Media release from Eastern Fish & Game

Fish & Game Hails Early Start to Trout Spawning Runs

Good news for anglers - trout have begun their spawning runs early in the Rotorua district.

Eastern Fish & Game Officer Mark Sherburn says that it’s an exciting start to the spawning season, with the fish moving upstream earlier than normal.

“When the right conditions come together, it’s like flicking a switch. We might be seeing the results of a cooler summer and lower water temperatures. Runs will continue into May and peak in June or July.

“For anglers, this means getting out to the stream mouths now and not waiting until May or June. The fish congregate at stream mouths to spawn and respond to a decrease in temperature, often triggered by a rain event which increases turbidity. Once this discolouration clears, the fish begin heading upstream”.

Mark Sherburn says that the fish are in top condition at this time of year. “They pack on the goodness by feeding up in the lake before spawning, so they’re at their prime

“The natural instinct is to feed up before spawning then when spawning begins they’ll almost stop feeding. They are naturally hungry and this coincides with good food on hand during autumn, being one of the times that smelt spawn at the lake edges.”

Many of Rotorua’s lakes have small creeks flowing into them which provide suitable spawning beds, but not enough to re-stock the lakes naturally. Lake Rotorua is one of the few lakes with enough rivers and streams flowing into it to provide natural spawning. Streams such as the Ngongotaha, Waiteti and Utuhina and their mouths are open to anglers – but smaller streams are closed, Mr Sherburn says, so that as many trout as possible can spawn. The best winter fishing is at dawn, dusk or after dark – and when the weather’s cold and wet.

Fish & Game has already installed its fish trap in the Te Wairoa Stream at Lake Tarawera, which marks the beginning of the Ngongotaha hatchery’s breeding program. Only the best fish are selected for use in the program with the rest released to spawn naturally in the stream. The hatchery’s aim is to produce young fish for release into the lakes that lack enough natural spawning.

“After just two days of trapping at the beginning of April we had caught 16, the biggest reaching 3.6kg, so it has the potential to be a good season”.

“When spawning is in full swing we can find 10 to 20 fish a day in the Te Wairoa trap. But after a rain event, up to 100 fish can swim up the stream in a day,” Mr Sherburn says.

Brood fish are taken back to the hatchery where they’re held until ”ripe” and ready for eggs to be stripped from the females. “Anglers are also reminded that they can donate big fish to the program, either by dropping them into the front slot of the Te Wairoa trap, or contacting us in advance.”

Fish & Game is reminding anglers that the area of Ruato Bay, Lake Rotoiti, enclosed within the landmarks on the eastern and western ends, and extending 200m offshore, closed to all boat fishing from 1st April.

And while the fishing season for boats on lakes Rotoiti and Tarawera finishes June 30, there are plenty of other areas available for shoreline fishing, and other lakes which remain open.

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