Exceptional fishing

When you can avoid the frequent weather fronts coming through of late and the odd night of rain, the fishing has been exceptionally good around the Rotorua region. The rain that fell over the weekend has meant that many large browns have now entered the Ngongi so some wonderful fly fishing has been had over the last few days. I have had staff catch browns up to 11.5lb so beef up that tippet to at least 10lb and go have a tug of war against these beasts. One small tip when targeting these large fish, only use one fly! It will help if the fish run under the undercut banks and through flood debris meaning you won’t have anything trailing off the end that may end up caught in sticks and the like.

Lake Tarawera is fishing better than it has for years and the condition of the fish has been superb. The fly fishing hotspots such as Te Wairoa, Twin Streams, and the Outlet are producing some lovely fish so if you are prepared to fish into the dark up to midnight you can expect some great fishing over the next month or so.

The jig and softabit fishing for trout is exceptional as they gorge themselves on smelt leading into their major spawning runs.

The jig fishers are going well as the trout continue to gorge themselves on smelt as they lead into their major spawning runs. Tarawera is a very scenic lake and with the high-sided surrounding hills, it means you can usually find shelter in many of the secluded bays if the wind blows.

Out on Lake Rotoiti, the fishing has been nothing short of supreme. Many fish over 3 kilo are being caught and several well over 4 kilo have come to the net. We have been jigging and softbaiting with both going well. The best flies have been the grey ghost and the slimy ghost. You can fish these patterns in both size 10 and size 6 with equal success. Like Lake Tarawera, Rotoiti is full of smelt, which I believe have been able to spawn more times this year with the higher water levels. Find the bait and the fish won’t be far away. One thing we have found is don’t fish in the middle of the bait shoal, work to the edge of the shoal and you should see on your sounder that the outsides are broken up where the trout are feeding on the outside edge.

Over the last week most of the fish were holding in the 17-20m range and places like Gisborne Point, Ruato, and Hauparu were all fishing very well.

The next month will provide some really good fishing for all methods, being inland the greatest thing is when the wind blows on the coast we usually have some shelter so make the most of our fishing coming up – if you can’t get out on the ocean come inland for a look.

Mike Davis

Rotorua Hunting and Fishing New Zealand

360 Te Ngae Road, Lynmore Junction, Lynmore, Rotorua 3010

07 349 6303

https://www.facebook.com/RotoHF/

www.huntingandfishing.co.nz