Two weeks at Kuratau
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Freshwater Fishing
Forum Name: Freshwater Fishing reports
Forum Description: Post your report here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=126791
Printed Date: 28 Jan 2026 at 6:38am
Topic: Two weeks at Kuratau
Posted By: Wide Load
Subject: Two weeks at Kuratau
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2018 at 6:34pm
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We're heading for our annual holiday at Kuratau (Lake Taupo) next week. Has anyone been fishing the southern end of the lake recently? I'm hoping for a relaxing holiday this year. Last year was a disaster with ****ty weather and my dad in palliative care so my wife and I travelled from Palmy on alternate days meeting for a quick coffee at Taihape as we swapped duties. ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: MacSkipper
Date Posted: 08 Jan 2018 at 8:22pm
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Been out several times from Kuratau - did well harling at first light just off ramp in bay - along drop off needed 4-5 colours out but got 3 keepers in half an hour.Lots of bods going way out... ------------- Good fishing trip nothing breaks, great trip catch fish. |
Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 09 Jan 2018 at 9:23am
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Thanks Macskipper That run has worked well for me in the past too, it seems to stop at about 7am as the head deeper? ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Hsvl
Date Posted: 11 Jan 2018 at 9:17pm
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I was down at kuratau over New Years. Caught around 15 over the extended weekend kept 7 nothing huge but solid silver bullets with the maidens in nice condition. Best fishing was at stump bay in close by the hut, trolling worked best, a lot of people jigging but I didn’t see a lot caught by them. Speaking to fisheries it’s been a bit of a mixed bag but we did ok ------------- It hit like a freight train, line peeling and drag screaming the rod now doubled with a tell tail nodding and Salt thickening within the veins. |
Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 12 Jan 2018 at 8:00am
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Thanks Hsvl Weather is looking average for next week, I'll post reports ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 6:19pm
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Home today and now unpacking - no fun! The fishing was great. I caught a few between the 250m bouy and the ski lane at Kuratau/Omori. The majority of fish were caught at the drop off along the front of Kuratau, mostly at the river end. Trolling was best at 8 metres with a baby traffic light lure being the standout early in the morning. The thermocline split seemed to be at about 10m so this was just above that. With little wind, jigging was awesome, with at least one fish per drift. 20-25 meters was where the majority of fish were caught. The quality of fish was a little average, we only kept the good ones - about 1 in every 3 caught. ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: MacSkipper
Date Posted: 27 Jan 2018 at 7:35am
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Thanks for posting hoping to get out over long weekend... ------------- Good fishing trip nothing breaks, great trip catch fish. |
Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 27 Jan 2018 at 1:58pm
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Posted By: Rainbow
Date Posted: 31 Jan 2018 at 10:35pm
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Just home from a week at Kuratau jigging from the kayak. Fished the drop-off as well as the bluffs for an average of 8-9 fish per session. Lots of slabs as expected for time of the year but only a few really good fish. Expected a few more all the same. Hope 2017 was not just a flash in the pan. Rainbow
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Posted By: neil_cb125t
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2018 at 9:17pm
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Hi all - we are heading up to the lake for the weekend - and we have been struggling fresh water fishing. We do the std trolling with lead line with a basic finder. Whats the good rules of thumb, depths and speeds? I have had dumb luck come in with a couple with 10 colours out in deep water, but seems that mainly people stay up with only colours out. Any advice would be awesome - we are going to be launching Omori/or kurr ramp chap
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Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 22 Mar 2018 at 10:57pm
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If you are out early (before the sun's over the hills) try between the Kuratau buoy just off the ramp and the ski lane with 2-3 colours in the water. I have heard the fishing has been hard lately. Also the run from the spit (stay clear of the spit marker) to the river along the dropoff is worth a try. Walking pace is best - or as slow as your boat will go. Good luck. ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: neil_cb125t
Date Posted: 23 Mar 2018 at 7:49am
Cheers for the above mate! this site has been simply gold for people helping people! Ill post up how we get on
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Wide Load wrote:Posted By: Hsvl
Date Posted: 23 Mar 2018 at 6:15pm
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I was down for a long weekend at the end of Feb. trolling was slow and I was finding it difficult to find a colour or depth that was good for the weekend. However, jigging was very effective off the omori stream I ended up keeping 9 and released about 5 more in the 3 days fishing. All trout were in really nice condition as well. I use the jigging rigs from Greig Sports in Turangi. ------------- It hit like a freight train, line peeling and drag screaming the rod now doubled with a tell tail nodding and Salt thickening within the veins. |
Posted By: neil_cb125t
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2018 at 6:45pm
  Cheers for the great intel - 45mins and 2 decent fish 42 and 47cm. Never had that kinda experience - shows how bad we were at fishing in the past. We were running from kiratua river along the cliffs. Both were picked up in front of the river entrance in 10/12 ft with only a couple of colours out. Boat struck batt charging issues so came home early Thanks again! |
Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 26 Mar 2018 at 8:46pm
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Looks like good weather. Well done! ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Hsvl
Date Posted: 28 Mar 2018 at 9:10pm
