Eastern Reel Life August 2018

Hopes high with season changes

Signs of seasonal change are evident around the region and we are hoping for warmer, drier weather as the new season nears.

As we wait for the new season to open we remind anglers that many excellent year-round fisheries are available in the Eastern Fish & Game Region.

Lakes such as Rerewhakaaitu, Rotoehu and Rotoma for example can produce great sport from autumn through to late spring.

Top right: Don't overlook Lake Rotorua for some great fishing.

In many cases the shallower lakes are better suited to winter fishing as the water temperatures suit the feeding patterns of trout better than during the heat of summer.

Each of these lakes offers good boat fishing opportunities and spring is an ideal time to shallow troll using smelt patterns.

Rotoma is also worth a jig fish and produces some solid rainbows and the chance to catch a tiger trout – the only place you’ll find this hybrid in NZ.

Tiny tiger ready for release into Lake Rotoma.

Don’t overlook Lake Rotorua either – this lake produces an exceptionally high catch rate. 

Our Te Wairoa trapping programme at Lake Tarawera has been cranking along this season which reinforces the high catch rate we saw on the lake in autumn.

The run officially became a record run mid-way through August with over 2080 fish running into the stream.

Our staff have noted the excellent condition factor of many of these fish and we hope that the lake’s performance might finally have taken a turn for the best.

We remind shore-based fishers that spawning runs continue right through August.  

And we are still trapping fresh runs of solid rainbow trout at our Tarawera fish trap.

Another nice rainbow from the trap.

Our breeding program works hard ensure trout mature throughout the winter season, so if you enjoy peaceful fishing for mature rainbows, head to one of our release locations and have a go.

A bit further afield, anglers have reported good trolling at Lake Waikaremoana over the winter months, however more recently, the fish size hasn’t shown a lot of promise.

The lake tends to go through cycles, so it is hoped our monitoring will show an improvement this summer – we’ll keep you posted here!      

Eastern tippets:

• The new trout fishing season kicks off on October 1^st, 2018. Licences will soon be available from agents or online.
• Our spring liberations of yearling trout will commence in September when almost 40,000 fish will be released from the Ngongotaha Hatchery. Our liberation schedule can be found here
• Our 2018 children’s fishing days are underway. See here for details and booking.
• View our social media pages here: Facebook. Twitter  
• If you have images you would like to share with us, please email msherburn@fishandgame.org.nz  

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