Wellington Weekly Report 14th February

Fishing conditions don't get much better than what's on offer this weekend! 

Blue skies, clear rivers and terrestrial insects galore is what anglers can expects - oh, and hungry trout too. 

The cicadas are out in force at the moment; so too are willow grubs. Staff have been spending a lot of time surveying rivers lately and have observed large browns happily feeding on both, even during the heat of the day. 

This is certainly the most exciting time of the year to fish, when normally cagey trout launch themselves at cicadas stuck in the surface film. 

Then there's the finesse required to tempt a backwater brown delicately sipping tiny willow grubs. 

So there'll be plenty of action and excitement if you're out on the water this weekend!    

Our drift dives also continue to show encouraging results. Notably, our Ruamahanga dives last week reveals the river has rebounded amazingly this season with more fish than we've seen in years. In fact we've recorded some of the highest numbers in over a decade of measuring the trout population.

It's all go as far as the Wellington Fish & Game fishery is concerned! 

Licences can still be bought online here if you don't want to miss out on the best action of the season.  

Pictured above right: Rod, rifle, crystal-clear water and XOS wild rainbows - Wellington Fish & Game backcountry at its best! (Credit: Hamish Carnachan).   

Here's the outlook:

Hutt River and tributaries

Click here for live weather updates.

Low, clear conditions on the Hutt and Akatarawa rivers. Cicadas are well worth a go, especially drifted beneath overhanging vegetation. The evening rise has been working well too and might be a feature of the warm conditions with fish preferring to feed at night.    

Kapiti Coast

Click here for live weather updates.

River flows are low in this part of the region too with the Waikanae, the Otaki and the Ohau rivers well down. As with the Hutt, look to cicadas and target areas where the trout can find respite from the warm conditions - in the gorgy areas, under cover, deeper pools. 

Wairarapa

Click here for live weather updates.

The Ruamahanga, the Waipoua, the Waiohine and Kopuaranga rivers are all down at base flows. The Ruamahanga is holding heaps of fish and they;re feeding well too - the best stretches in terms of trout density are those areas between Morrisons Bush and the Waingawa confluence.  

Manawatu

Click here for live weather updates.     

Low clear condition here too for the Manawatu, the Pohangina, the Orua and the Mangatainoka rivers. Anglers are most likely to find active fish in the cooler spring-fed creeks and in the forested headwaters. There's plenty of insect life about in this part of the region so getting a trout to take, once you've located them shouldn't be too hard.   

Rangitikei

Click here for live weather updates.

The Rangitikei and Hautapu rivers area sustaining the lowest water temps in the region and as such the fish will be quite active. The cicadas were deafening in parts of the mid/upper Rangitikei last week - get into it some of the best angling action you'll find anywhere.              

Tip of the Week - Download Our Hutt Brochure

You can download our Hutt River Access brochure by clicking on the image above (it is a large file).  

The brochure provides heaps of info on both popular and lesser known access points, tips for fishing different reaches and user friendly maps.

The Hutt is one of New Zealand's great brown trout fisheries, we're doing everything we can to help our anglers make the most of this stunning resource on Wellington's doorstep.

Don't forget we also have a dedicated brochure on 'How To Fish The Hutt River' - ask at our office (06)3590409.             

By Wellington Fish & Game officer Hamish Carnachan.

We Need Your Eyes On The Water

River destruction carried out by Greater Wellington Regional Council in Wairarapa, turning a meandering braided river into a lifeless channel.  

We are interested what you see on the water. Photos of atrocious river bulldozing or bad land management practice... there's no reason for rivers to be treated badly in this day and age, particularly by regional councils which profess to be looking after the environment.

If you encounter any such activity please email the pics and details to us. 

Webcams

 Click the screen shot below to go to Horizon's website showing the list of available river webcams.

Notice board

• Important changes to the regulations for the Rangitikei backcountry fishery come into force at the start of this season - click here for more. 
• Don't let Greater Wellington Regional Council's river bulldozing ruin your day's fishing. The schedule of activity can be found here.
• We've just been advised of the flushing flows from the Moawhango Dam which will cause the rivers downstream (including the Rangitikei) to rise: 

Water Released from the Dam Tuesday at 9pm:

Wednesday 20 February 2019 – 5 hours

Wednesday 20 March 2019 – 5 hours

Wednesday 1 May 2019 – 5 hours

 Email Wellington Communications and Field Officer Hamish Carnachan if you'd like any fishing or freshwater-related items posted to this noticeboard.

​*This report was accurate at time of writing - please ensure you check the latest weather and river flow information before you head out on the water.