|
I took the opportunity to spend the weekend fishing on Lake Rotoma last weekend as the Tiger Hunt Fishing Competition was being held. The two day competition was well run and a lot of impressive rainbow trout were caught by many of the 62 anglers who entered the competition. There were a few spent or recovering rainbows as one would expect at this time of the year but unfortunately, due to mechanical problems, we weren’t out on the lake long enough to catch anything. Also unfortunately, no tiger trout were caught but there are a few still in the lake, even though there hasn’t been any liberations of that hybrid species for five years or so as three had been caught over the previous three weeks or so. Thankfully that is about to change over this summer as between 200 and 500 are to be released into the lake. Some interesting things came out of talking with anglers who managed to fish both days. One was that there were a lot of fish caught at the 42 metre mark, in 72 metres of water by jigging. Few fish were caught jigging around the usual spots such as drop-offs and pinnacles. Another interesting fact was that a large number of fish were seen over the shallow areas where the drop-off was no more than three or four metres from the vertical cliffs that have an imposing presence around the lake edge. They were very wary and bolted before we could get a cast to them. While only one fish was caught from the shore that I know of, that doesn’t mean that fishing from the shore is a waste of time. It means that there were few anglers fishing from there over the weekend.
The strong wind and heavy rain on Sunday put a dampener on fishing for most anglers so few anglers were seen out and about at other lakes. Tributary streams of Lake Rotorua did get a bit of a thrashing both days of the weekend, with Sunday being the more productive day. Being on the water at 5am seemed to be a far more effective time than during the day, especially on the Saturday which was fine and clear as well. Trolling on the lake was a very pleasant experience for all and fish were being caught along the drop-off outside the Ohau Channel, off the airport as well as North of Kawaha Point.
Shore based fishing was generally hard on Saturday with the calm, clear conditions around many of the lakes but those fishing early in the morning were rewarded with fish from Lakes Okareka and Rerewhakaaitu. Casting an olive woolly bugger along the reed beds seems to work well, especially when they are at either end of a bay such as the one at School Arm, Lake Rerewhakaitu. A floating or slow sinking line is very useful when fishing a reed bed, the latter line more so if there is a lot of cross wind.
Sep 13 2011 |
0 comments
|
The little bit of rain that we had since my last column did help bring fresh fish into the streams but unfortunately the run was short lived. With the tributary streams of Lake Rotorua being very clear considering the time of the year, most of the fish holding in them are somewhat spooky and a challenge to get into position to cast to. On the plus side there has been a two degree increase in the surface water temperature of Lake Rotorua and slightly less for Lakes Rotoiti and Tarawera. What this could mean is that should the current weather conditions continue there could be an early start to the summer fishing. At the moment there has been a lot more insect life buzzing around the various lakes and rivers than I would expect for time of the year. Both bees and wasps have been busy collecting food on the warm sunny days of late but have also been succumbing to the colder air over the lakes in the region, a ready food supply for recovering trout. The casting of a yellow humpy fly to any trout rising in the more sheltered bays of the lakes could provide some great sport. The clear sky and general lack of wind has allowed the sun’s rays to penetrate deep into the lakes and has been particularly helpful when the rays hit the weed beds. Insects such as dragonfly and damsel nymphs are sure to be stimulated enough by the heat to start feeding in readiness to hatch and because of this they become more easily available to trout.
Trolling and harling from Kawaha Point through to the Waiteti Stream mouth has been fairly productive, especially for brown trout. For some reason these fish seem to congregate around the Kawaha Point area at this time of the year. A slightly lower trolling speed than normal helps in the capture of brown trout.
Trolling off the Ohau Channel entrance has been popular over the past week or two with the more settled weather. Fish caught from this area, the quality and quantity are unknown. Fly fishing outside the closed area has been quite good, especially early morning with a mix of larger, good conditioned fish and those still recovering. As fresh smelt have been feeding both in the channel as well as outside, grey ghost flies have fished well as have olive rabbits or woolly buggers.
