Reel Life September 2024 - Hawke's Bay

Countdown to 1 October.

Well, the countdown is well and truly on to the 1^st of October, I’m sure many anglers will be checking gear, tying flies, dreaming of a flash new rod or reel, and possibly trying to convince their “other half” that they really need a new one. It was great to see so many couples out fishing when ranging recently, many making use of a family license and taking turns each year being the “primary license holder” on the license.  I am sure some anglers will be out scouting where they might go on opening day, hopefully you won’t find someone there already fishing, who is trying to jump the gun and start fishing before that stretch of water opens for the season.

So far, the winter and spring has been quite kind with no major floods and whilst there was a good dump of snow on the 17 September things are looking very promising, although some mountain streams might require an extra layer if you are wet wading!

We expect the Tukituki, Waipawa, Ngaruroro, Mohaka and their tributaries will provide good fishing this season, whilst some of the smaller, single stem rivers may take a reasonable length of time to fully recover. It is timely to remind ourselves that some of these smaller rivers may have lost most of their juvenile trout population in the cyclone and the lag time between spawning, to a catchable size trout (0.5-1.0 Kg) is 2 years and breeding age is 3 years- showing the value in ensuring the remaining mature trout are allowed to survive and continue to spawn and replenish the fishery.

Licence Changes and Compliance

Fishing Regulations Changes for the 2024/ 25 Season.

The Council has made a couple of changes to the licence aimed at maximising opportunity, whilst continuing a cautious approach to number of trout harvested on our rivers, as we recover form Cyclone Gabrielle. The bag limit for all rivers was reduced to 1trout per angler per day last season as we gave the population time to recover and we assessed fish stocks, we are pleased to be able to relax this limit in some specific stretches for the coming season.

The daily bag limit will increase from 1 to 2 on the Karamu stream, and some stretches of our larger rivers for the 2024/25 season, rivers effected are Tukituki, Waipawa, Ngaruroro and Mohaka. These changes will only apply to the main stems of the Karamu Steam, Waipawa and Tukituki downstream of highway 50, Ngaruroro downstream from the Kiwi Creek confluence and Mohaka downstream from the Mangatainoka confluence, while the 1 fish limit will still apply to their tributaries and all other rivers. Bait fishing will be allowed in the specific lower stretches of the Tukituki, Ngaruroro and Tutaekuri.

With relatively low bag limits, and regulations that state we must cease fishing once we have harvested our daily bag limit, some anglers may find that they want to practise catch and release, or as I prefer to call it “selective harvest”, so they can continue fishing.

All anglers – from newbies to life-long fishers – need to be aware, though, that how they handle the fish is critical to its survival after being released.

This is especially true in summer as warmer water temperatures and lower oxygen levels make recovery harder for released fish.

Here are our ‘Quick 5’ tips for handling fish with care:

• Always wet your hands before handling a fish and if possible, use a knotless landing net.
• Keep the fish in the water while removing the hook.
• Do not squeeze the fish and never touch the gills.
• If you feel you must photograph your fish, do it in or over the water and make it quick - the fish should not be out of the water for more than 5 seconds.
• Revive the fish facing into the current long enough for it to regain its swimming strength.

In the unfortunate instance that a fish you intended to release does end up bleeding from the gills or cannot maintain itself upright, so long as you can legally take that fish, we recommend you should keep it as part of your bag limit and utilize it. We urge all anglers to buy a license, check the regulations, and continue to enjoy the great fishing Hawkes Bay has to offer and remember to carry their licence when they are out fishing.

John and Davey our field officers are warranted rangers joining our team of honorary rangers, so you may see them out on the rivers checking licence & regulation compliance. With two anglers recently finding themselves facing court for fishing without a licence this is a timely reminder to purchase your fishing licence before leaving home and heading to the river as chances are when you get there you won’t have reception to jump online and get it done. Click here to get your licence now! https://fishandgame.eslltd.co.nz/shop

Creel Survey

We are planning on conducting creel surveys so don’t be surprised if you get a visit while out fishing from one of the team as we carry on monitoring angler success and our rivers recovery post cyclone. We will be continuing the online diary that we ran last year and encourage anglers to carry on using this valuable tool.