Eastern Reel Life October 2018

Good weather & catches, happy fishers

The grand opening on October 1 at lakes Rotoiti, Okataina and Tarawera went off with the usual fanfare.

Top right: Pounamu Anaru shows off his catch from Lake Tarawera.

Hundreds of boats descended on the region and the weather came to the party this year resulting generally in good catches and happy fishers.

Tarawera’s two year-old fish showed an improvement on last season; they were slightly longer and 100g heavier on average.

The harvest was up but some anglers reported slow periods during the day.

Rotoiti produced the best condition two year-olds of the three big lakes coming in at just under 500mm and 1.53kg, with the heaviest fish at 3kg.

Okataina’s fish bucked the trend by being slightly smaller than previous openings but angler harvest was up.

Fish and Game interviewed 628 anglers in total for the day and weighed and measured 693 fish.

Unlike last opening, a period of warm settled weather has back country streams running clear and in pristine condition, and reports of good fishing have been filtering in from throughout the Eastern Fish & Game region.

News tippets

• Unfortunately, the big $10,000 prize-winning fish wasn't caught during our Fish for Gold promotion. One of the 30 specially tagged fish was caught, and this landed a Rotorua angler a $250 voucher from Outdoorsman Headquarters.
• The last children’s fishing day at the Ngongotaha hatchery is scheduled for November 11^th. Book here.

  

• The upper sections of the Ngongotaha, Waiteti, Mokau and Hopuruahina streams open again for fishing on December 1. The fish in these streams spawn late into spring, hence the delayed start. That section of the Utuhina Stream between Devon Street and Pukehangi Road also opens on this date. Upstream of Pukehangi Road is closed to all fishing year round.
• Need some handy tips with boat fishing? We are running a boat fishing talk and demonstration at Lake Tarawera on Sunday January 6^th , 2019. Watch here for more information or contact: msherburn@fishnadgame.org.nz
• Do you keep a diary of your angling trips? We’d love to hear how you're getting on. Click Here to enter your Eastern Fish & Game fishing diary info and you could win a $100 voucher to spend at Kilwell.
  

  Max Jenkins helps staff release fish into a stream off Lake McLaren.

• A reminder on soft baits. Scented soft baits, including any that include “attractant” are not permitted except in waters where ‘bait fishing is allowed’. So, only unscented soft baits can be used on the Rotorua lakes.
• October releases have just been completed at lakes Okataina (1000), Rotoiti (6500) and Tarawera (2500) and a further 1000 fish will be moved via boat to stream mouth locations that can’t be accesses by road.

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