Thankfully the lakes that have an outlet have reduced in height somewhat, making it easier to access some areas. That hasn’t made the catch rates any better during the day but after dark there have been a few fish passing by. Even Lake Tikitapu has had a reduction in volume of water over the past week, though it is by no means easy to fish from the shore at most of the access points. Trolling or harling is probably the more productive method on this lake at the moment. Though on calmer days, jigging is worth trying.
Lake Okareka has also dropped in height, however that has meant that the weed bed is closer to the surface and what few fish have been cruising over the bed have been moving fairly quickly and over long distances in their hunt for food. The more productive fishing method is probably harling or trolling at the Lake Tarawera end of this lake. Try a zebra turbo or green lightning bolt as a starter and couple these with a green woolly bugger or size 6 grey ghost. Change the rig every 30 minutes if nothing is happening.
The occasional fish has been caught off the landing and at Rangiuru Bay. While the winter fishing has been a little disappointing, there is always hope for a great summer of fishing at Rangiuru Bay. Still-water nymphing, keeping the fly close into the outside of the weed bed can be very productive from now on. Thankfully this lake has an outlet so the water level is not too high to wade for too long. White boobies are still successful off the many jetties that dot this lake and can be particularly successful when used around Stony Point.
Sep 09 2011 |
0 comments
|
The extended dry period, while very welcome, has slowed down the amount of fish returning to the tributary streams of Lake Rotorua. While there have been good numbers of fish in parts of the streams open to fishing, a lot of the fish have been spent and are in very poor condition. The lower areas of the streams are also very clear for this time of the year, making fishing somewhat challenging as those fish in the streams can not only see the angler but also the trace that connects flies to the fly line. Spinning has been a little more successful over the past few days, with veltics and five to seven gram spinners being more suited to the conditions. With the promised rain appearing, although briefly, there has been some movement of good conditioned fish in the streams and a lot of the spent fish have moved back into the lake. The part of the stream that can be accessed from Streamdale Road is worth fishing after dark.
Fish have been taken from outside the closed area at the Ohau Channel over the past week. While most have been in the one to one and a half kilo range there have been a few larger specimens caught. Most of the fish seem to be further out into the lake than most anglers can reach.
The Kaituna River, below the control gates has been very slow as far as fishing is concerned for a while now. There have been some spawning fish in the area above the control gates but they don’t seem to be moving through the control structure and into the area open to fishing.
A few very sad looking rainbows have been spotted in the streams at Ruato Bay as well as in the lake so one could presume that there are still fish coming into spawn, though perhaps not in any great number. The area along the dump was too murky due to wave action to see if any fish were still spawning but one could presume that there may be a few still there. Early mornings have been clam so might be a better time to fish this area. Any increase in water coming out of the Pipe may stimulate one or two late spawning fish so could be worth a visit. Keep an eye out for smelting/fry bashing rainbows off Ruato Bay beach during the day. Anytime from around 9 am, especially when the sun is on the water, can provide some great action through to the end of next month.
Lake Rotoehu was also a little too murky on the windward side for spin fishing over the weekend and the boats that were harling along the shore didn’t seem to doing all that well. The lake is still quite cool but a few more days of fine weather should help the water temperature to move upwards.
Several tiger trout have been caught in Lake Rotoma over the past few weeks and hopefully The Tiger Hunt, a fishing competition, to be held on the weekend of 10 and 11 September should see many more of these amazing and very good eating fish being caught. Spawning is still happening along various parts of the shoreline as well as in the streams entering this lake, but unfortunately the easiest stream mouth to get to can’t be reached due to the high lake level. Reports in suggest that there are some very large fish holding off the mouth after dark.
One or two nice rainbows have been caught off Boyes Beach at times over the past week. Lake Okareka produces very good conditioned fish of a reasonable size though it is somewhat under fished by anglers, other than the locals. Trolling, harling and jigging are just three of the successful methods of catching fish in this lake at almost any time of the year and anglers can catch rainbows from the shore by fly or spin fishing. Extended fine periods can bring fish over the weed bed as they hunt for insect lavae that come to the top of the weed bed due to the extra warmth.
Sep 06 2011 |
0 comments
|
|
