Lake Pupuke Set To Receive Young Rotorua Trout

Media release from Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game

Lake Pupuke Set To Receive Young Rotorua Trout

Fish & Game officers are getting set to stock up Lake Pupuke on Auckland’s North Shore with over a thousand catchable trout – in plenty of time for the lake’s annual fishing contest.

Fish & Game will truck the 1000 two year-old rainbows and 100 one year-old browns – from their Ngongotaha hatchery near Rotorua on April 24. The fish will be released at Sylvan Park around mid-day.

The trout are carried in oxygenated tanks aboard Fish & Game’s ‘Live Trout Truck’ which can carry up to 5000 fish at a time.

Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game chief executive Ben Wilson says, “It’s great to be able to provide trout fishing right at the back door of so many Auckland anglers who might otherwise have quite a drive to fish.

“With the annual stocking of this lake we are carrying on a long tradition, as the lake was the first in the country to be stocked with rainbow trout.”

Mr Wilson says for the time the lake was unfishable because of a decline in water quality. “We congratulate local authorities on their efforts over the years to improve water quality and turn this around.”

The annual fishing contest, the Lake Pupuke Challenge, will be held on the first Sunday in May (5th) with more than $500 in prizes. The event is open to any Fish & Game licenceholder. Licences are available at Hunts Sports in Milford or other fishing stores. No registration is required – show up and fish – your details will be recorded at weigh-in.

BACKGROUND:

More than 100,000 fish a year are raised at Fish & Game’s Ngongotaha hatchery and carried to lakes all round the island.

Lake Pupuke was first stocked with rainbow trout in the 1880s, making it the first lake to be stocked in New Zealand, but as its water quality declined so did its attraction as a trout fishing lake.

Its water quality has improved dramatically due to Auckland Regional Council environmental work in the lake’s catchment area.

There are about eight species of fish in the lake including trout, perch, tench, rudd and catfish. A sports fishing licence is required to fish for trout, perch, tench and rudd, which can be purchased from sports shops or online at: www.fishandgame.org.nz

ENDS

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