Hi Maggie
The river is good fun for Wakeboarding and skiing on in the summer.
A lot of people fish in the river but I probably havent since I was a kid (which is pretty sad when I think about that), But I am looking forward to taking my little boy Henry fishing when his is old enough. He is only 18 months old so we maybe we can take him soon. He is getting very excited when he sees animals now. They mainly catch kaiwhai, Mullet, eels, and flounder. Right in the river entrance they sometimes catch Snaper and Kingfish as well.
Most of my fishing is from a boat surprise surprise. And normally aluminium boats even more of a surprise! We normally have to travel 5-12 nautical miles to the fishing grounds. Most of the bottom is sand or mud but as you get further out there is good rocky spots with really good fishing. We normally catch Snaper(yum), Blue Cod(yum), Kahwai(yum Smoked), Barracouta(yuk), Red Cod(yuk), Gurnard(yum), Hapuka(yum), John Dory(yum), Tarakihi(yum), Trevally(yum), King Fish(yum). There are other less commercial types of fish caught also. To go diving we need to travel 22 nautical miles up the coast.
Here is a NZ fish Species chart so you can see the fish I have been talking about.
http://www.fishnz.co.nz/species.cfm?cat=Saltwater
Keep your fishing pictures coming Maggie.