Fishing News index> June 2009

Cooler conditions for Winter Fishing – Regional Spawning Survey Underway

Fishing reports have sparse lately, which has declined over the last month.
The decreases in temperature and increases in flow have continued to drop and rise respectively over the last month. Following on from the spawning talk last month, it appears this phenomenon has just begun in the last few days in the Wellington Fish and Game region which is slightly later than normal, principally due to our recent weather patterns.

Now is a great opportunity to get out and visually see it all happening first hand, tributaries to the Wainuiomata and Hutt rivers near Wellington have trout that are starting to spawn, in the Wairarapa trout have been witnessed gathering in reasonable abundances over the last month all heading upstream to the smaller headwaters. Also many of the tributaries of the Rangitikei and Manawatu will have their fair share of trout beginning to spawn. The further up into the headwaters you go, you are more likely to find spawning. Over the next few weeks Wellington Fish and Game staff as well as assistance from angling clubs will carry out our spawning survey program. Simply recording the amount of spawning that is occurring in our streams. This gives insight as to what the coming season will be like; it also indicates where populations are breaking down in certain river stems.
The spawning redds are found in specific areas within the river or stream. They generally in areas no deeper than your knee and as shallow as your ankle, areas where the flow is reasonably fast, and smaller sized gravels (size of your palm and smaller) are present. This eliminates rapids, pools, slow runs, deep runs etc out of the question leaving only a few areas within the stream. These ‘favoured’ areas tend to be at the tail of a pool where it shallows out and becomes a riffle, or amongst a small run, on the inside of a bend where it isn’t so deep yet still has a reasonable flow.

A spawning redd is the term given to the small area in which the eggs are laid in, they are a small depression in the river bed with a distinct small mound of stones and gravel behind it. What happens is, the trout turn on their side and flap vigorously creating a hole by displacing the stones and gravel. They then lay their eggs and once fertilized, perform the same act immediately upstream of the first one. The gravels and stones that are displaced from this second hole drift down with the flow and cover the eggs in the first hole that was created. The final out come is a depression/hole in an ovular shape, with a pile or mound of rocks behind it. The size of a redd can vary depending on whether one redd merges into to two redds etc but generally they are about 1m in length and anywhere from 0.3 – 0.5m wide with the hole being no deeper than about 10-15cm at it deepest.

For the keen winter anglers make the most of those rivers that remain open through the winter, some of these are the Hutt, Kawhatau, Manawatu (downstream from the Maunga road bridge), Otaki, Pohangina, Ruamahanga, Waingawa and Waiohine, there are more as well so check the regulation booklet and make the most of any opportunity you are given in the weeks to come.

Aside from all that above, Wellington Fish and Game has continued its effort with Resource consents and all other the issues rise involving water quality, stream diversions etc.

Check our website for latest news and current river levels - www.fishangame.org.nz

Catch you all for the next update,

Nic Cudby
Field Officer 

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