Rotoiti

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 May 2022 at 3:57pm
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Yes- Lake Taupo is highly dependent on the Lake "turning over" properly to mix nutrients with some uniformity around the lake- can understand with what you say that this could vary around the lake. 
Current catches in Taupo in last few months and even summer tend to indicate the fish caught deep in the lake were doing pretty good- with well conditioned fish. And our fish caught just the other day were all good conditioned fish so fingers crossed for a good run this winter! 
The Rotoiti fish are lucky with such a huge smorgasboard of smelt - huge schools of smelt on the sounder again the other day - in fact we tend to hunt the edge of smelt schools just as much as looking for trout sign when we are jigging there.I never use bigger than size 10 - totally agree alot of the smelt are huge in comparison to a size 10 fly. Pat Swift has told me he does ok on a size 6-8 if fishing a moving fly on the drift -i havent though.
When Rotoiti closes in a couple months gives me a chance at the taupo rivers and mouths - looking forward to it.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Rainbow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 May 2022 at 11:28am
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Further to my last trip report.      The "Bite Time" question is surrounded in some mystery especially in the lake.     I can understand that tide flow may get things moving in the salt but this is not the case in the lake.     However, regulars are quite sure that there is such a thing as bite time.      On my last trip the fishing was generally hard although fish and smelt were thick on the sounder.     The few fish I caught  came mostly during a relatively brief period with neighbouring boats also hooking up.     Luck or simple coincidence, who knows?      It all became a bit clearer when I gutted the fish back on the beach in late afternoon.     As the pictures show nearly the whole gut full of smelt were super fresh, strongly suggesting that they all been eaten, including my Grey Ghost smelt fly during  more or less the same time.     These fish were not picking up individual smelt throughout the day which would show stomach contents in various stages of digestion.     They had a feast over a short period.     Is that what bite time is all about????     The next question is what causes the trout to suddenly attack the smelt that they have shadowed all day????/

Cheers

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 May 2022 at 3:20pm
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Suppose obvious answer is they get hungry but im sure there is more to it than that. I by and large go by bite times and have had more than random success so am a believer there.  Quite a few times i have found very slow fishing over a good patch of fish - only to return 3 hours later and much better fishing. 
Another good indicator i have found lately is what the fish sign is telling you - are the fish arches moving up and down or just staying inactive at one depth, are they close to bottom, are they in broken up patches of smelt sign ?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishb8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 May 2022 at 4:39pm
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I went on a Teriakhi trip out of Mt Manganui at full moon. The Maori fishing calendar said bite time was 11.30 - 13.00.
We anchored at about 09.00 and dead as. Skipper said there's heaps on sounder???
At 11.15 the odd fish got caught and by 11.30 it was full on and before 12.30 most fishers had their limit but the bite just switched off at 13.00.
So very specific, so not an accident. I'm sure trout follow the same 'rules'.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FarmerBrowne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 May 2022 at 5:54pm
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Popped out on Tuesday afternoon last week to play with sounder settings for a new transducer.

Was not expecting much of a bite as the website bite time calendar said poor bite in the afternoon i.e. stay home and mow the lawn.

Fish were on the chew down at Gisborne Point and brought a good feed back for the smoker and extended family.  Most bites were on the grey ghost fly with a few on a small green paddle tail rubber lure
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 May 2022 at 3:35pm
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We tried Gisborne point thursday / friday briefly but had no luck there.
Nice couple of days back on Lake Rotoiti thursday and friday.
Thursday - Laurie and I had a bad case of the dropsies with 8 fish hooked and lost (some right at the boat). We still kept a handful but nothing over 2kg. Fish caught at Moose lodge and hauparu bay. Overall very slow with brief 10.30 bite.
Friday we had Laurie and Garry Roberts join us for the fun - early on very very slow with only a couple landed before 1015. However bite time at Hauparu bay was instant again at 1030 and full on - Pat Swift in his boat and us in ours stopped and 4 of us instantly hooked up on first drop - much action with fish to 3kg landed and plenty to keep for the smoker despite releasing heaps. Probably landed 20 fish easy
Fish were mostly in 25m
Flies we found best - Pat swift grey ghost , jack sprat and ginger mick.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishb8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 May 2022 at 8:10am
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Nice👍

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FarmerBrowne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2022 at 12:04pm
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Forecast was good for yesterday afternoon so after a week of crap weather we took the tinny out to the lake for an afternoon fish.  I was a bit concerned that parking may be limited as it was a long weekend but fortunately the lake was not to busy.  Lower water temperatures (14.5 C) may be dissuading  wake boarders and jet ski hoons from getting wet at the moment.

We found fish holding on the drop off in 25-30 metres at Hauparu Bay



We had a slow but steady bite till around 3.30 and managed a few for the bin



I prepared a couple for the smoker this morning and noticed a lot of fat in the intestines so they have been putting on condition.  The roe was not very well developed as yet though.

