Lake Rotoma has been given a boost with more than 3500 trout released into its waters.
Fish & Game Eastern Region has just released 1690 stripey tiger trout into the lake, along with 2000 rainbow trout.
Fish & Game Officer Mark Sherburn said they had "reinvigorated" a programme to rear and release the unique tigers and were now releasing a significant number into Lake Rotoma every year.
"We've had success in the past with the programme, but this move is responding to the level of interest we're seeing from anglers," Mr Sherburn said.
A typical comment from anglers had been "are you still doing them? Keep them going", he said.
Tiger trout can't breed - they are a sterile hybrid, a cross between a brown trout and North American brook char.
Their attraction to anglers lies in the challenge to "catch something different that is unique and special", he said.
Lake Rotoma is the country's only lake stocked with tigers.
The fish don't fight any harder than rainbows but their appeal is more in the challenge of catching a trout with distinctive stripey markings, which lends itself to being mounted as a trophy.
Traditionally anglers take in fish more than 10 pounds (4.5kg) to be mounted, but the tigers are so unusual that anglers are happy to take four or five pounders to a fish taxidermist for mounting, Mr Sherburn said.
The tigers can grow larger than rainbows and are similar in size to brown trout. The fish live for a long time - longer than rainbows - and put on good weight when conditions suit.
"The rainbows are mid-water feeders and are like kids," Mr Sherburn said.
"They zoom round at a hundred miles an hour foraging for food and burning off lots of energy. By contrast, the browns sit on the bottom and mooch along really slowly, so they're not using energy at the same rate."
He's appealing to anglers who fish Rotoma to contact them with details of any tigers they catch. The 15cm yearlings released have been "fin marked" with the right pelvic adipose fin clipped for identification.
"If anglers catch tigers we'd really like to hear about it. Everything we do has to benefit anglers. In the past, when we've reduced tiger numbers, it's because we weren't getting much feedback, and thought anglers weren't catching them."
Mr Sherburn said that aside from the novelty of being able to fish for tigers, Lake Rotoma had plenty of appeal as a beautiful lake with high water quality.
It is one of the lakes with weed cordons around boat ramps designed to help prevent the spread of aquatic weeds, seen as particularly vulnerable to invasion from some of the worst weeds.
"We remind anglers they need to heed the 'check, clean, dry' message.
"Boaties need to be responsible for their own lakes, and for checking their boats and gear before they travel between different waterways."