For many keen fishos who like to dabble in new and interesting niche techniques, young Auckland angler Brendan Breyt suggests Lake Pupuke offers a long list of opportunities…

Our Auckland taonga has on its menu everything from the simpler techniques for the beginner angler still wrapping their head around how to cast a rod, through to advanced fly and lure fishing for the more experienced fishermen.

Offering a diverse aquascape that includes man-made structure and shallow and deep weed lines, fishing this lake can be as simple or complicated as you make it.

Knowing and decoding fish behaviour is arguably the most important thing to consider for an angler keen on tackling this beautiful volcanic spring. It has taken me what seems like 10,000 hours to do this myself, and I’m here to share that knowledge with readers wishing to give Lake Pupuke a shot.

Know what’s in front of you

When taking on Lake Pupuke, you should be prepared to lose some gear to its submerged branches, volcanic rocks and foul structure. When I say, “know what’s in front of you,” I mean that you need to know what kind of structure lies within your casting distance. To work this out, I either use a pair of polarised sunglasses or a slow-moving bait, usually a Ned rig. This is a simple style of fishing that involves moving the rig slowly across the bottom with long sweeping drags or short vigorous hops. I tend to keep my Ned rig profiles small and natural, which presents an opportunity to a range of species. When it comes to knowing what kind of fish are around a certain structure, I can confidently call out structure types for three species…

Redfin perch: This species relies on ambushing prey or school feeding. Schooling fish are generally smaller in size, ranging from 10-20cm, with the bigger, more lonesome fish getting as big as 20-40 cm.

In the warmer months, shoals of perch are commonly found right up on weed lines or around wharves or walls. They use the structure to their advantage, pushing little rudd up to the structure or the surface, trapping them and picking them off at an aggressive pace. In colder months, shoals are seldom found, but you might find success generally in between broken weed beds or submerged branches at depths of 2-6 metres.

Bigger perch, however, like to take shelter in shady or darker areas, so fishing for them can be challenging, especially on bright sunny days. A clear way around this is to fish on dim, overcast days or evenings. I’ve found casting and retrieving a fast paced “stop go” type lure, like a jerk-bait or jerk-shad, over visible weed beds can be an effective way to target the better fish. But in saying this, these bigger fish will likely stay stationary under or inside structure in slightly deeper water. From what I’ve found, these shy ones are often caught on the Ned rig.

Perch are most active under low light when their prey have a hard time seeing them as they are more opportunistic than other types of predators. 

Spin reel sizes between 1000 and 2500 are ideal for taking on the challenges Lake Pupuke has to offer.

Tench: Tench can often be seen patrolling the breaks in weed beds and are easily identified by their big tails wafting up sediment. While they can be some of the most bull-headed creatures on earth, I have had them fall for creature-imitation Ned rig baits and a range of sinking or dry flies – and boy do they give you grief on light tackle!

Soft-baits are a handy tool to have in the tacklebox.

Koi carp: Koi carp move around a lot, and are often seen rummaging through sediment looking for bugs and other koi food items. Easily identified by their intricate colour schemes of white, red, orange, yellow and black, these fish will fall victim to creature-like Ned rigs, streamer type flies, woolly buggers or simply nymphs. When presenting a bait to a fish moving past your line of sight, cast well past it as they can be wary of noises, such as a lure slapping the surface.

A 7kg koi carp caught from Lake Pupuke on a Ned rig.

Trout: It goes without saying that most anglers fishing Lake Pupuke are after rainbows and browns. I consider trout a bycatch and I’ll always be happy to land the odd one, though I’ve found there’s no exact way to target them because you’ll find yourself catching 20 perch for every trout.

Many of the techniques I use, I specifically chose to increase my chances of hooking into trout. I don’t believe the lake has too much pressure on its trout fishery. It is stocked yearly with 1000 brown trout and 2000 rainbows and for the life of me, I do not understand where they go. All I know is they are there... and amid catching these other fish, I tangle with the occasional one which I’m always very happy about.

Trout are on the Pupuke angler's target list. You do need a Fish & Game license to fish these waters.

Commonly used artillery

Rods and reels: Lake Pupuke offers paradise for any light game enthusiast. Rod selections can range from 3-5lb to 3-6kg setups. I prefer lengthier rods for greater accuracy and distance. These rods are best paired with 1000-2500 sized reels. All of these options offer incredible sensitivity and the ability to fling light lures as far as you may need.

Lures: In terms of lures, one can spend quite literally thousands to appease all the ways to target the available species, but if I was to recommend a few “must haves’’, it would be the Z-Man 2.5” Slim Swimz and Z-Man Swimmin Trout Tricks. Having tried an insane number of options, I can confidently say there’s no looking past these lures. These, paired with the various range of Z-Man Ned heads, will have you set for most of the applications around Pupuke. But in cases where you’re wanting to locate fish over the vast weed beds, I would recommend a 4” jerk shad, rigged weedless with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook, worked with subtle jerky jabs and long pauses. Doing this can produce some very exciting and visual results. 

Other good lures to include in your ‘must have’ list are the Mepps in sizes 1-5 and floating and suspending jerk baits. A favourite of mine is the DUO Spearhead Ryuki. If these lures don’t interest you, my alternative way to target big perch specifically is on topwater offerings, the Yo-Zuri 3-DB popper being my go-to option. Topwater casting can result in some explosive bites that can only otherwise be seen on ledges around our coast.

The lake is a great place to start a young angler's apprenticeship, given the range of species and techniques used to catch them.

Hot Tips

• Use thin nylon in preference to braid when casting lightly weighted lures on small reels to prevent those pesky wind knots.

• Fish reels sized 1000 up to 2500 on rods rated 3-5lb up to 3-6kg.

• Must have soft-bait options include the Z-Man 2.5” Slim Swimz and Swimmin Trout Tricks.

• Favourite hard-body lures include Mepps spinners in sizes 1-5, floating and suspending jerk baits such the DUO Spearhead Ryuki; and for topwater, the Yo-Zuri 3-DB popper.

• Change of light and dim overcast days are best for fishing.

• The favoured technique is slowly moving a Ned rig across the bottom using long sweeping drags or short vigorous hops.

• A Fish and Game license is required to fish Lake Pupuke.

Pupuke Species List

• Redfin perch

• Rainbow trout

• Brown trout

• Tench

• Catfish

• Rudd

• Koi

• Eels 

• Kokopu

Pupuke hosts a huge number of catchable species, though not all are caught on lures. Luckily, fishos can use bait and even choose to use a fly to target all the available species.

Fish for the Future

Now armed with this information, I know most keen fishermen will love fishing this lake, but I ask you to be considerate with the amount you take from it as we want this waterway to be a special place for many more years to come.

Lake Pupuke falls under the jurisdiction of Fish and Game which means you will need a fishing license to fish the lake. You can acquire this by heading to fishandgame.org.nz.

November 2021 - Brendan Breyt
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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