Trout report: Challenging fishing and the weather conditions

Challenging fishing and the weather conditions have made it tough for anglers.

As predicted by NIWA early last Autumn, we are enduring a warm wet spring after a mild and wet winter.

This has made for challenging fishing and the weather conditions for the rest of spring is likely to make for continuing challenges.

The streams throughout the area have been stricken by debris from slips as well as, in some cases, stream bed movement.

These movements and slips are common over a large period, but this winter changes seemed to have been condensed into a much shorter period.

Before this all sounds like doom and gloom, the positive side is that we will have new, and therefore, challenging fishing spots to try.

I remember when the Lonely Pool on the Tongariro River disappeared after a gigantic flood several years ago, the effect of which did faze trout one little bit.

Aquatic insects colonised the new stretch of the river very quickly, fed from the upstream part of the river, giving trout a continuation of food, rather than, as many anglers thought, a barren wasteland for trout.

The only thing that upset me was the fact that I knew the Lonely Pool so well that I could always get onto the fish quickly rather than have to figure out where the holding spots for trout were in the new stretch of river.

A similar thing has happened to our local streams and rivers and though even minor changes to a river bed can make a significant change to where fish like to rest or feed, it is the challenge of 'new water' that brings us back year after year.

Obviously, there are streams and rivers that are far more stable than others and so few changes are happening over the winter, but always remember that there are seasonal variations due to water temperatures and volume that will change where the fish are.

At the moment the gates at Okere Falls are wide open with water backing up behind the structure at times. Couple that with a reduced use-age by rafts and canoes and the few fish that are late returning to spawn are well spread out, making fishing more of a challenge below the gates.

In a couple of weeks, the area above the gates opens again to fishing and I, as others are, am waiting in anticipation of some great fishing until the water temperature rise drives large trout out of this area.

The three main feeder streams entering Lake Rotorua are, almost, continuously carrying a large sediment load, colour up even worse with any rain and rise very quickly due to the sodden land through which they flow.

A rising river or stream is always well worth fishing as trout come on the feed due to insects being dislodged from the bed by the increasing current.

But the trick is to know when to get off the river before things become complicated and be prepared to dump your gear in a hurry as it is replaceable, you are not.

- By Bert Robinson