Fishing Reports

Angling is an addiction that many people in New Zealand suffer from. The good thing about this addiction is that it is relatively easy to feed legally. The Rotorua District has more than enough places to fish to sate even the most addicted. Some anglers require flowing water, such as streams and rivers, to ease the withdrawal symptoms while others only need a body of water. The challenge is to find rivers and streams that are clear enough to fish or lakes where there is a good chance to catch a fish. The use of the technology available today helps with the selection of where to fish and none more so than the websites that Regional Councils have available. Environment Bay of Plenty has a lakes monitoring page available that gives a vast array of information on Lakes Tarawera, Okataina and Rotoiti as well as many rivers in the region. The three lakes mentioned earlier each have a buoy, anchored to the lake bed and floating on the surface, that records barometric pressure, wind direction and speed, rainfall, algae levels and much more. It is a simple matter of calling up the site and looking through the information. Over the past few months a monitoring buoy has been installed in Lake Waikaremoana that can be tapped into by anglers, giving valuable information for that spectacular drive into the Urewera National Park to where this lake is situated. The easiest way to access these sites is to go to the following website and look for the shortcuts to your river or lake level. www.fishandgame.org.nz/Site/Regions/Eastern_HawkesBay/fishingNews.aspx
It seems that there has been quite good run of smelt through the Ohau Channel over the past week or so. Most of these fish seem to have headed towards the airport as there have been some quite good catches of fat rainbows around that area. At the time of writing trout have been in specific areas, such as off Parkcliff and the marae, rather than spread out though this is likely to change at any time. I suspect that the smelt are holding around the drop off from the spur that juts out into the lake between the two places and this will bring trout in large numbers.
Rangiuru Bay on Lake Tarawera has produced a few fine fish over the past week, a mix of maiden and recovering fish has kept anglers interested even in the worst of weather. Stony Point has been the easiest place to fish as it is sheltered somewhat from the West to North West winds of late. A few nice fish have been taken on boobies from the Orchard as well as the Landing.
For those looking for some spectacular lake edge or boat fishing Lake Aniwhenua has everything that you need. This lake really fishes well at this time of the year as trout are feeding on insects and carp that inhabit the lake. The smaller tributary streams that enter the lake will open to fishing as of October One and should provide some awesome fishing opportunities early in the season.
With the break in the rain, the Ngongotaha has fished extremely well especially in the mornings. The hardest part is finding a spot where there isn’t an angler fishing at the moment. Veltic spinners are catching fish in the afternoon as the fish start to shy away from any feathered lures thrown at them.
There are quite a few anglers on the Waiteti Stream as well and most seem to be happy with the fish that they are catching. Both of the above streams are clearing quickly and there are plenty of fish for all. Most anglers are having success on egg pattern flies this week.
Shore line fishing at Lake Rerewhakaaitu has improved this week with fish being caught on prince nymphs. The fish in this lake are also feeding on snails at the moment so try small black nymphs, preferably floating near the surface.