Fish & Game stocks up Lake Tutira with young trout

Lake Tutira’s set to receive part of its annual top up of trout today – with Hawke’s Bay Fish & Game releasing more than 2,750 young fish.

The trout were transported from Fish & Game’s Rotorua hatchery to release as part of an annual stocking programme.

Eastern Fish & Game Hatchery Officer Mark Sherburn says the 2,750 yearling trout are made-up of 500 brown trout and 2,250 rainbow trout.

“They are yearlings and about 18cm long when we release them, and we expect they will reach about 45cm by this time next year. A nice size for anglers to catch!”

Five hundred of the rainbow trout and all of the brown trout are tagged to enable Fish & Game to monitor how well the fish are doing.

Details of the fish’s length, weight and condition, and the method used to fish are used to monitor the fishery, and the number of tags received each year provides an insight into survival rates.

“We’d be grateful if anglers who catch a tagged fish can use the form on our website or phone through these details, as the information makes an important contribution to monitoring of the fishery.

“As an incentive, anglers who return tags go into a draw to win a free trout fishing licence.”

Lake Tutira is just half an hour from Napier and a great location for a family outing or introducing youngsters into fishing.

Spin fishing from the shore is an ideal way of catching trout and Tutira fishes well in the autumn through winter and into spring. Regulations stipulate a minimum size limit of 35cm, a bag limit of four trout, and both fly and spin methods are allowed.

Mr Sherburn says that Tutira doesn’t have streams suitable for trout to spawn in, and although some natural reproduction takes place, the lake does need to be re-stocked.

ENDS

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