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Fishing News index > November 2006 Taranaki Trout Fishing – November 2006
Allen Stancliff,
Fish and Game Officer
Despite not seeing the sun over the whole of Labour weekend,
there was only a moderate fresh in Taranaki ringplain rivers and
streams, with the Waiwhakaiho River at Egmont Village not quite
reaching 100 cumecs (the average annual flood is 330 cumecs) and
south Taranaki rivers such as the Waingongoro barely reaching 20
cumecs. All in all, just enough flow to clear out the
riverbed algae and set things up nicely for some productive November
fishing.
As water temperatures in the middle and lower reaches of ringplain
streams warm up during November, there should be reasonable hatches
of mayfly and stonefly species that have colonised these reaches
during the cooler winter period. There will also be good
hatches of caddis and midge, making November an ideal time to target
the evening rise in the larger river pools. Brown trout lose
a bit of their natural wariness at dusk and it can be surprising
just how many trout are active during the evening rise.
November and December is also a great time to fish the beetle,
with brown beetle becoming abundant by mid-November and green beetle
making an appearance towards the end of the month. Walking
the rivers and streams, trout should be able to be spotted sipping
beetles from the foam lines. Windy days may make casting
difficult but they can be great for beetle fishing, as the insects
are blown off riverside vegetation. The middle reaches of
the Waingongoro River in south Taranaki is one place where it’s
common to find trout feeding under foam lines and where a #14-16
brown and green beetle imitation will often be well received.
Small (#14-16) tungsten bead head nymphs fished on their own or
under a dry fly indicator will also be a good bet in the riffles
and faster runs. In the Waingongoro and Kaupokonui rivers
there is always the possibility of picking up a nice rainbow trout
in addition to the resident browns.
For anglers wanting to take the kids fishing, there are still
good numbers of hatchery rainbows in Lake Rotomanu (New Plymouth)
and Lake Wiritoa (Wanganui) following the recent kids fishing events. There
will also be organised kids fishing events at Lake Ngangana (Waitara)
and at Patea River scout den pool (Stratford) on Saturday 9th December,
where children can fish for hatchery rainbows corralled in a holding
net.
Don’t forget that up-to-date rainfall and flow information
for key sites around the ringplain is available at the Taranaki
Regional Council website www.trc.govt.nz,
which is well worth checking out when deciding which rivers to
fish during and after rainfall. It’s often the case
that rivers on the southern side of the mountain remain fishable,
while those in the north have come up in fresh.
Allen Stancliff
Fish and Game Officer
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