Fishing Reports index > January 2008

Hawke’s Bay Fishing Report

From Grant Petherick

The weather over the early part of January has been great for fishing, but perhaps not so great for the fish….particularly in the lower reaches of the main rivers.

Cyclone Funa threatened but the hoped for rain that was forecast did not arrive in any meaningful volumes.

The lower Tutaekuri and Ngaruroro are becoming warm and weedy and the numbers of fish in these areas have declined.

In the lower and middle reaches of the Tukituki, a brown / grey sludgy mould is covering the bottom and spotting trout against this background is very difficult, even on  sunny days.  Water temperatures climb during the day and the fish tend to be sullen by the mid-late afternoon.  The best time for angling seems to be early morning through to early afternoon.  The evening rise has been patchy and fish are starting to congregate in cooler backwaters…a sure sign water temperature in the main stem is unsuitably warm for trout.

Smaller back country streams are also showing signs of low water conditions. Fish seem to be abandoning riffle water in favour of deeper pools and are very sensitive to angling pressure.

Unless trout can be seen actively rising, a large dry fly with nymph dropper seems to be the most successful method of prospecting rivers at the moment.
Choice of dry is not important as long as it floats well……and a general mayfly or caddis nymph pattern will suffice in most cases. If fish are sighted and prove unco-operative, try smaller size nymphs such as 18s and 20s.

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