comfortably Planing

Get up on the plane before passing the old wharf. This gives you more control and reduces time in the danger zone.

✅ 2. Slow and Steady

Trim your motor up and idle carefully across.

⚠️ If something goes wrong (e.g. fuel line failure), jump overboard and hold the bow into the waves—better than capsizing.

Once you’re through the surf, look back and set shore markers to line up your return.

Finding Your Fishing Spot

Motunau’s reef systems offer excellent fishing opportunities. Target species include:

Blue Cod, Moki, Trumpeter, Groper, Kingfish, Butterfish, Salmon, John Dory, Sharks
Crayfish (Spiny Rock Lobster)

Tips:

• Fish near other boats—but not too close.

• Use your sounder to find foul ground or cray floats.

• Never tie up to a cray float—you could drag and damage the pot.

✅ Instead, tie a float to your anchor warp for:

• Fast releases (especially for picking up divers)

• Easy returns to hot spots

Ethical Fishing Practices

• Use large hooks (6/0 or bigger) to reduce undersized bycatch.

• Recurve or Kahle hooks help ensure clean hook-ups in the corner of the mouth.

• Flatten barbs on trebles for easier releases.

• Kill and chill your keepers quickly.

• Know your limits—Blue Cod limit is 2 per person.

Crayfish Diving Tips

Motunau is a great spot for crays—many divers bag their limit on a single tank.

Important to Know:

• Most are females, especially from March to November, when they’re in berry (egg-carrying) and off-limits.

• In summer, it’s acceptable to take barren females, due to local population balance.

How to Tell:

• Flat tail = male

• Tucked tail = likely female

• Check under pleopods (rear flaps) for eggs, especially October–November when residual eggs may still be present.

Returning Safely

Plan ahead for:

• Anchor retrieval delays

• Changing conditions

When approaching the bar:

• Come in on the back of a wave

• At high tide, the breakwater is submerged = less protection, more depth

• At low tide, the breakwater is visible = more protection, less depth

Double-check your return line using your earlier shore markers.
⚠️ Yield to commercial fishers—they need more room and can’t easily stop.

Support the Fishery

Fisheries Officers may inspect your catch or collect data—this helps manage the local fishery sustainably.

Pop a donation in the honesty box near the ramp. Ramp and bar upkeep isn’t cheap—every coin helps keep Motunau open for us all.

Timing the Tides – Rule of Twelfths

This rule helps you estimate depth changes between tides.

Example for a 2.3m tide:

• 1 hour before/after high tide ≈ 2.1m

• 2 hours before/after ≈ 1.7m

• Half tide ≈ 1.1m

⚠️ If you’re 10 minutes late coming back 2 hours after high tide, expect the water to be ~4 inches shallower.

Final Word – Crayfish, Anyone?

Just an hour north of Christchurch, Motunau Beach is a weekend magnet for divers and fishers alike. With rich reefs and generous cray populations, it’s one of Canterbury’s premier marine playgrounds.

If you haven’t made the trip—you’re missing out.