Lower North Lowdown Weekly Fishing Report - 12 November 2026

Fine Fishing Conditions Return For Weekend

The main rivers in the Wellington and Taranaki Fish & Game regions are up but the rain has gone and the forecast over the coming four to five days days looks great! 

Don't be despondent by the river flows, with a clear weather window there's plenty of time for flows to drop back to normal, which will present some awesome fishing conditions over the weekend.     

Pictured above: Desiree Parker-Munn with a beautifully marked brown from the Tokomaru Stream.

For those wanting to get out today or tomorrow, many of the smaller streams have already cleared yesterday's rain and they will still be holding fish that haven't dropped back from the spawning period.  

River Ellison with a new personal best perch, taken at Henley Lake in Masterton (Photo: Ben Ellison)

Don't forget that there are good family-friendly options available too - last week we released trout into Sattlers Dam (Raetihi) as well as Marton Reservoir and Hokowhitu Lagoon (Palmerston North). Grab the kids and get them into a feisty trout or two.  

Thanks to everyone who has sent photos in for our competition (see details below). If we haven't run your pic, you're still in the draw for the great prize pack, so keep those shots rolling in.             

Grab your Whole Season Licence now and enjoy the angling ahead over the coming months!

 

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Wellington and Taranaki Fish & Game are on Facebook!

To keep up to date with all the news and events from the two regions, be sure to check out our page and follow us.  

Here's the outlook for the weekend ahead... 

 

Hutt River

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Hutt Valley.

The Hutt catchment has had two small pulses of rain over the past 24 hours but the bad weather is behind us. The Hutt River is running at 32 cumecs this morning, which is high and coloured, but it has peaked and will now start to fall with the fine forecast. Expect a little extra flow on Saturday and tiny hint of colour, but it will improve throughout the weekend. The Pakarutahi, Whakatikei and Akatarawa are falling back quickly and should be fishable from tomorrow for those looking to get out before the weekend.       

The Hutt River at Totara Park this morning (Photo: Al Markham)

 

Kapiti Coast

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Kapiti Coast. 

The Kapiti rivers - Otaki, Waikanae and Ohau - are showing a touch of colour from the rain showers over the last few days but this should clear relatively quickly. The rivers are running at moderate flows and this has freshened up the base gravels. Conditions should be ideal over the weekend with fine weather forecast through to Monday.
The Otaki River at SH1 this morning (Photo: Phil Teal)

 

Wairarapa

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Wairarapa region.

The Ruamahanga River is up quite high after the rain yesterday. It is falling but will take a good 24 to 36 hours to clear. Similar condition in the Waiohine, Waingawa and Tauherenikau rivers, though these should be fishable from Saturday, if not later tomorrow. Smaller rivers like the Waipoua, Mangatarere and Huangarua haven't copped as much rain and, although a little higher, are fishable today.  

Check out the latest conditions for the lower Ruamahanga by calling this free-phone number - 083229069.

The Mangatarere Stream at Belvedere Road this morning (Photo: Hamish Carnachan)

 

Manawatu

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Manawatu region.

The Manawatu River is running with extra flow and colour in Palmy but it is falling quickly. Further upstream, at Weber Road, the webcam is showing a bit of colour mid-stream but there's a fishable edge. Conditions will improve markedly over the next 24 hours. Similarly, the Pohangina and Oroua rivers are a touch dirty lower down but there's an obvious fishable edge; for anyone wanting to get out today the upper reaches are looking great! The Mangatainoka is going to take a good 24 hours to be at reasonable fishable flow and clarity. 

Fish Releases - Last week we put several hundred good-sized trout into Marton Reservoir and Hokowhitu Lagoon (Palmerston North). These are both family-friendly fishing spots so get the kids along to target some hungry trout!          

The Oroua River at Apiti this morning (Photo: Matt Kavermann)

 

Rangitikei

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Rangitikei region.

The Rangitikei River is running dirty at Mangaweka this morning, however, up at Pukeokahu it looks quite a bit better. This suggests most of the dirty water is coming in from the unstable Whakaurekou and Kawahatu rivers, so anglers will likely need to head to the upper reaches around Mangaohane and Springvale this weekend where fishing conditions should be great!   

The Rangitikei River at Mangaweka this morning (Photo: Awastone)

 

Taranaki Ringplain

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Taranaki Ringplain region.

Some prolonged and often intense rainfall on Tuesday produced a significant fresh in all Taranaki ringplain streams. This included south Taranaki rivers such as the Waingongoro and Kaūpokonui, which hadn’t had a decent flow since well before the start of the new season. As ringplain stream flows fall very quickly once the rain stops, they are already well on the way down and they’ll be in great condition for fishing in what looks to be a brilliantly fine weekend.

Check out the up-to-date data on rainfall and river flows. 

The Te Henui Stream at Cumberland Street in New Plymouth yesterday afternoon (Photo: Allen Stancliff)

 

Waimarino

Click here for live updates and forecasts for the Waimarino region.

