It has been a great week for fishing out in the Taupo district and a good kick start to the school holidays with both the lake and rivers producing consistent catches.

Harling has been very good out on the lake with the Five mile bay and Waitahanui Bay areas producing good quality fish. Any time of day has been great as the water temperature is considerably cold at this time of year. Top flies have been the Green Orbit and Yellow Lady in size #2 as well as the Fluoro Orange Cobra when the conditions have been overcast.

Deeper methods such as trolling and jigging have been a little slow over the past couple of weeks as the fish tend to be more spread out due to the cold water so it pays to move around more instead of keeping to one area.

A little tougher out on the rivers this week due to a lack of rain with the water being clear and the fish becoming a bit more selective. In the Tongariro anglers have had to adopt summer fishing techniques again by using lighter, longer leaders and smaller flies in the #14 to #16 range as the water clarity has improved. Flies such as green caddis and Quasimodo Pheasant tail used in conjunction with a heavy tungsten bead bomb have been doing the damage. Still, good reports of large browns have been coming through although they have been a little skinny at this time of year due to the rigors of spawning. It is a good idea to release these fish as they are not the best eating and will likely become an absolute monster for a lucky individual next season.
The Hinemaiaia River has slowed up a little however a small run of fresh rainbows at the beginning of the week provided great sport for those anglers that stuck around in the afternoon. The Tauranga-Taupo River has been patchy to say the least with the wet liners having the best sport. Small olive Woolly buggers around sizes #8 to #10 on a fast sinking line are doing the trick. Often when the fishing is quiet it is best to try out the wet line to induce a strike. Consequently anglers will often entice the “local thug” with a well presented wet fly, as these fish tend to be rather territorial.

River mouth fishing has improved this week with the “Picket fence” getting some steady results particularly at the change of light around dusk. A fast sinking line with a Heave and Leave or Booby pattern should bring you some success.

Remember it is now the school holidays and the rivers will be busy so be patient and take care out there. Good luck and happy fishing.

James Clarke
Fly and Gun Taupo

Another good week out there on our local rivers this week, plenty of rain and showers to keep the river levels topped up and the fish running. The Tongariro has probably been the big draw as you would expect at this time of year and it has not disappointed most anglers, some very good Browns continue to get caught most weeks along with some very good conditioned fat Rainbows. Wetlining has probably been one of the more successful methods over the last few days especially with the rivers continued fluctuating levels. Small Olive or Brown in 10# and 8# Woolly Buggers with the clearing water and up to size 6# and 4# Black, Purple or Brown Wooll'ys and Coneheads in the dirtier water.

The Waitahanui has been quite inconsistent over the last few days with very varied reports of fish numbers throughout the length. Pretty much a case of the right timing and getting to know one river well is the answer for most visitors that try there hand on this local stream.

The Hinemaia has been going very well for most, all though the word is out now regarding the new winter limit and it is getting very busy down there at the moment. Reports of some good Jacks still being caught on a regular basis on the Hine especially to naturals such as Green and White Caddis, Flashback,Hare and Copper and the Prince Nymph .When the water is running clear naturals are the way to go, once again Caddis and small Flashbacks are the top flies.

The T.T has had a good week with some reports coming in of some good little pulses of hard fighting 2-3lb Rainbows, mainly to small Champagne and Unreal Eggs. Weather is looking quite unsettled again so we can safely expect much of the same showers and rain.

The river mouths have had a varied week with a full moon to contend with but on the cloudier nights Hatepe has been going quite well to small Black and Olive Boobies.

Lake fishing is still good , with more S/Westerlies due you don't need to go much further than Jerusalem Point and Acacia Bay for some good Trolling. Once again varying the depth at this time of year is the key, anything from 20-40 meters is working. Top lures are King Cobra in Spotty Gold, Baby Brown Kiwi's and Black Toby .

Until next week tight lines everyone

Gary Lyttle
Fly and Gun

More of a steady week with the fly fishing, the rain has been fairly consistent through most of the last few days and river levels have stayed quite high throughout. Just as the levels recede we get another downpour , this has made fishing a little difficult with dirty water and restricted wading.

Despite this some very good fishing has been reported from the Tongariro and the Hinemaia rivers, Once again the wetliners have been catching some very good Rainbows and Browns during those dirtier water conditions using Big Black Woolly's and Black Rabbits. The Glo Bugs are now definitely on the menu and once the water settles and recedes the bombs and eggs have been catching good numbers of fish. The Hine has also been throwing up some very good sized Jacks again this week with lots of tales of the ones that got away amongst the many snags down the lower reaches. It does pay to beef up the gear a bit on this river as you do need to get control of these larger fish quickly or it's all over too quickly, five pound tippet does not cut the mustard on this river at the moment !! Once the water clears the naturals are still very much on the menu, top nymphs this week are the Hare and Copper,Various Pheasant Tail Flashbacks, Prince Nymph, Green and White Caddis and also the Dobson Fly Larvae or ( toe biter ) nymph has been found in stomach contents in both rivers discussed today.

