Smorgasboard Of Choices As Trout Season Opens

Smorgasboard Of Choices As Trout Season Opens

Trout anglers are spoilt for choice from this Monday as the trout fishing season opens around the country.

A weak La Nina weather pattern, replacing last year’s colder El Nino, heralds a mild spring and a fantastic season, welcome news for the thousands of anglers eagerly awaiting the 1 October start to the new trout fishing season. 

Expect to see anglers bringing home fat trout, and turning these into summer treats over the smoker, grill and barbeque.

To highlight the cuisine value of trout Rotorua Fish and Game’s Open Day hosts Kai Time chef Peter Peeti on Sunday September 30th.

Peeti’s talents with wild game and fish are well known to the show’s followers, but expect something extra special from the local Ngati Pikiao boy as he creates mouth watering dishes from local trout plus advises on preparation and care of your catch.

The trout in most, if not all of, Rotorua’s lakes are expected to be at least as big or bigger than at the start of last season.

Further north, despite rivers and streams having a real battering this year, a local eel fisherman tells us he has caught the same Brown in the same location for the last couple of years, and this year he estimates that the trout he releases each season is a good ten pounder!

While in Auckland urbanites don’t even have to leave their city to catch trophy-sized trout as fat browns and rainbows are found on their doorstep at Takapuna’s Lake Pupuke.

A very deep lake formed from a volcanic crater, its water is so clean it is second only in the Auckland region to Lake Otatoa, a near pristine lake in the South Kaipara Heads.

In fact, its amazingly good quality led Fish & Game to release two tanker loads of 500 (2-4lb) rainbow trout into the lake earlier this year.

October and November are the best months to catch big brown trout in the Waikato River, where in its lower reaches a run of large brown trout follow the whitebait – a protein feast before the insect hatches of summer - up the from the river mouth.

The rest of the Waikato’s many rivers are also predicted to be in excellent condition after a warm winter.

Going south Taranaki and Wellington’s rivers and streams are running low and clear with the prospect of a leisurely walk up a favourite stream to catch trout feeding on spring hatching flies.

There is no excuse not to get children out fishing this season with supervised fishing events being held for them up and down the country.

In Taranaki 2-year-old rainbow trout will be released into a netted-off area in New Plymouth’s Lake Rotomanu (8am - 1pm) and Lake Wiritoa in Wanganui (9am - 12pm) on Saturday 6th October. Children can register for these events by calling into Taranaki Hunting & Fishing or Eides Sports.

The South Island has its own particular joys for the new and experienced angler.

On the West Coast spring and early summer trout of all ages can be found frequenting estuarine areas, from fat maiden fish around the kilo mark to strong and feisty sea-runners.

This year September river temperatures have been colder than usual making the West Coast’s rivers bang on for trout fishing by opening day.

In the central South Island Sockye salmon runs are having an exciting resurgence, taking many freshwater fisheries people by surprise.

Their recent runs are adding variety to the three species bag, which many of the area’s lakes provide.

It is now possible for an angler to catch a Brown trout, a Rainbow trout, a Chinook salmon and perhaps even a Sockeye Salmon!

North Otago waters have been pretty short on floods over the last couple of years, but this winter provided them with a real beaut, changing the face of a few pools in the Shag, Waikouaiti and Kakanui rivers.

But rivers aren’t supposed to be static and floods are a natural and necessary occurrence creating new trout runs and pools even better than the ones they replaced.

Traveling as far south as the Invercargill area anglers will be pleased to discover that the biggest flood since 2002 has cleaned didymo from the Oreti Waiau, Aparima and Mararoa as well as most other rivers.

Didymo remains a concern however, and to slow its spread, MAF Biosecurity New Zealand requires all used freshwater fishing equipment brought into New Zealand to be clean and dry.

Detailed cleaning instructions (including specific items such as felt-soled waders) and more information about didymo are on the MAFBNZ website www.biosecurity.govt.nz

For more information contact Fish & Game regional offices via its website: www.fishandgame.org.nz

ENDS

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