KEY POINTS:
Spring's lingering hangover of patchy weather has slowed the trout-fishing action in many parts of the central North Island fishery, and the summer will probably be haunted by the damnable El Nino weather pattern, which brings more wind.
For lakeshore anglers at Taupo, the spring/summer smelting season is
a month late at the sandy beaches where the whitebait-like smelt schools come in from the deep water to breed and the trout follow them in to feed.
Similarly, at Rotorua, the cool weather of the past two months has slowed the heating of the lake which sends the trout by the hundreds into the areas round the cold-water stream-mouths to chase smelt and hang out in cold comfort away from the warmth of the lake water.
But at various locations all around the central North Island fishery, when the summer heat is given the chance to break through and winds abate, the fishing has been very good and it can only get better once summer really sets in. That, surely, is due to happen now ... but January's weather is notoriously unpredictable.
In the Taupo region, jigging has been steadily improving on the lake, especially off the Tongariro Delta and at the Tokaanu Bay hole and Stump Bay. Two anglers reported boating 30 trout when jigging, the main catcher being a Pat Swift UV Mallard Smelt.
Harling is also proving successful on the lake at change of light using Grey Ghosts, Silicone Smelts and Green Orbits.
On the Tongariro River, the rainbow spawning runs are coming to an end but the brown trout runs are under way and the lower river has plenty of them. When the weather allows, dry-fly fishing is popular in the daytime and evenings, especially in the middle reaches of the river and at the town pools.
Night fishing at the popular Lake Taupo Western Bays spots such as Omori, Kuratau, Whareroa, Waihora and Waihaha has varied from average to excellent on dark nights, and daytime smelting is now starting at these spots.
Elsewhere in the region, good reports have been coming in from the Wanganui, Whakapapa and Waipunga Rivers in the back country, and from the trophy fishery Lake Otamangakau south of Taupo.
Lake Rotorua is right on the edge of the heat that sends the trout into the cold stream mouths, and it should not be long until Waiteti, Awahou and Hamurana begin to fire. On the lake, harling is successful with smelt patterns and good fish are being taken between the stream mouth at Waiteti and Kawaha Pt.
The Ngongataha Stream is fishing well at the mouth on some nights, when browns up to 4kg have been taken just on dark, and this stream continues to fish well in the lower and upper reaches first thing in the morning. Big spawning browns are moving up the Ngongotaha, which is Lake Rotorua's main spawning stream, and they are of a size that stops anglers in their tracks.
Jigging on Lake Rotoiti has been disappointingly slow since the lake opened in October, but is improving.
Lake Okataina has been producing the occasional good fish to the early morning angler off the beach, and Lake Tarawera is producing a few fish of superb condition to harlers and trollers, but the main action for flyfishers at Rangiuru Bay and Stony Pt is still to come.
In the Bay of Plenty back country, the Rangitaiki River and its main tributary, the Whirinaki, have been fishing well to the dry fly, and the action here should be spectacular once the cicadas and other large terrestrials take to the wing soon.
Fishing for browns at Lake Aniwhenua has been excellent as the fish have been feeding profusely on nymphs and snails around the sides, offering a great opportunity to the stalking flyfisher.