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Well done! ------------- It hit like a freight train, line peeling and drag screaming the rod now doubled with a tell tail nodding and Salt thickening within the veins. |
Posted By: MacSkipper
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2018 at 11:33am
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Went out today from Kuratau lovely conditions tried harling and jigging in spots that produced last month (haven't been out for 4 weeks) water temp 14.8 degrees no bites - few fish on finder but not taking lures - noticed several other boats went out and they went out wide not fishing just off ramp - maybe locals in the know? Not sure what depths/areas produce over winter any suggestions welcome! ------------- Good fishing trip nothing breaks, great trip catch fish. |
Posted By: Redfinger
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2018 at 11:39am
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That Kuratau to Omori trolling run with 6-7 colours deep trolling seems to be reasonably consistent. Did you try stump bay eary or late with the Harling? Try jigging under the oreti timeshare place - just south of omori where the cliffs start? |
Posted By: MacSkipper
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2018 at 5:01pm
Thanks Russell - harling was first light but didn't try lots and lots of colours probably 4 maybe 5 - will give it a go. tried jigging near where you suggested but not that spot ... ------------- Good fishing trip nothing breaks, great trip catch fish. |
Posted By: rambo122
Date Posted: 03 Jul 2018 at 10:09pm
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Was up here in the weekend. Pretty tough fishing. I caught one jigging just out of tokkanu and one off the omori stream at first light. Not alot of fish around on the finder though. |
Posted By: rambo122
Date Posted: 03 Jul 2018 at 10:11pm
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Posted By: Redfinger
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2018 at 7:58pm
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Looks a reasonable condition fish there. The Tokaanu hole can be ok for jigging or booby fly fishing all year - I will be trying there in a months time when I will be down as well as delta area. Tried Omori a few times a night - heard some fish moving and splashing but no luck for me there yet. |
Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 8:40am
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I'm heading back up tomorrow for 10 days. It'll be interesting to see how it fishes this year. I've heard conflicting reports with some doing well and others struggling.......... ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: flyfisher
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 8:51am
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You guys should fish the Kuratau Dam itself, you can launch a medium size boat there and the fish numbers are simply staggering!! Drift the main channels spin fishing, you will catch a lot of fish up to 4lbs, some browns run over 8lbs and much more fun than the main lake. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/user/troutboynz |
Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 8:58am
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Thanks Flyfisher I did fish there a few years back. I had a smaller boat at the time. It may be worth a look in kayaks this year. Great place for a dip in the spring fed pool too. ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Hsvl
Date Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 10:46pm
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I just got home from a week at Kuratau. Fishing was mixed, we ended up keeping 5 with a few more released and lost more than normal, I think due to the smaller than usual size and number of spent fish in the area. Mornings seemed to be more productive and so was trolling with all colours out. No fish were caught jigging. Colours more successful were pink, orange, green and gold and white and yellow. The hot colours changed daily and took a few changes to work out what was working, but when figured out strikes were hot for a short period of time. I didn’t fish much off Kuratau and strangely didn’t catch anything at Stump Bay. Omori and Pukawa Streams held the best fish followed by Pukawa Cliffs. ------------- It hit like a freight train, line peeling and drag screaming the rod now doubled with a tell tail nodding and Salt thickening within the veins. |
Posted By: Rainbow
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2019 at 9:16pm
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Will go there with family for five days next week. Will do some jigging Cheers Rainbow
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Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2019 at 8:12am
 Great day on the lake yesterday! Started at 5.15 and didn’t catch first fish until 6.00, then it was all on. Caught seven fish on two rods by 7.15. Then went and picked up kids but the bite had gone off and we only picked up a couple inthe next two hours. Small but fantastic conditioned fish. We then spent the rest of the day on the beach with the odd trip out - kids in tow.  ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Wide Load
Date Posted: 25 Jan 2019 at 1:36pm
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Rainbow introduced himself on the water this morning. Fabulous to finally meet you Herb. I’ve been following your articles for as long as I can remember. 80+ and still paddling. Legend! ------------- http://www.legasea.co.nz" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: Rainbow
Date Posted: 29 Jan 2019 at 10:11pm
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Nice to have met you too Wide Load. Thought I recognise the name when I paddled past the boat and went back to ask. My fishing was rather disappointing. Managed two or three a session and saw bugger all on the sounder in places where there were lots in previous years. Also quality wise a bit of a mixed bag. From my limited time there I could not say what the winter fish will look like. On the way over the bolts holding the trailer tow bar ripped out and the trailer instantly converted into a tip trailer and nearly flipped over. Design fault and too thin a channel to hold the bolts. LTA is looking into it as there are probably hundreds of these trailers on the road. Left us with a nasty feeling for days after. This happened when we were doing a 100km and could have been a major accident if the tail end of one of the kayaks had not stopped the trailer from flipping. After sending tell tale photos to the company they finally came across with a new replacement trailer. Good on them for standing behind their product even though it was faulty. Rainbow |