Lakes Need Real Wet and Cold to Bring Fish In

Fish & Game: Lakes Need Real Wet and Cold to Bring Fish In

A burst of seriously wet and cold weather would give fishing on Rotorua lakes a timely rev up, according to Fish & Game officers.

Trout respond to the cooling water conditions winter brings by moving and feeding actively before spawning – congregating near spawning streams.

The fish came on earlier this winter with all the rain we’ve had, although anglers may have found success more difficult recently, says Fish & Game Officer Matt Osborne.

Things are still unseasonably warm, he says, with lake water still relatively warm at around the 14 degree mark. “While there has been plenty of rain, we haven’t had any frosts, or a combination of rainy and cold weather to bring the fish in.”

Fish & Game officers count and measure fish from the Te Wairoa fish trap on Lake Tarawera to select fish for the hatchery breeding programme, and get an indication of the spawning run. We have had around 360 fish through the trap so far, says Matt. Fish are slightly shorter than last year at this time, however they are heavier and in better condition.

The autumn smelting has been excellent allowing fish to pack on condition, he adds.

Matt Osborne says there has been some good fishing around The Landing and the angle jetty on Lake Tarawera, and there are reports of some good catches around Rangiuru Bay. “Although some Australian visitors said high water levels made it a bit difficult to get around to where they prefer to fish.”

Fish & Game officers also carried out a recent drift dive in the Tarawera outlet and spotted large numbers of spawning fish. There are more fish there than we’ve seen in the past few years which looks promising for future angling, says Matt.

The fish being caught in Okataina and Rotoiti are of a good size, where there has also been large quantities of smelt around for them to eat.

Lake Okataina water levels are extremely high at present, up over the jetty. The ramp has been unusable at times because of sand piled up by wave action.

The fish being caught in Lake Rotorua aren’t huge but their condition is improving with all the smelt around to feed on, says Matt, and the Ohau Channel in Lake Rotorua has been fishing reasonably well.

Lakes Tarawera, Okataina and Rotoiti will close for boat fishing at the end of June so anglers who fish from boats are encouraged to make the most of the time remaining. Fishing from the shoreline continues through the winter in selected areas on these lakes, until they re-open to all angling again on October 1.

Most of the region’s other lakes remain open for all angling throughout the year.

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