Lake Pupuke trout release provides ‘quality freshwater fishing’

Fish & Game officers are getting ready to release over 1000 catchable rainbow and brown trout in Lake Pupuke on Auckland’s North Shore, ahead of Lake Pupuke Challenge fishing competition.

Fish & Game will truck the 1000 two year-old rainbows – and 100 two year-old browns – from their Ngongotaha hatchery near Rotorua on Wednesday April 30.

The fish will be released at Sylvan Park around mid-day from Fish & Game’s ‘Live Trout Truck’. Last year’s release took less than 10 minutes but was “quite entertaining” – as hundreds of bewildered trout zoomed up and down the shoreline, recalls Auckland-Waikato fisheries manager Adam Daniel.

Lake Pupuke has been stocked since the 1880’s and provides a rare opportunity to fish for trout in a major urban area. Fish & Game also stock lakes Parkinson and Otamatearoa, both about an hour’s drive south-west form the CBD.

The trout release comes just ahead of the annual fishing contest, the Lake Pupuke Challenge, to be held on the first Sunday in May (4th event is open to any Fish & Game licenceholder.

Licences are available at Hunts Sports in Milford or other fishing stores. No registration is required – show up and fish – your details will be recorded at weigh-in.

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