Eastern Fishing News: Dec 11

Rotorua lakes report
On the Rotorua lakes it was Tarawera that fired best from October and although it has been patchy in the last few weeks good fish are still coming from the very early morning and late evening shallow trolling.

Water temperatures in Tarawera are still cool and this has been holding the deeper fishing methods like jigging and downriggers off for a bit but these methods shouldn't be too far away from starting to produce higher catch rates.

Lake Rotoiti threw some mixed results at Opening Day with some excellent two-and-a-half and three year old fish but the two year olds were noted to be below average size.

This means anglers fishing over the next few months should still see some great fish but as the summer progresses and the younger fish start to dominate the catch there may be an impression that fish are getting smaller.

Hopefully the good spring that we have had will allow these two year olds to catch up a bit in the next few months.

The jigging and deeper trolling methods are starting to fire on Rotoiti, a bit earlier than Tarawera as the lake is warmer, so there should be some fun fishing out there over the Christmas to mid-January period.

Lake Okataina had slightly smaller fish than last year on October 1 and catch rates for this lake have been about average.  With our summer surveys now underway we have noted the angling pressure has been quieter than normal on Okataina and the boat ramp has probably been a major factor in people not trying this lake much.

With less pressure there should be some good fishing over the next few months.  Unfortunately the lake level is just at the right (wrong!) height to make the ramp difficult to use so if you have a higher vehicle and a small to midsized boat then you can get out when bigger boats and lower cars are having trouble.

If you have trouble launching your boat on Okataina and are not happy about it please do ring the Rotorua District Council and lodge your complaint in support of ours.

Lake Rotorua has been producing some great brown trout over the last few weeks with shallow trolling off the northern end of the island producing more fish than have been seen for several years. As this shallow lake warms keep an eye out for the stream mouth angling coming on at the Awahou, Waiteti and Hamurana.

The Awahou mouth is fly-fishing only but some good family fun with spinning rods can produce results from the shore at the Hamurana mouth any time of the day.

Lake Rotoehu is also fishing well and we have heard some good stories from Rotoma and Rerewhakaaitu so there are options for less crowded lake fishing throughout the district.

Free boat fishing tuition – Tarawera, January 7, 2012
Be a part of our free boat fishing tuition at Lake Tarawera early in the New Year. Improve your success rate with basic boat fishing tips; lean about the thermocline, lure selection and the trout food and lifecycle, plus boning and cooking your catch. Click here for details.

Rotorua streams
The upper Ngongotaha, Waiteti and Utuhina Streams opened December 1and while we know there are some great fish in these streams, the fishing has been pretty hard for the first two weeks.

In the Ngongotaha fish trap we caught between 40-50 browns per night moving upstream in late November with around 10% being over the 4.5kg (10lb) weight.  The numbers are still coming in now with one 90 fish night last week although the average size has dropped slightly to just under 3kg.
 
Lake Waikaremoana
Some of the staff were up at Lake Waikaremoana last week and reported that the lake was at an excellent level for shoreline fishing of cruising trout.

Reports from the trolling anglers have also been good with the rainbow trout improving again on last year and no doubt there will be quite a bit of summer pressure over the next four to eight weeks. The streams around this lake have also opened from December 1 so again there are some interesting places to fish just off the lake shore and if you are heading that way check them out.

Rivers
Many of the rivers around the Eastern region will also be in their prime fishing condition over the next four to six weeks or so.

The early summer insect life will be prolific with this humid weather and the streams will not be too warm yet to force the fish into deeper holes with little interest in feeding.

Make the most of the next period and consider the Ruakituri, Hangaroa, Waioeka, Waimana and Whakatane and the Whirinaki for a look.

Unfortunately we have not been able to get access to the upper Rangitaiki but keep an eye on the weather. If the damp conditions continue over Christmas it is possible the forest may be open in mid-January for a few weekends so check the Timberlands website for details closer to the time.