Lake Rotoma fish in good nick

Lake Rotoma has begun to fire up over the past week with a good number of spawning fish arriving near liberation areas, particularly the beach left of the main boat ramp off Manawahe Road. The fish seem in better condition than the previous couple of seasons and are easily tempted by the fly.

A good technique many are using with success, in particular with an incoming wind, is a spin set with sinker and a short 20-30cm trace attached to a floating globug, Booby fly or in tandem. This particular technique is also very effective on other lakes and is used regularly on Lake Okataina.

Another lake that has been fishing well is Lake Tarawera, especially the landing area near Te Wairoa stream. Groups of fish have been spotted cruising into the shallows, and on the right day - heavy rain is best - anglers have done very well during the day.

Recent flooding events have heavily impacted the Ngongataha and Waiteti streams, so finding windows of opportunity to visit these streams while the water levels have been low enough has been challenging. There has been excellent fishing in between, where the rain has held off enough for those who were able to make it.

Both Lake Rotoiti and Okataina have slowed considerably, though; during the day, fish are cruising in certain areas around the shoreline, looking for decent enough areas to spawn. It’s worth putting in the boot work to go exploring.

I don’t generally mention the Ohau channel until October, but it has surprisingly been fishing quite well over the past few weeks, with some anglers having success from the weir and the jetty. Some browns have been caught with the odd Rotoiti fish intercepted coming through.

Dion Marsh