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Auckland / Waikato News > June 2008
Regional Update
Winter season
Most rivers close at the end of June, but the following waters remain open over the winter months:
Mangawhio Stream, below lower falls
Waipapa River, below lower falls
Hikutaia River, below Whangamata track
Mangaotaki River, below lower bridge on Mangaotaki Road
Marokopa River, below Mangatuahaua Stream
Ohinemuri River, below Victoria Street Bridge in Waihi
Puniu River, below Seafund Road
Waihou River
Waikato River
Waimakariri Stream
Waipa River, below Toa Bridge
Waitawheta River, below end of Franklin Road
Whanganui River, below confluence with the Whakapapa River
All lakes remain open over winter.
Lake Arapuni: Waipapa Dam
While carrying out the fish releases last week, I saw a large school of big rainbows congregating below the Waipapa Dam in Lake Arapuni . These fish looked to be at least 3kg, and were presumably fish from our 2006 hatchery liberations that had moved upstream trying to find somewhere to spawn. There may have been many more fish in deeper water that I couldn’t see, but I easily counted 60.
The traditional technique to fish for these trout is to use a spinning rod and small ball sinker above a swivel with a short leader and either a worm or a wet fly (silver rabbit or something similar). The worm/wet fly is cast upstream and then allowed to bounce back along the bottom. That’s the theory but there are a lot of snags on the bottom so some anglers try and fish mid-water. You can loss a lot of gear!
Usually only a couple of turbines are working, so one side of the river will have some comparatively still water and that is often where the fish are. If all the turbines are working at full capacity then it is unfishable. On the other hand, occasionally the turbines are turned off late at night and then the fishing can be superb.
You don’t have to use a spinning rod – fly fishing with a large wet fly along the margins can be productive, especially in the evening or early morning.
Ben Wilson
Fisheries Manager
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