IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1/10/2014

Trout on menu as hardy holidaymakers fish the new season

Wind….what wind? Hundreds of keen anglers have braved a biting southerly to fish the Rotorua lakes on the first day of the new season (Wednesday Oct 1, 2014)

On popular lake Tarawera alone, there was around 150 boats on the water – including many families enjoying the school holidays. Some hardy anglers anchored overnight to be first on the water for the 5am start.

Fish & Game officers say it was a very encouraging start to the season with fish up to 2.7kg weighed in, in excellent condition, over the morning.

Local fishing guide and New Zealand Fish & Game Council Chairman Lindsay Lyons took media out on the water at first light.

He says there were all sorts of fishers on the water, from full families to father and son teams.

Mr Lyons says that the relatively sheltered ‘white cliffs’ area fish well with anglers using shallow trolling or jigging methods.

He says the new season is “looking good” noting that almost every boat appeared to have fish on board, “ which is not always the case.”

Fish & Game officers say that as expected, the result of new methods for releasing fish into the lakes, they had weighed fish in a wider variety of sizes.

Fish are now released in smaller batches monthly rather than in a handful of larger batches to ensure a better survival rate. The new approach should result in better catch rates.

Fish & Game Officer Matt Osborne says the morning’s catch had been “very encouraging” with the fish in good condition, but the results of their angler surveys continuing into this evening will have to be analysed before they have an accurate picture of the day.

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