Fishing Reports

Mike Cotter  From O`Keefe`s Fishing Specialist  October 2nd 2007

The weather gods were on our side as opening day dawned relatively clear and calm. The conditions on the lakes were much better than anticipated and anglers were out in numbers on the three lakes that reopened in our area.

Most areas on Lake Tarawera provided some great early morning harling although many anglers found that the first hour of daylight was a little quiet. Once the action started the fishing was very intense until mid morning when it tapered off and became quite patchy. The red bodied Green Orbit and the yellow bodied Parsons Glory proved to be the flies of choice and the lures that were working well were the Green and Gold, the Barley Sugar and the Black toby.  Those anglers that fished deep with copper lines and down riggers experienced some good fishing throughout the day.

Some anglers found jigging produced fish when the trolling quietened off and others found jigging to be a peaceful way to fish while they stopped for a late breakfast or lunch.

Lake Rotoiti followed a very similar pattern to Lake Tarawera with the early morning harling being the most productive. Gisborne Point, Hauparu Bay and Okawa Bay were the hotspots on this lake for harling.  Jigging was the main focus on Rotoiti for many anglers and this method produced fish early in the morning but once again tapered off in the afternoon. The flies that were productive for those anglers that were jigging continued along the same lines as last season with the smaller sizes, both tens and twelves in the Grey Ghost and Jack Sprat being very popular.

The Ohau Channel proved a very popular spot for opening day with anglers arriving early to gain the pick of the spots. The brown trout were there in numbers and a few of these fish were well over the five kilo mark. The largest trout that I saw from the Ohau Channel was a five and a half kilo brown hen which was landed by Pinky Rewi Henry. There were also reports of other large fish that were hooked but despite the best attempts by anglers they were unable to be landed.

Lake Okataina saw slightly less pressure than the other two lakes and followed the same pattern with early morning harling being very productive. 

Deep trolling later in the day produced fish for most anglers with the lures of choice here being the Green Lightning Bolt toby and the Eliminator

Those anglers that ventured out to the streams that reopened experienced some wonderful fishing with the rivers being in pristine condition. The fish appeared to have done well over the winter period and were also in good condition. The Otamatea was crystal clear and the water level was quite low for this time of the year which was ideal for the opening of the season.