Rainbows rare but in good condition

Rainbow trouts have been seen less lately, but have been in good condition. Photo/File

The days are definitely getting longer, though the weather is still a little challenging at times, so my thoughts are turning to the new fishing season starting in October.

There definitely seemed to have been fewer rainbows coming in to spawn during April, May and June, at the traditional lake edge spawning spots, though the fish that did come have been in superb condition.

This time of the year is usually when recovering trout make up the bulk of the catch and so requires careful choosing of what you should, or shouldn't keep as far as eating quality is concerned.

Rainbows that are actively feeding on insects that are hatching are generally of lesser quality than those that aren't, though these fish can be a lot of fun to catch on a dry fly.

Matching the hatch is not overly important at this time of the year as these fish are desperately hungry and will take almost anything.

There is quite a bit of surface movement throughout the upper Kaituna River at times during the day whilst in the lakes the surface feeding is mostly for trout fry or smelt that are feeding on phytoplankton, particularly on calm sunny days, a few of which we have had lately.

While there are still fish spawning below the control gates on the Kaituna and beyond they have been playing hard to get for those fly fishing during the day. After dark, using large bulky flies has been the better option.

With the extra rain and high lake levels is pays to make sure that where you are fishing is a safe place to be, with slippery rocks and water level changes happening overnight.

There have been quite a few boats harling or trolling along the airport on Lake Rotorua with some success.

Most of the fish seem to be out in slightly deeper water than expected so if nothing much is happening when over the weed bed, don't be afraid to try the deeper water.

At this time of the year the wind direction can vary considerably during the day so the airport side of the lake may not be the nicest side of the lake to be in a boat.

Harling across the front of the Ohau Channel entrance and through to the area known as the Sticks, towards Hamurana, can also be worthwhile. Pink or purple lures often work well at this time of the year in this lake.

Depending on the wind direction and speed, harling between the Waiteti Stream mouth and Kawaha Point can also be worthwhile, though with such a large area it is often best to cut this area up into smaller chunks and cover those areas more intensively at varying depths.

For those wanting to catch a relatively rare fish, now is the time to start preparing for tiger trout to take advantage of a high protein diet supplement only easily available over the next couple of months. In Lake Rotoma the resident carp start to spawn and become easy prey for Tiger Trout. More on this next week.