Rotorua Fly Fishing Report - 12th May 2010

Two German tourists fished the small delta at Lake Okaro during the middle of last week and were more than pleasantly surprised with the number of fish that they caught. It seems that there were quite a few fish stacked up in the deeper water just off the edge. The fish were around the 1.5 to 2.5kg mark. If the promised rain finally arrives catch rates will improve dramatically and as the spawning season comes into full-swing over the next month or two we should start seeing even bigger fish coming in close to the shore.
A couple of local anglers dropped into Ngapouri Lake on Sunday and had a ball, fly fishing off the boat ramp, with some feisty rainbows. Again, the fish weren’t overly large but they were hard fighting fish. For the next few weeks it would not be advisable to head out to this lake for a fish as it is Duck Hunting season.
Lake Rerewhakaaitu is staring to produce more fish and some have been around the 3kg mark. Trolling has been a little challenging but worthwhile and shore based fishing has been much improved over the past week. Sinking lines with a booby attached or size 10 or 12 grey ghost or olive woolly buggers on a floating line seem to be what the fish like. A good ripple on the water makes for a higher catch rate than having the lake like a mill-pond though.
A few fish are coming into Tarawera Landing and with the moon almost new catch rates should improve for all. Casting a booby fly out off the long jetty or an intermediate sinking line and a woolly bugger along the outer edge of the weed bed has taken fish also. A few nice fish have been taken from the angle jetty as well. A floating line is best here as it is quite shallow. Te Wairoa is also producing a few nice fish on occasion. Doll flies after dark, on a floating or slow sinking line has taken fish. The lake bed off Stony Point is looking great at the moment. There is a large area where there isn’t much weed and this should allow large numbers of fish to congregate off the boat ramp after dark.
Ruato Bay is still plagued by weed, though the fish are still coming in. A delicate presentation of the fly on the water, a trace around 1.2 metres long and floating line should work well. The left hand end of the bay is relatively free of weed, making long distance casting, if required, easily attainable.
Lake Okataina continues to impress with large, good conditioned fish from the shore. Fishing after dark is best, from the two orange buoys half way down the right-hand end of the beach, right through to Rocky Point. There are signs of spawning happening at various places in between so long distance casting is not required. Rainbows are being caught from the shore and off a boat at the Log Pool Stream as well.
Nymphing, downstream of the weir and from the true left bank of the Ohau Channel, saw a couple of anglers do particularly well. Last Saturday one angler landed 40 fish in almost consecutive casts. The fish ranged between 1.5 and 2.5 kg and on Sunday, another angler fishing the same place with the same set-up landed 5 good fish. It seems that fish are holding in the back-wash which means that they are facing down the channel. Casting a sinking line and smelt patterns seems not to be as effective as nymphing as the fly is coming upstream from behind the fish. The leader length used is about 3.5 metres in length and the weighted nymph is quite heavy, making casting challenging in any kind of wind.

by Bert Robinson