Fishing Reports

Easter Weekend certainly brought anglers out in force and even though the weather turned to custard there was some great fishing to be had. Lake Okaro produced good numbers of fat and fighting fit fish up to 3 kg. Fish were caught at the boat ramp, the second stream to the left of the ramp and several other spots further round.

Spinning seemed to be the more effective method away from the stream mouth and boat ramp, with veltics and small zed spinners both taking fish. The strong south easterly wind forecast for the next few days will make casting a fly more than a little challenging at Okaro so try spinning as an easier method to catch fish with.

Lake Rerewhakaaitu was very busy with all of the camping grounds full and lots of boats out on the water. This week might be a better time to visit as the fish will have time to calm down and come out of hiding.

Though the Cafe, Transformer and Pipe streams were pumping water, few fish were about during the day and the only sign of fish at the Dump was one lonely redd that was uninhabited. After dark however there were some nice fish caught at each of the previously mentioned spots. Both Ruato and Hauparu bays also produced fish after dark, though not in any great number. A few fish have been seen off the mouth of the Wai iti Stream and trolling off Emery's Reef produced a few nice fish on occasion as well.

Smelt are still moving through the Ohau Channel, unfortunately they have not been followed by good quality Lake Rotoiti fish as almost every fish caught have been small or skinny Lake Rotorua fish. Olive woolly buggers or other flies that are darker in colour have caught best here as the smelt are quite dark.

Okere Falls Arm has produced a few nice fish and there are one or two larger fish lurking above the control gate during the day. Once the river below the control gates has calmed down from the large numbers of canoes, kayaks and rafts that were using this part of the river over the long weekend, these fish may move down into the better spawning water below the gates. The water coming into the Kaituna changed from very clear to slightly discoloured after the wind over the past couple of days, this should improve the fishing though.

Olive wooly buggers are best used, though small grey ghosts should also take fish. There are a lot of very small fish holding in the calmer water downstream of the turbulence. Great conditioned hatchery fish (LPs mostly) around the 2.5 kg mark have been caught there during the day. Fishing after dark has been a challenge, especially when there is a high flow through the gates. Fish tend to hold in the small trench created by the turbulent water leaving the concrete bottom of the gates and river bed or downstream where the turbulence is less powerful.

Fishing from the true right bank is best after dark when there are heavy flows as this is the lee side of the bend in the river. When the gates are fully open fish tend to move up closer to the structure as there is virtually no turbulence.

I suspect that the streams entering Lake Rotorua will be unfishable for a few more days after the flooding subsides and anglers may well find new runs, riffles and pools to fish once this happens as the river was fairly high but very fast. Rainbows should be in abundance once the streams clear enough to fish.

The month of May often heralds the start of the second run of brown trout into the Lake Rotorua Lake tributaries. Once they start to run they will continue through to the end of July. The upper river closes to fishing as of June 30, but there is some great fishing to be had in the lower reaches, below State Highway 5, right through until the end of September. Wet lining with large black marabou flies will tempt both brown and rainbow trout, though other smelt patterns work well on rainbows as well.

Good conditioned rainbows are moving into the Te Wairoa Stream as well as the Landing and the Orchard. Fishing after dark has been best as there is less activity on and around the lake edge. With Easter gone for this year, activity at the landing should reduce dramatically, improving the fishing by the same amount.

With Duck Shooting upon us in a few days it would pay to keep away from Lake Ngaroto and only visit once the Game Bird Hunting Season has finished. This lake is open all year round and can provide some spectacular fishing, both in number of fish caught and size of fish. Drifting along the edge in a small boat or canoe and casting back to the shore can produce 100 fish days in this lake. Small black woolly buggers seem to catch best in this lake.