Ruapehu rivers missed much of the rain and have had only a minor fresh. Rivers should be in great condition for what is also forecast to be a fine weekend.

To keep an eye on regional flows, you can check these out here.

The Mangawhero River at SH4 this morning (Photo: Horizons)

 

Win A $300 Hunting & Fishing Voucher Plus More

Braxton O’Brien with his first brown from the middle reaches of the Ruamahanga River - his first-year fishing with a paid licence he saved and paid for himself.

Our photo competition is back again for 2026-27 with an even bigger prize pack on offer.  

Send in your favourite fishing photos from this season and you could be in to win a $300 voucher to spend in store at Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing.

We won't blow your secret spot, just include the name of the angler(s), photographer's details and general location in the Wellington-Taranaki Fish & Game region.

• Click here to submit your entry.

You can send us as many fishing photos as you like. By submitting images to enter the competition you acknowledge that Wellington Fish & Game and Wairarapa Hunting & Fishing can publish and use the photos for publicity material.

Entries must be in by 5pm Sunday, March 28, 2027. The winner will be announced in the final Lower North Lowdown report for the season on Thursday, April 1, 2027.

 

More Epic Prizes To Be Won!

Want 2 Catch More Trout has put up three awesome prizes to add into the mix for this year's photo competition!

Up for grabs:

1st Prize - 30 flies, plus a branded T-shirt
2nd Prize - 12 flies, plus a branded T-shirt
3rd Prize - 12 flies

The collection of flies can be tailored to what each successful individual would like from the current range. Click the logo above to see the full range.

• Click here to submit your entry.

The same Terms & Conditions of entry apply as above. 

 

It's Brown Beetle Time!

A chunky Ruamahanga River brown that had been feasting on brown beetles (Photo: Andrew Harding) 

Mid November can often see prolific beetle hatches around the lower North Island's lowland streams.

The insects hatch out of pastoral areas in the evening and can be in such good numbers that many clumsily fly onto the water providing food for trout.

Head down to your local river on a warm, calm evening and select a nice glide - If the beetles are hatching, you'll soon see the trout react with lazy boils on the surface. It's a great time to fish and the action can be red-hot dry fishing!

Following a really big hatch, trout can still be dialled in on dead and dying beetles throughout the day too. 

Just make sure you're using brown beetle imitations because the green variant is actually the Manuka Beetle which will be present later, around December and beyond.

Beetle patterns are ideally fished with fly fishing gear, but spin anglers can also try it using a bubble.

Suitable stretches or pools for fishing beetle imitations have plenty of edge cover, such as willows, because you want to fish where trout can be hiding out of sight and come out to feed in the evenings.

There are plenty of pools on the Hutt, Manawatu and Ruamahanga, as well as lowland Taranaki rivers and streams, which fit the bill - many are very close to town centres too and easily accessible. 

While these reaches might look devoid of fish during the day, it is surprising how many trout are dragged from cover during a dusk beetle hatch.

The beetles will start to buzz around just on the last 30-40 minutes of light, but the trout will keep taking them well into the night, so blind fishing and listening or 'feeling' for a take can still yield trout. 

In low light, the trout are not so concerned about your presence either, so you can get quite close to rising fish without disturbing them.

It can also be a good time to take kids out as there is plenty of action but not so much walking or patience required.

Remember to fish the very tail of pools as well because smaller trout will often hang out in these areas at night.

You will have a few mistimed strikes as it gets hard to see and the trout will be taking naturals in the vicinity of the fly. However, if you have two or more trout feeding in the same pool off the surface in the evening, they don't tend to get spooked by splashy noises.

Remember to take a torch for the walk back to the car!

By Fish & Game field officers Hamish Carnachan. 

 

Video Of The Week - Welly Region Small Stream Action 

Check out this video to see how awesome small stream fishing can be early season, before the trout drop back into the mainstem rivers.

Tight water, big fish, epic battles. Click the screenshot above to watch. 

 

Attention Rangitikei 'Designated Water' Anglers

The Game Animal Council and Sika Foundation, along with contractors, are carrying out thermally-assisted aerial deer management in the Southern Kaimanawa area.  

The deer management operation will be taking place in the Kaimanawa Remote Experience Zone between October 20 and November 20. 

The Rangitikei River 'Designated Waters' fishery is within the operational area. 

For more information, see the Q&A sheet here.  

 

Noticeboard

• Greater Wellington Regional Council's latest schedule of river works can be found here.
• Horizons Regional Council's latest schedule of river works can be found here (scroll down to 'Planned Works').   
• Moawhango Flushing Flows - Proposed dates are as follows:

12/13 December 2026
26/27 January 2027
16/17 February 2027
16/17 March 2027
27/28 April 2027 (potential)

• Lake Namumanu: Same as last season - access is currently closed for the logging of the surrounding Ngaruru Forest by Ernslaw One Ltd.

If you have any angling-related information you'd like posted to this noticeboard, including upcoming angling club meetings and outings, please get in touch with us.  

*This report was accurate at time of writing. For your safety, please ensure you check the latest weather and river flow information before you head out on the water.