Hawke's Bay Reel Life August 2017

In stark contrast to the dry winter of 2016, this winter has been exceptionally wet with consistent rain events and even the odd cyclone.

All the rivers and streams have been in flood at some stage and the frequency of rain events has made it hard for anglers to find fishable waters over winter.

It's been a long and wet affair but summer fishing is not too far away! At the time of writing, air temperatures have already reached 20^OC here in Napier as we move into spring. 

Early season success on the Tukituki River last spring.

Due to the frequency of flooding this year, some of your favourite fishing spots will have changed as the rivers move around and new channels form.

Don’t be afraid to investigate new areas to fish and the start of the new season is the perfect time to explore and do a recce.  

Mangatutu Stream in flood (Tutaekuri tributary).

Some anglers have managed to venture out onto the Tukituki River during recent weeks despite the river being coloured and high.

Anglers have reported quite a few small trout (~300mm) among their catches which might make for good fishing once the river recedes.

Kapiti Fly Fishing Club members recently fished the Tukituki River around Patangata and reported catching large numbers of trout under 350mm in length.

A total of 61 trout were reported caught with only eight classed as large.

Larger trout should start showing up towards the start of the season once we start experiencing some more settled weather. 

The Ngaruroro is continuing to drop but has been carrying a lot of colour over recent weeks. The lower reaches of many of the rivers can be productive during September with the arrival of whitebait.

Smelt imitations such as a Grey Ghost or rabbit flies fished on a sinking line can be very productive at this time of year.

Keep an eye out for some large sea-run browns targeting the whitebait. Spinning can also be an effective way to target trout in these lower reaches.

Hawkes Bay Fish and Game staff are continuing with the online angling diary scheme in the 2017/18 season to monitor anglers catch rate and catch across the region’s rivers. If you are keen to participate, please click on the link below to record your days fishing results.

Fishless days are also important and so please note them. Please use this same link to record future fishing trips and the more anglers involved, the more useful the data will become.

Click here.

There have been no changes to the fishing regulations in the Hawkes Bay region for the 2017-18 season.

New season fishing licences are now available to buy from licence agents or directly online with many licence options now available.

For example, Family licences ($165) are excellent value for money and are a great way to encourage the whole family into fishing. Loyal Senior licences ($108) are available to resident anglers over 65 years of age with five-plus years of continuous licence history.

For anglers who  just want to fish in one particular region, Local Area licences ($102) are a great option.

There are also short-term licences available for anglers “having a go” or just visiting the region for a brief time.

The Glen Falls Fish & Game hut on the Mohaka River has received some timely maintenance and is available for licenceholders to hire it. Please contact the office on 06-844 2460 to book.  

Despite didymo not yet being found in the North Island, as users of the Hawkes Bay waterways, we all need to ensure that we do our bit to keep it that way.

Several of the region’s rivers are in close proximity to each other so it’s timely to remind anglers to ensure that they follow the CHECK, CLEAN and DRY process when moving from one river to the next.

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