Rotorua Fly Fishing Report - 24th May 2012
Early morning fishing has provided some great results for anglers fishing the Te Wairoa Stream mouth over the past few days. Great conditioned rainbows of a reasonable size have been caught using a sinking line and lumo fly before daylight and an orange rabbit during the day. Most of the fish have been picked up in the middle of the current created as the stream enters the lake. During the day fish can be seen smelting out in the bay, some within casting range, taking smelt that are quite dark in appearance. Smelting fish can also be seen off Rangiuru Bay, though only a few are in close enough to cast to with any expectation of success. The heave and leave method has been successful of the jetties that dot the lake shore, though quite a bit of patience is required for this method at times.
A lot of fish are still moving over the weed bed around edge of Lake Okareka, with the occasional fish breaking the surface during the day. The smelt in this lake are also reasonably dark in colour as well. Some of these fish are moving in closer to the shore after dark, providing opportunities for anglers who are able to brave the very cold nights. Trolling seems to be fairly successful at the outlet end of this lake as well.
Rainbows are moving into the stream mouths at Ruato Bay still, though not in any great number and mostly after dark. Some of these fish are over being in prime condition and tend to go quite dark in colour once they have been killed, still reasonable eating but not as nice as a fresh run fish. A few fish have made an appearance at the dump and the occasional fish has been taken off the jetty near the Pipe late in the afternoon and early morning. Heave and leave fishing from the shore, anywhere between the Pipe and the jetty can be rewarding during the day as fish cruise over the weed bed.
Lake Okataina has produced fish over five kilos with fish being caught from the jetty and the shore early in the morning using white booby flies or casting and retrieving a woolly bugger during the day. Boat fishing has been patchy but if you get onto the fish they are in awesome condition.
Anglers fishing the upper Ngongotaha Stream have been pleasantly surprised by the number and size of brown trout seen there. A reasonable number of rainbows are it there as well and tend to be caught first. Fishing the deeper pools and runs on dusk and after dark is the better option for catching brown trout.
A few reasonable fish have been caught out the front of the Ohau Channel, especially when there is a strong south west wind blowing. It seems that when the wind churns up the bottom, this releases a lot of food into the system, encouraging smelt, brown and rainbow trout to feed. Early morning fishing has been very successful with larger trout than usual being caught from the true left bank. Since the wind has died down significantly the water flowing through the channel is so clear it is possible to spot spawning fish on the far bank.
Both above and below the control gates has reasonable numbers of rainbows at the moment. Many are in full spawning mode and are overly interested in feeding. They can be made to strike at a fly if it is stripped past their nose. Patience is required when targeting these fish. Some of the fish there are over-ripe and have a slight grey sheen to them. These fish are not the best eating fish though they do smoke up ok.
The pool at the end of Trout Pools Road has also fished well with the discoloured water from Lake Rotorua. Since the wind has eased the water quality has improved amking fishing a little more challenging. Some very large fish have been seen there at times and there are spawning fish over the gravel bed at the end of main pool. At times trout can also be seen trying to jump up the first waterfall upstream of the main fishing pool.
Lake Rerewhakaaitu continues to produce great conditioned fish and even though the lake is still extremely high anglers have been able to get some shoreline fishing in. Those with boats have done better as they can access more of the lake.
Fish are still coming into the boat ramp at Lake Ngapouri. The strong winds of late have made it almost impossible to fly fish so pick your time to fish there if you can. Veltic spinners also work well for those who don’t fly fish.
The stream entering Lake Rotoma through at the western side of the lake has had large numbers of fish moving into it. With the height of the water in this lake it is a challenge to get anywhere near the outlet but it is worthwhile if you can, particularly after dark. Other stream mouths entering this lake are also holding fish, most of which are only accessible by boat.