Fishing Reports index > January 2009

LAKE ANIWHENUA & RANGITAIKI RIVER SYSTEM

During the summer stat holiday period we noticed a lot more pressure on the lake. Boaties didn’t seem to be content to stay in one place and fish. As usual, all this movement inevitably made fishing fairly hard. Being such a shallow lake, Aniwhenua requires patience. For example, on a whole days guiding, Graeme may move less than 5 times. Anchoring up definitely seems to be more productive.

Guests are amazed at the amount of fish to be seen breaking the surface at times. When this is happening during day, the trout are usually feeding on emergers and when it’s happening in the evening it seems to be midges that they’re on. They can be pretty hard to catch at these times. Really small flies are required.

As an insect fishery, Lake Aniwhenua is best fished throughout the middle of the day. This is when the insects are the most active and when the trout therefore feed more. The majority of anglers still seem to fish early morning and late evening. However, this scenario doesn’t necessarily work best in a shallow fishery.

Hope you all had a nice holiday and got in some extra fishing.

Joan Ryder
Lake Aniwhenua Lodge
trout.guide@xtra.co.nz
www.troutguides.co.nz

Joan Ryder is an independent fishing guide; her reports are not officially representative of Fish & Game NZ

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