Fishing News index> September 2008

Trout fishing season fast approaching
Anglers in the Eastern Fish & Game Region are looking forward to the start of the trout fishing season which gets underway on October 1.  With the opening of three of the most popular Rotorua lakes, and special rivers in the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast, many anglers celebrate the start of the season with a day off to go and chase trout in their favourite waters.  Eastern Fish & Game Regional Manager, Rob Pitkethley, said anglers should expect some excellent fishing around the region this season.  “The size of the fish in the Rotorua lakes leading into the winter was well above average on Rotoiti, and Tarawera and Okataina fish were on the long term average size so these fish will have grown through the winter to provide superb fish for opening day.  Angler catch rates should be good on Tarawera and Okataina too, as these lakes typically provide the most fish for the effort put in” he said.  Mr Pitkethley said that Fish & Game staff will be doing their annual lakes surveys again this year and are looking forward to catching up with many of the regular locals and visitors that come to enjoy the start of the season.  “It’s a great day to be fishing, but if you can’t fish and have to work then a day interviewing anglers is a pretty good alternative.  Being the start of the season and a great time of the year for quality fish makes for pretty happy anglers and a fun day on the lakes” he said.

A boat heads out under Mt Tarawera, opening day 2007

Eastern Open Day September 30th
Eastern Fish & Game’s annual open day is again planned for the day before the opening of the trout fishing season. Anglers are encouraged to participate in this unique opportunity to see how the fishery “works” and pick up top tips to make their season a successful one.
Demonstrations on cooking, filleting, fly tying and a how-to boat fishing seminar plus guided tours of the hatchery operation make it an event not to be missed. This year we have been asked to demonstrate how to rid your trout of all of its bones, then local chef Peter Peeti will transform it into a tasty lunch! The boat fishing seminar which is run by local fishing guide Lindsay Lyons will also explain some of the myths of jig fishing for trout.
Details of the events can be downloaded by clicking here 

Peter Peeti’s cooking demo 

Ohau questions soon answered…
Fish & Game are waiting expectantly to see what the fishing is going to be like in the Ohau channel at the start of the season.  The channel opens on October 1 and this will be the first chance to see if the completion of the Diversion Wall has affected fish in the channel.  Mr Pitkethley said the Ohau Channel is a very important fishery and is based on spring runs of smelt providing food for the trout.  “How the wall may have affected smelt we don’t know.  There have been some small runs of smelt seen but with the high flows from Lake Rotorua it is difficult to tell if the smelt have been present, and if not, whether this is due to the wall or the flows.”  In the consent conditions for building the wall there is provision to make passes for fish to come into the channel if the wall is having a negative impact on smelt or trout movement.  These fisheries have been studied in the recent pre-wall years and will continue to be monitored for several years into the future to see if changes to the wall need to be made.
Either way the Ohau will be a popular location on October 1st 2008, with the biggest fish each year usually coming from its waters. Last season several massive brown trout over 15lb were landed.

Rangi Henry’s big 2007 brown

Ohau Ramp re-opened and improved
The boat ramp off SH33 at the Ohau delta which services Lake Rotoiti is now open after completion of the diversion wall. The car park area has been enhanced and the ramp widened. Boaties are advised that a 5 knot speed restriction exists inside the wall area. 

Anglers reminded of important issues
Fish & Game Rangers will be checking anglers throughout the Eastern Region over October and into the summer season.  While licences and bags will be checked, it’s a timely reminded to Check, Clean and Dry equipment between waterways to prevent the spread of any aquatic pests such as Didymo.  This season the use of felt soled footwear for angling is also prohibited as it was identified that these were a significant risk in the spread of aquatic pests. In an interesting move Trout Unlimited, the worlds most significant trout conservation group, this week supported the New Zealand move by asking boot makers worldwide to cease production of felts by 2011. Users need to be aware that the transportation of aquatic pests is a worldwide problem, not just limited to the South Island of New Zealand.  Boat users also should check their trailers and boats to make sure they are not moving weed or pest species from one lake to another.

 A cleaning station at Lake Tarawera, opening 2007

Liberations completed
Thousands of fin marked and tagged yearling trout were liberated to the Rotorua lakes this week to boost populations – but of surprise to many is that none of them will be legal to catch come opening day!
…While the Rotorua lakes fish boast perhaps the largest and fastest growing trout in the country, it’s actually last years liberations that will make up most of the catch come October 1. Fish & Game officer Matt Osborne said that the growth had been good and expected the average two year old fish to be over 50cm in length. “These fish have had a year at the hatchery and a year wild in the lake. They grow at about a millimetre per day after we liberate them, so some are of takeable size by summer. The really big trout appear in autumn or winter as they approach their third birthday, that’s when the trophy fish are caught”

 How big will this one be in a year?

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