A welcome drop of rain discoloured Lake Taupo feeder streams, bringing fresh fish to the flies of a few anglers. Flies for fishing coloured water have been any egg pattern, while naturals have worked well when the water is clear. A sporadic evening rise is enticing anglers to try their hand atdry fly fishing with good results at times. Being there when fish start rising is worth it. An olive woolly bugger is the fly of choice for wet liners. Jigging seems to be picking up as a fish-catching style. Ginger mick or green orbit flies are working well when jigging, with the hole and the delta being the places to be. Be prepared to change flies on a regular basis in order to find something that works. Bugging and harling are also working well. Lake Aniwhenua has been fishing well with good-sized browns being caught from the shore. Boat or float-tube anglers have done well at the top end of the lake. The Mangamako and Waihua streams should be fishing well this week after the fresh of the weekend. The Horomanga was holding good numbers of fish earlier in the month so should still be worth a visit. Lake Okaro has produced a lot of fish since October 1. Even though this lake is open all year, it gets little pressure. As the water temperature rises, so the algae bloom arrives though I suspect that this won't happen in a big way for a while yet, as the weather is still cool for this time of the year. Likewise Lake Ngapouri has fished well. Shore fishing is difficult for fly fishers but this lake is worth persevering with. Harling on this lake can be spectacularly successful, particularly down at the inlet end at this time of the year. Spin fishing is also very productive. Turbos, zed spinners or bingos work best. Fish are proving elusive at the Ohau Channel. Large harling type flies have worked just on dusk, while ice chenille rabbits have taken fish during the day. The "wall" sees a lot of pressure early and late but is often free of anglers during the day. Contact Bert at bertr@ihug.co.nz
