Turangi, as you know, is beautifully, perfectly located, strategically halfway to everywhere. It is particularly perfect for trout fishos. The central North Island location makes TRM within reach of so many other rivers within a day trip beyond the Taupo catchment.
Usually the only fishing news updates you get here will be from DOC – Department of Conservation. OK. We all know that trout fishery management is far too important to be left in the hands of a Government Department, but it is what it is. But that is just Taupo. This is about the rest of NZ.
That means that the many fishing reports on all the other rivers have just as much relevance to TRM inmates as the Taupo stuff. Remember back in the days of yore when the Target Taupo gave anglers everything they ever needed to know. Those days have gone. Blame Trump! Now Fish & Game updates – REEL Life – make up for it.
They more than make up for it with their regional reports – have a squiz below. There are many more from all the other regions but these are all within a one day “driveable” distance from TRM.
At this very moment, we have fishos staying here for up to six weeks from UK, Canada (the 51st state?), Australia, New Caledonia, etc. They choose TRM every year about this time when all the tourists have gone home (?) to test their skills on so many different rivers in different regions. At the moment Tongariro anglers are wondering about the closing of the Poutu Canls causing varying flows, TT anglers are worried about the flood protection earthworks, whilst these tourists are having a ball, ranging far beyond the local rivers into the mostly F&G managed ignored rivers where their fishing has been superb. See where we are coming from? Have a squiz at a few of the latest F&G Reports.
Reel Life March 2025 – Hawke’s Bay
- Hawkes Bay
- 21/03/2025
The incredible run of great weather has finally come to an end in Northern parts of the Bay, in Central Hawke’s Bay although they had some rain, it wasn’t enough to move river levels much; that said the central Hawke’s bay rivers all need a good fresh.
The Mohaka, Ngaruroro, Tutaekuri and the smaller northern rivers were all up and quite coloured after Thursday’s rain, on a positive note, the fresh should help by clearing the weed and improving trout activity.
The cooler temperatures drop the water temperature, and the cooler overcast conditions will keep the trout feeding actively longer through the day.
The lower sections of the Tukituki have been challenging, with lots of weed, making all forms of trout fishing challenging, even fishing a dry fly, resulting in weed on the leader or fly that needed to be removed every second cast or so. The higher sections haven’t been so badly affected, with many some anglers having great fishing, with the size and number of fish being really impressive.
The amount of rain seemed to vary considerably from one catchment to another, so some will have got a good clean out, whilst others have remained quite weedy making fishing frustrating at times; such conditions can make nymph fishing challenging, but keeping the drifts short, and avoiding swinging the fly at the end of the drift will help, fishing a dry fly or a dry with a nymph as a dropper is often the best option in these conditions.
For those rivers that did come up a reasonable amount, the extra water in these rivers and a bit of colour, will help the spinning or soft baiting and as they clear, all anglers should see improved fishing – even if it’s just due to less of the frustrating weed.
Some terrestrials will still be being blown onto the water, from beetles to big grasshoppers, artificials imitating these, coupled with a variety of nymphs and normal waterborne dry flies have been working well.
It is very exciting watching a big rainbow absolutely smash a big terrestrial this time of the year, but it is easy to get tunnel vision and forget that many of these fish; particularly the mature ones will be wise to big grasshoppers or cicadas that have “bitten them back” previously, so a nymph or smaller dry can often work well too.
While we are talking big terrestrial dry flies its timely to remind ourselves that many fish will try to swallow them very quickly, resulting in throat or gill hooked fish that are unlikely to survive, resulting in a fish should be harvested, if the limit allows. My advice, use barbless hooks and strike as quick as you can, the textbook recommendation of counting to three for a dry fly take might be ok for small dries, but with large terrestrials it is way too slow.
Selective Harvest and Releasing Fish
Most anglers like to take the occasional trout home for dinner, ideally it’s a nice fat maiden fish and killed within the daily bag limit regulations for that river, which means with such selective harvesting, many anglers are letting other trout go – the juveniles, the fish that haven’t fully recovered post spawning and the big mature spawners that we want to go on to spawn and possibly be caught by another angler. To be selective with our harvesting, it is vitally important for our fisheries and social license that the fish we don’t choose to harvest, do survive; unfortunately, we have had reports of the occasional large healthy-looking fish, lying dead in the bottom of a pool in high country rivers lately. If the fish is hooked in the gills and likely to die, please harvest it and take it home, remembering that when you have killed your limit, you must cease fishing.