Forecast for the weekend is very mixed weather with some showers so difficult to predict the fishing conditions, but if we don't get too much rain then it should all be good with most rivers, perhaps even the T.T will fire for us, you don't know till your out there to try .

Good steady fishing out on the lake this week , once again inclement weather making it difficult to get very much further than the Bay, despite this Acaia Bay, Jerusalem and the lake front have been producing some very good conditioned fish for the trollers mostly very deep at 35 mters but the occasional flurry much shallower at 20 mtres so it pays to chop and change to get it right. Top lures have been the King Cobra in Spotty Gold, Fluo Orange and Green and the Black Toby . If the winds abate then try to get to Waitahanui , White Cliffs and Rotagnaia Point this weekend.

Tight Lines till next week
Gary Lyttle
FLY AND GUN

Queens Birthday weekend turned out to be pretty much a fly fishing bonanza for those that braved the elements. Most of the local rivers fired as the levels settled after the rain, and on Sunday boy did the fish run! The Tongariro produced some stunning rainbows up to 8lbs reported and photographed, lots of good sized silver bullets around the 4-5lb mark.

Wetliners had the most fun with the dirtier water using Black Woolly's, Black Rabbits, Purple and Brown Coneheads on DI3 and DI5 lines. As the water cleared the Eggs and bombs started doing the damage and a steady stream of happy anglers could be seen in the various car parks carrying some very nice looking trout home for the smoker.

Closer to home by Sunday afternoon the Hinemaiaia was very fishable and reports of people catching seven or eight fish from the same pool were common, some very good jacks were caught up towards the new winter limit on Green Copper John size 12# and P.T.N Flashbacks 10# and 12#. L ower down the river the Glo Bugs were the go with some very nice fish coming from below the bridge.

The Waitahanui also fired and had some very impressive runs from the lower to the middle pools. It did not seem to matter whether you were wetlining or nymphing both styles worked with a variety of different flies.

More rain forecast this week to keep the runs going, there should be less people around this week and hopefully the Tauranga-Taupo will clear and allow us to get amongst some of those bullets that run it at this time of year. The wind has now changed so hopefully the river mouths will be very fishable and with the recent westerlies there should be some good numbers of fish lined up at the entrances. Try sinking lines and Black and Lumo Boobies on dark.

The boats have enjoyed some good fishing out on the lake this week although the weather has limited the fishing to local areas , the lake front itself and the South side of Jerusalem Bay have been producing some good fishing to the trollers. Top lures have been the King Cobra Spotty Gold and Traffic Light .
Tight Lines till next week

Still some very good fishing out on the lake this last week despite some inclement weather. Harling has been the way, early in the mornings especially around the river mouth areas as fish are starting to gather to spawn up river at this time of year, top spots have been Waitahanui, Hatepe, and Whakaipo. The Hormatangi Reef has also been fishing well for the Harlers, once again it's the flies over the lures this week with the top patterns being the Taupo Tiger, Yellow Lady and Parsons Glory.

The lake front itself has once again been fishing well for the downriggers at depths between 20 metres and 35 metres. Most lures containing Orange and Black have been going well, the Traffic Light and Smaller Black Toby have also been effective. Still some very good sport jigging this week. South side of Mine Bay and Whakaipo have been going really. The Reef for those that don't mind the journey has been showing up some better quality fish.

The fly fishing is set to get another boost this week as the rain arrived again on Monday, most rivers were fishable the day after and have responded very well for the flyfishers. The Tauranga-Taupo was the one to be on as the levels receded a good solid run of silver bars went through mid week and both the wetliners and nymphers did well.

The Tongaririo went back to a normal flow very quickly and was clear by Tuesday morning , Naturals still seem to be the best way on most rivers still with just a few anglers doing well on small eggs the small size 16# Orange Flashtail has probably been the best of the eggs. Top nymphs have been the Batman, Hare and Copper, Prince Nymph and Green and White Caddis in sizes from 12# down to 16#.
For the Wetliners this week top patterns to try would be the Olive and Black Woolies, Red and Black Rabbits and Purple, Black or Brown Coneheads in the smaller sizes from 10# to 8#.

More rain is forecast for Friday so dependent on how much, the prospects for the weekend are looking good .