|
Some pretty impressive catch rates have been reported by anglers jigging on Lake Rotoiti over the past week or so. Fish seem to be moving around quite a bit so visiting areas where you have jigged the day or even week before is well worth while. With significant numbers of juvenile smelt appearing in the Ohau Channel, prospects for catching trout at that end of the lake look great over the next week or so but check out Vercoe’s and the cliffs down at the Hinehopu end of the lake as well.
Even though there has been a fair amount of discoloured water pouring through the Ohau Channel at times, due to strong westerly winds catch rates have been reasonably high, particularly during the evening and late afternoon for those using small smelt patterns or nymphs. The high lake water temperature doesn’t seem to be deterring trout from entering the channel in search of smelt, though most of the rainbows being caught seem to be around the one kilo mark. Fish larger than that are starting to put on condition and will be well worth targeting over the next few weeks, especially outside the channel entrance.
With the high water level of Lake Rotorua continuing to be a challenge, especially when waves of half a metre or larger are breaking close to shore. Hopefully the level of the lake will drop over the next few days, allowing anglers easier access to where the fish are holding. Smelt are hanging around Hamurana Stream mouth in large numbers and though rainbows are feeding on them, smelt patterns don’t seem to be working quite as well as some of the nymphs are. A woolly bugger, stripped quickly has accounted for more fish than almost any wet fly but it is the exception at the moment. Size 10, 12 or 14 tan coloured nymphs, especially when tied with a small black head seem to be the more favoured fly but almost any other nymph will take fish if presented the right way. A tungsten bead nymph tied on first and an un-weighted nymph trailing will encourage rainbows to take more than a passing interest in the combination. One of the things that I do is to cast across the wind or current line, where the lake water meets the spring water, and allow the nymphs to drift. A small twitch of the line every now and then lifts the fly combination up off the bottom briefly in a life like manner. The use of an intermediate line will allow you to reduce the weight of the leading nymph and will also reduce the bow in the line when fishing across a current. In either case a short, sharp sideways strike is far better than a vertical strike, when you feel more tension than normal com on the line, as the line stays on or in the water and has the full value of the tension caused by both the fish and the water. Brown trout seem to be conspicuous by their absence around Hamurana.
The lower Ngongotaha is still discoloured so there must have been a sizeable slip somewhere between the village and above the Agrodome. Browns are still moving through as are rainbows so the use of large black marabous should take fish after dark.
The lower Waiteti is also carrying a fair bit of sediment, the upper reaches are clear as a bell. In the upper section both browns and rainbows are in abundance but are easily spooked. There has been some significant erosion of the bank in certain areas up there as well so be aware that there may well be some under-cut banks close to the edge.
The Utuhina is also carrying colour in the lower reaches but it is also holding brown and rainbow trout. The area below the Lake Road Bridge is probably not the best place to fish at the moment as the Lake Road widening project gets well underway. The pool below the bridge is not likely to be easily accessible for some months with the new bridge being built.
Jan 26 2012 |
0 comments
|
So much for our long hot summer, though at least the air temperature has been summer like even with the heavy rain and gale force winds during the early part of the week. Thankfully Lake Rotorua’s water temperature continued to rise to the point where fish have started moving into Hamurana, Awahou and Waiteti streams in reasonable numbers. Unfortunately the very high lake level is restricting access to only a small part of Hamurana and the wind is beating up anglers as much as they are trying to beat up the water in search of fish. Overall the condition factor of rainbows being caught at all of the above mentioned spots leaves a lot to be desired with only around two fish in ten being worth keeping and even then they are marginal. Size 12 killwell number one, or any of the grey ghost variations have caught reasonable numbers of fish as have tan coloured nymph drifted along the lake bottom, during the earlier part of the week. I have found that casting across the wind and allowing my flies to drift in the current, with just enough of a retrieve to keep my flies just off the bottom has worked best. For those who have access to a small boat there is some good fishing to be had further out in the lake but before you get to the drop off into deeper water at Hamurana. With the almost constant easterlies boats fishing at any of the streams from the Awahou through to the Ngongotaha has been a major challenge due to large waves in the shallows and heavily discoloured water. One angler who anchored his boat out off the Hamurana mouth seemed to better than anypone else. A fast stripped woolly bugger was snapped up on a fairly regular basis while everyone else struggled to catch fish. It seems that the bulk of the fish are further out in the lake than shore based anglers can reach. The lake temperature is at the point where fish should be moving in, but with the high water level getting out to them is the challenge.
The start of the week saw high catch rates at the Waiteti Stream even though the lake was brown from silt and the wind was pumping in. Both nymphing and wet fly fishing was successful during the middle of the afternoon but tapered off by early evening. The stream was barely fishable where it entered the mouth but up at Hamson Drive it was a lot clearer.
A good run of juvenile smelt came through the Ohau Channel the last couple of weeks and have spread around the lake. There are plenty of rainbows up to the one kilo mark feeding inside and outside the channel but most are very selective as far as your fly is concerned. Larger rainbows are there but they have a lot of condition to regain before they are worth eating.
Jigging on Lake Rotoiti, when the wind allows, has been productive for some. The island, Hauparu drop off, Westbank and occasionally at Vercoe’s have all produced great conditioned fish up to four kilos at times. Shore based angling has been challenging at the lake level has been consistently higher than normal for weeks. The Waiiti mouth and Emery’s Reef usually fish fairly well at this time of the year but without the consistent blue skies and high air temperatures the fish are content to stay out in thedepths of the lake.
Lake Tarawera has also continued to produce good quality fish to those jigging during the middle of the day and when conditions allow. Such has been the level of rain over the past few weeks that even having the Tarawera River outlet available the lake remains stubbornly high. Getting close enough to fish the drop off at Rangiuru Bay or the Orchard is next to impossible.
Jan 16 2012 |
0 comments
|
|
