We managed to find them stacked up & had a ball, multiple doubles & busted off "nearly's", lol.

They were taking most anything offered but overall, the green bodied Ginger Mick in size # 6 probably scored most.

and the hot colours for trolling 

On Tarawera this morning from 0730 - cracking day and sunrise was awesome. Trolling south side from The Landing eastwards, landed 8 from 37cm to 58cm and kept 2. Larger models were very plump and flesh was very pink, one hen landed was tagged.

Tassie devil in green frog pattern was the only thing they were interested in, all taken in 15-20m even in the deep parts. Big bite time from 0730 to 0830 (5 of 8) and then slowed down - last customer at 10.45 so off water after that.

On Tarawera again this morning trolling north side from the campground eastwards, landed 7 from 37cm to 58cm and kept 2.

Most holding at about 20-23m and quite a few just E of Humphries bay and further east towards the slip.

Yep, Scotty electric down rigger with automatic stops, although i did manage to take 2 with lead-line and 5-6 colours out when i was giving the downrigger a rest.

Used to have a manual wind one but it doesn't take long to get a sore arm.

Tried jigging in a couple of spots but no luck, switched back to trolling at 22m across my old jigging spot and picked up one almost straight away.

Tassie devil traffic light seemed to work well. Got a good one at 25m

On Tarawera last Saturday from 0700. Trolling south side from The Landing eastwards, landed 1 skinny 40cm hen in 15m which was sent back, hard fishing on that side, water temp was 20.7C increasing to 21.8C by 10am

Went over near Hannah's but sparse sign and no bites while trolling, tried out the Haswing trolling motor with spot lock while jigging and took a fat 55cm hen in 24m at about 10am.

Had a sniff around red beach but wind was making things lumpy so finished up about 11.30am.

Heard from another fisher later on in the week that were there on Tarawera at the same time - anything with pink in it was getting smashed, and i hadn't tried anything with that colour but have a mental note to try the next time.

On Tarawera today from 0630, awesome sunrise. Trolling north side eastwards towards Humphries campsite, landed and released 3 quick 45cm-55cm hens in 15-20m by 7.30am. Water temp was 21.7C increasing to 22.3C by 10am

Much better from Humphries campsite eastward to Ngahorota bay, picked up 4 on lumo pink tassie devil at depth between 15-25m.

Also found a great jigging spot in 22-23m at eastern side of Ngahorota bay with 5 about 50-55cm landed and released, all took the bottom fly on the Pat Swift medium UV jigs and the trolling motor with spot lock was massively helpful when the wind got up.

Had a troll past red beach, lots of boats hiding from the wind and had some hits but fish threw the hooks so finished up about 11.30am.

 First day wife and I picked up a hen good condition orange meat and jack slabby but had a heap of family joining us at book a batch fishing cottage so got smoked, ain’t much difference between the two flavour wise to be fair. Second day had 4 fishers on board and all caught one trout. Brother in law is a fast learner and was keen to spend a morning out on the water in driving rain(hard top so dry). Had most family want to take home one smoked and one raw for breakfast trout recipe. Big ask. First drop I hooked up 10m under boat but i didn’t register as so quickly and thought id screwed up till a 48cm fatty started jumping around boat. Took a bit to figure it was attached as my line was loose. Fast wind and came up tight. Bro was still unwinding his flys when I boated that one.then quiet. Moved and anchored as white caps with big swells pushing up the rocks into the bush around the waters edge draining back with leaves and no doubt critters for trout. So though hmm  jigging no good trouts on the surface and finder backed that up. So moved deeper. 50-40m and tried a new technic as what we were doing with fly jerks wasn’t working and we were on. 12 trout (limit) up to 58cm. Only one slaby male the rest super condition hens. Result! Every family member took home there fish. Great memories 

3-4 hookups in 10-12m but very acrobatic fish resulted in thrown hooks. A couple of smaller 30-35cm ones released, then went South towards red beach and near the campground and surrounding bays. Fish rising at 3.30pm in the shallows near the trees which was nice to watch. Spent half an hour trolling tassie devils between 12m and 20m before a pink frog pattern one got hit at 15m.

Across to near the landing and trolling at 25m something BIG bent the rod right over, which after a 10 second fight made off with the lure and hook leaving behind a broken line and bruised ego. Will be back another day to resume the battle.

It will be interesting to see how the season develops. Some of the smaller ones sent back were quite thin so it looks like the bigger fish have quickly figured out where the food sources are.

Checking notes from a similar time last year tallies with this year, having to work for some good fish with them scattered and varying condition until the food source gets big enough for all to fatten up.

The 60cm one did have a small layer of belly fat and was quite orange so probably feeding near the bottom on koura at the moment. 

No enquiries and sign disappeared after an hour so across to near the landing and same thing - sparse sign and most fish deep at 30-40m with the odd one or two near the thermocline. Good shelter from the wind and rain so ran laps trying to get some interest in the tassie devils.

With sounder showing the odd deep fish at anywhere from 30-40m we decided to go deep with the downrigger. Finally picked up two about an hour apart starting at 3.15pm, 60cm 5.5lb hen at 30m and 57cm 4.5lb jack at 40m. Fish in great condition and plenty of fat on them when filleted, finished at 5pm when persistent rain showers arrived.