A huge brown trout has been attracting lots of attention from tourists and fishos over the last couple of days. Anglers estimate the weight at over 10 pounds but the long length would suggest even more?. It has been hovering just below the road bridge against the bridge support where it is difficult to drift a fly down to it, despite ‘spotters’ guiding anglers from the bridge. Various attempts by TRM inmates and others (Hi Adam) have failed so far… All very exciting entertainment. This bring us back to the BIG trout discussion –TRM commented: 106cm of pure ridiculous? The irony is this is also a “Wild Fishery” of genetically identical rainbows to Taupo.
Size is directly related to food and there is not enough food in Lake Taupo for trout to grow to grow to anywhere near their potential. TRM agree… Others do not.
Hi Ross
The irony is that this is also a “Wild Fishery” of genetically identical rainbows to Taupo. The most urgent thing doc must do at Taupo is to keep the numbers of trout in balance with the available food in the lake from one year to the next. It is not good enough to do hand wringing and brattle on about “Wild Fishery” and then do nothing. A couple of months ago I was talking to the Eastern F&G scientist and mentioned why DOC should investigate supplementary food sources that don’t compete with smelt and he too wondered why DOC had not done that already.
http://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/possibly-the-longest-trout-ever-landed_topic118121.html
The irony is that this is also a “Wild Fishery” of genetically identical rainbows to Taupo. Size is directly related to food and there is not enough food in Lake Taupo for trout to grow to grow to anywhere near their potential. The most urgent management intervention DOC must do at Taupo is to keep the numbers of trout in balance with the available food in the lake from one year to the next”. This is particularly important in this food poor lake that frequently suffers from an imbalance between trout and smelt and this is practically the only management intervention available to DOC.
Cheers
Herb
Thanks Herb. For many years TRM have promoted a massive whitebait farm on the delta to fix the problem in the food chain – to supplement the trout primary food source. Surplus white bait could be sold to cover the costs. Government have spent $80 Million trying to keep the lake 100% pure to fit their promotional image and put nothing back to replace the starving smelt to support a $30Million p.a. trout fishing industry…
Just imagine the effects on Turangi tourism if they put their efforts into growing trophy trout like that above… It isn’t that hard – they only need feeding.
Facebook comments follow with three historic photos on right from when there was more smelt/whitebait/koaro in Lake Taupo.
Shane French na mate sorry I don’t believe it to be a food thing, in our system. A fish like the one in this picture is top predator, nothing accept humans are going to hurt that bad boy. This fish will take anything it wants including baby ducks, mice and anything else it sees. The babies it helps to fertilize will be huge. Ross Baker have you seen the amount of fresh water crays in the lake…… That is some of the best food out there and when our trout get big enough they will chow down on them but that takes years for them to be able to do this and they just don’t have the start they need. Our big fish population has been decimated and now we are just breeding small little things that will come back into the system as FAT HEALTHY SMALL FISH and breed more SMALL FISH. We don’t have a food source problem, move away from that mate, your barking up the wrong tree. I had continuous reports all year of HUGE masses of smelt from two mile bay over to Western Bays. If all the trout were skinny like they were 7 years ago then yes you could say the food is not there but I am catching trout that are almost as fat as they are long 🙁 . Sorry Boss I don’t agree with you at all.
Ross Baker The scientists claim that size is directly related to food. I mean – look at SWMBO… Case closed.
Russell Nelson Sorry Shane – disagree with you – the size of the individual smelt and the massed schools that clearly show on good quality sounders are very much more evident in Rotoiti as an example rather than what I have seen on same sounder in lake Taupo particularly this year. Very encouraging fish photos lately from taupo fishery but those good conditioned fish are the norm in Rotoiti.
Shane French Russell Nelson Hey bud. yes chalk and cheese the two fishers are. Yours has so much Nitrogen in it that the Smelt have an over abundance of Zooplankton and therefore grow huge. I have been told at times they attack the Jigs!! lake Taupo on the other ha…See More
Ross Baker Shane French This is interesting stuff. So what is the answer? Should Taupo have an upper limit like the Rangitikei – perhaps anything over x length or x weight should be carefully returned?
Didymo Dave Shane French is spot on in his comments about smelt. It is my belief from chatting to fishery scientists that Taupo smelt are bordering on starvation and breed once, possibly twice per year. Rotorua/Rotoiti smelt are bigger and can spawn several times. But here is the choice we have – water quality or big smelt?
Shane French Ross Baker Yeah Ross I can see that this is the only way out of the situation until DOC get the boot and F and G take over. But DOC don’t have the balls to do this.
Russell Nelson Hows this for an idea? Reduce min size to 35MM – max size 60 (or 55?). Anthing over or under must be released ? However increase daily limit from 3 to 7.
Russell Nelson I cant see much change in average size happening very quickly – Taupo has always gone in cycles re Fish Size – may be a natural blip. Is the water too good a quality for significant algae /plankton production – needed for smelt food? Taupo relies on lake “mixing” over the winter to get nutrients / plant food production starting. This is probably very much climate related too.