Reel Life April 2026 - Auckland/Waikato

Late-season fishing

The NZ River National Champs was carried out on the Waimakariri Stream after a last minute venue change due to warm water temperature elsewhere! The spring-fed stream showed that there is some great fishing to be had and plenty of fish out there still.

Te Awamutu F&G Club’s annual Arapuni fishing competition was also held late March with 81 anglers weighing in a total of 18 brown trout and 44 rainbow trout, along with a number of eels, rudd and goldfish. The winner on the day was junior fisherman Brayden Holmes with a 2.71 kg brown, showing there are still some good fish around if you put in the effort!

The competitions and other reports show good fish numbers in both our hydro lake fisheries and for late-season stream fishing. The beginning of winter fishing conditions does mean fish will be starting to spread out in the cooler water before they migrate into spawning streams however.

After all the rain over the past couple of weeks, it’s important to keep an eye on the river flow when you're planning to go fishing. Live river flow data is now available for the Waikato on our fishing access maps (for example, the Kaniwhaniwha Stream monitoring site). This data is sourced live from the Waikato Regional Council.

 

Stone Jug Road / Whakapapa Access

After several years of work, the Auckland/Waikato Fish & Game initiative has secured access to a river previously tied up in private ownership. The Angler Access Fund is a first-of-its-kind initiative focused on one thing: improving fishing access for current and future generations. The initiative involves purchasing land with valuable angler access (using external funding), adding easements to the property title, ensuring public access in perpetuity, and selling the property (now with enduring public access) before returning the money to the fund.

The first success of this was a property on Stone Jug Road, opening up over 3km of fishing on the Whakapapa River. The property is just wrapping up the final stage of surveying and will soon be sold, with proceeds going straight back into the fund to do it all again.

To listen to David Klee talking about it on RNZ, and also to learn how you can contribute here: https://www.fishandgame.org.nz/.../aucklandwaikato.../

Staff Update

Long-time fisheries officer Adam Daniel has made the move from Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game after 13 years, to take up a new role with NZ Fish and Game Council, where he will continue his great work on biosecurity and its impact on freshwater fishing in New Zealand.

We are excited to have Matt Osborne make the move across from the Easter Fish and Game team to take up the newly vacant position of Senior Fish and Game Officer. After 20 years as the Fisheries Manager for Eastern F&G, Matt will add additional value to our fisheries management.

We are equally as excited to have Bruno David join the team. Bruno brings a wealth of local knowledge and experience in freshwater ecosystems.

Trout release

Two-year-old rainbow trout have just been released into Quarry Lake (near Lake Pupuke) on Auckland's North Shore in time for the school holidays. Kids under 12 can get a free licence online, and catch rates are usually pretty good!

Access and regulation information for Quarry Lake is available on our Fishing Access Map: https://fishandgameaccessmap.org/#15.63/-36.78281/174.75962