Jo caught her fish on the usual grey ghost and ginger mick flies whilst I fished some small rubber paddle tail lures I pick up from aliexpress a few years ago.  All three colours put fish in the bin.

The little paddle tails have a lot of action and I found I just needed to drop the lure down to 30 metres and wind back up to 25 to get hits.





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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Jun 2022 at 7:22pm
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Nice - fish in same place as last week and same depth. Good work on the soft plastics too. Im back for last effort of season around 20th
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Mossy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2022 at 7:53pm
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Nice work on the softies. I've only had luck with soft baits for trout has been when casting from the shore. 

Were they on jig heads, or fished dropper style?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Mossy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2022 at 7:54pm
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Originally posted by Mossy Mossy wrote:

Nice work on the softies. I've only had luck with soft baits for trout when casting from the shore. 

Were they on jig heads, or fished dropper style?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FarmerBrowne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jun 2022 at 10:35pm
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I was just fishing them dropper style as you would a 3 fly rig. I have tried them occasionally to date as just one of the dropper in a rig and found the green one good as a replacement wooly bugger in bottom fly position and I have had success with the white lumo one,particularly when overcast or on dusk. I have tried larger softies on jig heads with limited success, but I plan to play around with them more in the future. 
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2022 at 3:03pm
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Last trip to Lake Rotoiti for this trout season was on Wednesday - a bit cool on the drive down with temps  not much more than 0 degrees but it was ok launching at gisborne point with a light southerly. 
First stop was hapuru bay - this haparu bay / moose lodge reef area has been the most consistent producer for me for the last 3 seasons.  A bit slow with a1-2 fish every half hour - no big groupings on fish here this morning , just hunting the smelt schools and keeping at it.
Around midday we were going to try the other end of the lake near the transformer but decided to quickly check out Ruato - not a spot i have done well before ever. Hard to spot fish with the shadow of the drop off affecting structure / fish readings on the sounder but thought i saw a grouping of trout marks just above but merging in with the structure. 
For the next hour and a half we really got onto the fish - jack spratt pat swift flies were the best, some nice fish to just below 3kg- much bigger than what we were getting at Haparu bay. Mostly around the 15-22m mark.
Double hook ups the works - great way to end the season with my mate Barry Stevens
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishb8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2022 at 4:23pm
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That's some great fishing!

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jul 2022 at 2:30pm
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Covid lockdowns mostly kept me off the Lake until March - very very late start to the season for me. 
Fish were a bit of a mixed bag for me with far more smaller fish up to 1.5kg caught than previous seasons - yet still managed equal pb 4kg and plenty of fat 3kg fish too so quality still there - just a mixture.
Stand out location was Haparu bay / moose lodge reef - very consistent and always got me a fish or two with some hot bites thrown in. Last trip of the season had a hot bite at Ruato too which was not normal for me there- hardly catch a thing normally there.
A few fish off Emerys store and gisborne point at times - in fact Gisborne pt always seemd to have good sign on sounder- smelt and trout.
Didnt fish at all up power lines, west bank , the hole this season . Thats up western end lake.
Rigs- still have the traditional 3 swivel rig and have another rig with no swivels on droppers for the harder days and this rig only has 2 flies. Plenty of times my 2 fly rig outfishes crews 3 fly rig . Still trying subtle changes here and there but mostly 10lb rigs and droppers - found tangles and bust offs more common with lighter rigs. Also the non swivel rig has more tangles and bust offs than swivel rig but gets more bites. Best to switch to swivel rig for hot bites..
The electronics still so important - sounder needs to be watched like a hook, is that smelt? are the smelt schools broken up? On fish finder screen is that a shadow from the rock wall and is it hiding fish sign? Had alot of success jigging for a few minutes on fish sign then kicking minkota into gear and creeping away slowly - this lateral movement often triggered a bite.
Flies again- Pat swift smelt flies in both uv and normal not too large got the job done for me. 
Looking forward to new season already.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Billatsea Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Aug 2022 at 8:05pm
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Many thanks Redfinger  for your season summary ,like last season, freely giving info advice etc. Keeping Rotoiti page going along with the others much appreciated .
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2022 at 12:40pm
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Love my Rotoiti fishing - thanks very much
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote wanpe356 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Aug 2022 at 3:24pm
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it's a bit wet this week, I got this beautiful rainbow trout with a 8g black toby spinner after work from the Utuhina stream 



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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Fishb8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 2022 at 8:57am
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Wow, that's a nice fish👍

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Redfinger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Sep 2022 at 3:08pm
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Looking forward to new season on Rotoiti. I see Fish and Game released 4000 fish the other day.
Looks like my first fishing day will be Monday 10th October all going to plan.
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