As the rivers drop and warm up, the chance of released fish dying increases, getting the fish to the bank, unhooked and back in the river facing into gentle current as soon as possible will maximise the chances of survival. Gently support the fish until it regains its strength and wants to swim away; whatever you do, don’t drag it out of the water onto the hot stones or handle it with dry hands!
If you feel you must take a photo of that extra big fish, ideally do it with the fish in the water or if you must lift it out of the water, remember it should be out of the water for a maximum of 5 seconds – that’s 1 quick photo and let it go.
Illegal Fishing
We had a report recently, of illegal bait fishing in the Waipunga catchment below the falls, near the Napier/ Taupo Road.
If you see evidence of illegal fishing, please contact the Fish and Game team as soon as possible, if you can safely take photos and record vehicle registration numbers that will be greatly appreciated – but only if it is safe.
Illegal overfishing will quickly destroy such a fishery, so we all need to work together to protect our fragile fisheries; this is more important now than ever before, after the damage Cyclone Gabrielle did to some of our rivers.
Flyfishing Courses
Here at Hawke’s Bay Fish and Game we have been running introductions to flyfishing courses, we recently hosting two student flyfishing courses and a women’s flyfishing course. These courses are 6 sessions long, progressing from setting up a flyrod, tying leaders, fly casting and reading the water. We hope to run additional courses through the summer and autumn so keep an eye on our Facebook page to see what’s coming up. https://www.facebook.com/HBFishandGame/
Know before you go
The favourable weather looks set to continue for our region for a while, so read the regulations and remember to carry your licence with you, because this season there is a better chance than ever, that you will get to meet the ranging team out on the river. Click here to get your licence now! https://fishandgame.eslltd.co.nz/shop
Reel Life March 2025 – Auckland Waikato
- Auckland/Waikato
- 20/03/2025
Please help us by reporting tagged fish
Staff have been amazed with the number fish counted during the 2025 drift dives. Three of the five rivers surveyed had extremely high fish counts due to high water temperatures and low flows. A new reach of the Whakapapa was surveyed in March that had one of highest densities of large rainbows ever recorded in the river. We highly recommend getting out for fish during the tail end of the summer as seasons like this are not to be missed.
With fish so concentrated we expect some tagged fish to be caught on the Whanganui, Whakapapa and the Mangatutu during the next month. If you do get out for a fish, please be ready to record fish tag numbers (you can take a picture) and the fish length (from the nose to the fork in the tail). Accuracy is important as fish are measured to the millimetre, so if you don’t have a tape measure in your fishing gear use a piece of electrical tape on your rod as a maker and measure the fish length when you get home.
Image above: Paul Fuller with a tagged Mangatutu Stream Rainbow.
Keep your released fish alive by treating them well
Many of the trout that are killed by anglers in the Auckland/Waikato Region don’t end up in the smoker. It is not uncommon for trout to die from the impacts of stress after being released. Imagine if you were forced to exercise in 40° heat to the point of complete exhaustion and then were immediately suffocated for 30 seconds. Odds are not all of us would survive.
There has been a lot of research on the survival of released trout and some more commonly discussed factors like treble hooks play a relatively minor role in fish survival. The big killers are exhaustion, heat and suffocation (time out of water). Trout that are caught in water temperatures above 19°C have a 20-30% mortality rate and fish that are held out of the water for 30 seconds to take photos or to remove the hook die about 30% of the time even in relatively cool water temperatures. The combination of exhaustion, warm water and time exposed to air is likely to be lethal. Most Waikato streams breach 19°C during the summer and the Mangatutu Stream has ranged from 16-20°C during the last month so if you release trout and want them to survive, please:
- Move upstream to avoid fishing in areas where water temperatures are >19°C.
- Fish in the morning to avoid peak temperatures.
- Don’t remove fish from the water if possible.
- If you do take a photo, consider leaving the fish partially submerged.
Theoretical impact of time out of water and warm water temperature on trout.
