Well, I'm back from paradise, and it sure was! Waikaremoana is just the most awesome spot on the planet, in my view.

Put on the blindfold and did the 90k of metal from Murupara last Friday, the rivers were pretty swollen going in so I expected the lake to be full and it was. As high as I've seen it the last 4 years. Arrived at the Motor Camp 2 hours and 20mm of dust over everything later. BUT IT'S WORTH IT!!!!!!!!

Weather was great all week, 30+ degrees, a gentle w to nw wind most of the time, but not a breath sometimes, when I came out yesterday (Thursday), it was overcast and a little cooler, but that was the first blemish.

The lake was fishable all day, but the heat meant the best times were the best times traditionally anyway, dawn and dusk. I fished 5am to about 8.30am and then again 7.30pm to 9.30pm or so (after dark anyway).

The fish were there alright, and not far from home (Motor Camp) either! Over the trip I averaged 1.5 fish per hour - landed! The best trolling runs were Matahu Point to Te Maraateatua Point on the basin northern side, and Ruatapunui to Kanoi point on the eastern side, especially around the foul ground marker in Whatapo Bay. I had a Garmin GPS12 on board this time around, so every strike was plotted for future reference.

(What a great little machine those are, even makes the car trip seem shorter when you're plotting the route in and out! Straight line from home (Ham) is just under 200km, actual road distance is 275. Most of the difference is on that unsealed stretch!) 

There were a large amount of juvenile rainbows, about 1 in 3 catches, these were 25 to 35cm and were returned of course. Bodes well for next year!

I used L.E.D. coloured line, had 4 colours out most of the time, which at the 3.5km or so trolling speed I use, meant the lure was at about 20ft (6m) down. I tried to sit at the 20 to 25ft mark (old fish finder in imperial!) meaning the lure was close to bottom. Best lures were the cobras, a silver-backed traffic light and a red/silver/green got 99% of the hits. I did try surface harling all sorts of stuff, but the water was warm and the fish didn't seem to be surface feeding as much as previous years.

In fact I went out one afternoon about 3pm - too nice not to - and got a couple of nice rainbows with 8 colours out in over 120ft of water well out from the shoreline. The fish are still hungry, they're just in deeper, cooler water apparently!

Average size was 45 to 50cm and around 1.5 to 1.9kg, which means the condition factor wasn't high, about 40 to 55. The fish were not fat, but most of them were nice and pink. All my catch was rainbows. 30 fish in 6 days can't be bad.

Didn't do any land-based fly fishing myself, but there were browns being caught from the shore, and one guy showed me 4 good size fish taken in an hour from a pool just below the falls on the Mokau river! Accessible from the Mokau Camp ground walking and wading. I also saw fish from Lake Waikareiti and Whakamarino, so it's all on in that area at the moment.

I've already booked my cabin for 4 nights at Easter! I'm counting down the days already. In the past I've found Easter better, the water's cooled off by then, and the lake is a lot lower too (concentrates the fish?). 

Didn't get any postable photo's as my wife stayed home and wanted the digital camera, so I had to make do with the 35mm! Sorry.

Hope that helps somebody, it sure did me some good. Tight Lines. Mal.

Hi Mal

I know exactly what you mean out at Waikare as my wife and I camped at Mokau landing some 22 yrears ago when I lived in Napier. We camped there for 2 idyllic weeks with heat and no rain....just the pigeon wings flapping at night. Will never forget it.

Cheers CeeBee

Thanks for the nice words guys.

Tobes - not only next year, I'm back there in 3 months for Easter!

CeeBee - 22 years ago? You should plan to go back, it's awesome.

Fishb8 - it's only a 4 hr drive from Ham. Have the wife and kids cover their eyes and put on some music for the last 2 hrs and you're sweet! GO!

Cheers, Mal.