Fishing Reports

I don’t think that we needed quite that much rain over the past weekend, I doubt that the fish did either, however a 3 hardy souls from the Waikato braved minus one conditions last Monday night and the very windy and wet conditions on Friday night to fish Lake Okareka.  From their report, it seems that they averaged about three fish an hour from Boye’s Beach.  Size 10 and 12 flies seemed work best with lumo marabou and craig’s night-time flies catching rainbows up to two kilos in weight.  As I write this the rain has started again and looks like it might be set in for a few more days, at least until the end of the week. 

Booby fishing off the beach at the DoC Camp on Ashpit Road worked well for a couple of local anglers during the past week.  Catch rates at the DoC Camp on Brett Road have been down during the latter part of the weekend through to the middle of the following week due to angler pressure.  Those who fish this area from the middle of the week have done reasonably well.  Trolling on the lake has been ok, though many of the fish being caught are mending fish and not in the greatest of condition. 

With the Kaituna Gates fully open, there is a large amount of water going down the Kaituna River at the moment.  Thankfully, as of today, the flow dropped by at least 100mm.  The joy of having the gates fully open is that there is less turbulence close to the gates and a nice even flow on the true right bank.  A medium or fast sinking line is all that is needed here, rather than the deepwater express lines.  There some very unforgiving rocks on the river bed for those who choose the heavier lines and it pays to check the join between the sinking line and the backing every few months, as it is likely to be there that the line parts company.  The olive woolly bugger seems to be the fly of choice from the true right bank.  Simply cast across the current and keep tension on the line as it swings.  A slow retrieve up the current line will result in rainbows up to three and a half kilos being hooked.  There are a few spent hens being caught but once they are landed and released other fish take their place within 30 minutes or so.  Night fishing at this spot can be very exciting with large fish in high volume water.  With the faster current coming down the true left bank, trout are holding further downstream in the slower water. The daily bag limit on this piece of water down to the State highway 2 bridge is two fish. 

Just prior to the deluge over the weekend the Ngongotaha and Waiteti Streams fished exceptionally well. Anglers fishing the pools within the village did very well when using the weighted egg and smelt pattern combination.  As the river rose in height and volume, so did trout move up the river in large numbers.  As the river clears there should be some great fishing to be had in the lower reaches.  With the heavy rain that has returned this evening it could mean that the streams flowing into Lake Rotorua may be unfishable until we get a decent break in the weather.  The good thing about this rain is that it is coming from the North and will be a lot warmer than anything from the South.  Hopefully the shallower lakes will start to increase in temperature over the next month, leading to some awesome sight-fishing in the shallows.  Dragonflies, damsels and waterboatmen will also become more active with the longer days so using imitations of these insects should increase your catch rate.