Reel Life March 2025 – Eastern
- Eastern
- 20/03/2025
Seasonal Change
Autumn is officially upon us, and while weather patterns don’t always follow the calendar there are signs that the trout are preparing for the winter ahead. Anglers are reporting jacks (male trout) starting to colour-up and develop a kype (hooked jaw) which is a sure sign that spawning action is imminent. A few fish have also been sighted cruising at the release locations such as The Landing, Ruato and the Pipe.
Traditionally April signifies the start of spawning runs on the stoked Rotorua lakes. We noted an early run last year after a cold snap in March. Overnight temperatures have cooled recently but most of the north island has been dry and river systems are looking bony. We still need rain.
The big Rotorua lakes are still producing some superbly conditioned fish up to 4kg although it can sometimes be frustrating to see refusals from picky fish on the sounder at this time of year. Successful methods include softbaits, jigging and trolling. The fish are beginning to sit higher in the water column and some can be seen smelting on the surface so shallow trolling, especially at dawn will be a successful method also. Try a smelt fly and Tassie combination either on straight mono or with a short section of LED type line or a single colour of lead line for results. Overnight surface temperatures are dipping down below 19C and we can expect them to get even lower in April.
Roger Bowden shows off a prime Okataina rainbow
Lake Rotorua’s stream mouth action has come to an end as a result of cooling conditions. Most of the browns have migrated upstream to commence spawning but there are still good browns and rainbows to be caught in the lake, especially after dark. Floating lines and night flies such as Craig’s and Lumo dolls are the go-to from now on. If you intend to fish the Okataina, Rotoiti or Tarawera shoreline this winter we suggest the use of stout leaders as we are expecting some big, strong fish.
Traditional patterns such as Craig’s will work well over winter
Okataina Update
Technical issues have delayed the full operation of the Lake Okataina access gate but it should be fully operational by the time Reel Life comes out. Access to the lake is still available even if the automated gate isn’t working.
This link will take you to FAQ for the gate operation.
The purpose of the automated gate is to streamline access to Lake Okataina.
Datawatch tagged Trout
Tagged trout can now be entered online. Entries go into the draw to win one of 10 free whole-season fishing licences: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QCH5ZR6
Eastern Region Fishing Diaries – All lakes and streams
Fill in your fishing diaries here to help us manage the Eastern Fish & Game region. Participants go in the draw to win a $100 voucher from Kilwell: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QRSD7D3
Reel Life March 2025 – Taranaki
- Taranaki
- 20/03/2025
As of writing this, the Taranaki region has received some long-awaited rainfall, with on and off showers elevating some river levels. As most rivers throughout Taranaki and the Waimarino have been sitting around their summer low flow levels for months now, this rain is welcomed in a bid to flush the periphyton and algae that has accumulated within these waterways.
Fishing on the leeward side of rain events such as this can often turn out to be quite productive, with fish enjoying the cooler water temperatures and feeding harder among slightly elevated flows.
Ringplain rivers such as the Hangatahua have maintained a very fish-able state for the last few weeks, with many anglers enjoying their time in its middle reaches. The Manganuioteau and Mangawhero are also looking great, with some exciting sight-fishing experiences to be had. Cicada and passion-vine hopper imitations are well worth a try, alongside suspending a small nymph under a choice of bushy dry fly.
Reel Life March 2025 – Wellington
- Wellington
- 20/03/2025
Autumn Angling Is In Full Swing!
It’s been an exceptional fishing season in the lower North Island.
As well as settled weekend weather, we’ve had one of the best cicada seasons in years, making for spectacular dry fly action.
Despite the hot summer, we’ve had just enough freshes to keep river levels topped up and the water temperature down.
Our drift dive programme is now completed – as well as revealing excellent trout numbers throughout the Wellington Fish & Game region, the fish are in superb condition.
Image above: Blake Murray with a stonking lower North Island brown caught last week.
Photos of recent catches certainly attest to this! If you’d like the latest information on what’s been happening in the region and to see some of the stunning fish being caught, please sign up for our weekly fishing – the Lower North Lowdown – by the office.
The weather is starting to cool as we head towards the tail end of the season, but the fishing is heating up as trout now start to congregate in and around spawning streams in numbers.
Get amongst it!
