Fishing Reports

Unfortunately catch rates of good conditioned fish will reduce as we head towards the end of the main spawning season. That is not to say that you should hang your rod up for a while as there will still be some spawning fish coming in, mending trout from early spawning and maiden fish, all looking for an easy meal.

Some lakes, such as Rerewhakaaitu, spawn through until early October and rainbows will continue to run the Rotorua Tributaries. With the days getting longer the lakes will start to warm up and November should see the start of the brown trout runs in the Ngongotaha, Waiteti and Utuhina streams. 

Lake Rerewhakaaitu continues to produce plenty of fish, especially around the liberation points. It is interesting to see that there is a mixture of wild and hatchery fish being caught at these spots so there must be some successful lake edge fishing in the near vicinity. Both fly and spin fishing has been successful, though with spin fishing only the more aggressive fish tend to be caught.

Allowing a bubble/egg pattern combination to drift on the lake surface has been successful and using the heave and leave method with floating egg patterns has been the most successful of all. 

Lake Okaro has produced reasonable fish as well at times and is always worth a visit, especially during or soon after heavy rain at this time of the year. Bully patterns are worth using when fishing the shallow flats close to the shore and along the drop-off, while woolly buggers seem to work better over the deeper water. 

The Lake Rotorua side of the weir at the Ohau Channel has produced some nice fish over the weekend. This area seems to have fished best from the true-right bank and with the lake level being down a bit anglers have been able to get out in the lake further than normal for this time of the year.

Both day and night fishing has been successful, especially when the wind is from the South or East. Remember that the area downstream of the two yellow and black poles, either side of the entrance to the channel, is closed to fishing. This means that you will need to be reasonably well out into the lake when casting to allow your line to swing in the current and still be in the open to fishing area. 

The Kaituna River control gates have been a bit hit and miss, probably due to the height of the gates this past week. Any level around 650 seems to fish well but with the low lake level that volume seems to creating similar conditions to when the gates are fully open and the water is flowing freely. 

Fish are still being caught from the trout pools though they were not there in any great number this past week.  I would have thought that with the extra rain earlier in the week, they would have started coming through in larger numbers. With the clear water any fish spawning in the run at the end of the main trout pool will be easily seen so keep an eye out when you are there. 

The lower Ngongotaha Stream fished well just prior to the rain that started Sunday evening, though by Monday morning this stream was high and dirty. Should the rain ease by Wednesday this stream should be fishable and be full of fish by late Thursday through to the weekend.

Expect large browns and great conditioned rainbows to be there once this stream clears.  Unfortunately we may get another deluge early next week so there is likely to be only a small window of opportunity this weekend. 

Lake Okareka was a little slow prior to the rain as there were a few days and nights when there was virtually no wind to ruffle the surface of the lake. A wind direction change to a strong sou-easterly made casting difficult for all but the more advanced angler. In these conditions casting across the wind is the best way as you don’t get the line thrown back in your face.

Ginger mick, woolly buggers, grey ghosts and silver dorothy flies will work both day and night, while doll flies, black marabou or any of the pukeko style flies will work well at night. Change flies every 20 minutes or so if nothing is happening and change your retrieve as you see fit. 

Fishing around Emery’s Reef and the Wai iti could bring a surprise or two over the next few weeks and hunting the shore line around Emery’s is highly recommended as often there are large brown trout cruising the shoreline