Reel Life October 2026 - Hawke's Bay

Well the 1^st October finally arrived and the Hawkes Bay rivers and streams were busy with lots of local and visiting anglers making the most of the great conditions. Most, if not all the regions rivers and streams were relatively low and fishable, the rain forecast for early in the week wasn’t as much as forecast and whilst some streams; particularly the northern ones, discolored after the rain most were lovely and clear again by Thursday.

Unlike last opening day when, although it was bright and sunny the strong westerly winds made casting a fly difficult, the weather this year was nice and calm, making fly casting and spotting fish much easier. Some streams were very busy with some anglers camping there the night before and many others arriving in the dark on opening morning, with “relative latecomers” arriving just on daylight, taking one look and heading off to find another spot that wasn’t so busy. Surprisingly some of the Central Hawkes Bay streams, that traditionally have been very popular on opening day, were relatively quiet by comparison.

Our ranging teams covered much of the bay over opening day and weekend and it was great to see the many family groups, old mates and junior anglers out fishing together. Some of the Central Hawkes Bay streams had incredibly high numbers of trout in them, most were fish that had spawned there and were in varying states of recovery. Those fishing the bigger rivers reported a real mixture of stunning maiden, well recovered fish, and others still recovering from spawning. The one thing that did stand out though,  was the high numbers of trout encountered by those lucky enough to be out fishing the first few days of the season, with some skilled anglers catching multiple trout in one small run or pool.   

We have had the occasional day when rivers were discolored after rain, but the absence of any prolonged heavy rain has meant that the levels have dropped, and most have cleared quickly again. The extended forecast looks very promising with clear bright conditions and minimal wind through to Labour weekend with the possibility of some rain in the latter part of Labour weekend.