Harvey Clark: Prime trout out in big numbers

Tongariro anglers are catching plenty as the spring spawning runs get into full swing, big browns are feeding voraciously along the shores at Lake Aniwhenua, and at Rotorua the lower Ngongotaha Stream has been packed with spawning fish.

The trout-fishing is wonderful everywhere, and it will get better.

On the Tongariro, anglers have reported seeing huge numbers of fish moving upstream, sometimes swimming past and between their legs. A catch of 20 a day has been common and many have been up to 3.6kg (8lb). One man had three fish in three casts.

A Turangi motel-owner took five Australians on a river walk where they spotted several trout of a size they had never dreamed of, and he reported they were trembling with anticipation when they returned to get their tackle.

The best catches have been between 6am and 10am when the pools are relatively undisturbed and before bright sunlight sends the fish into deeper cover, although in dull weather the trout will continue moving upstream all day. Fish are spread throughout the river, but the pools below the State Highway 1 bridge have been fishing especially well.

Recovering spawners dominate the quieter parts of the pools, and it is usually necessary to target the main currents to catch the fresh-run "silver bullets". In the clear, low river conditions, small natural nymphs on fluorocarbon are doing the damage.

Many anglers will head for the back-country streams which open next Sunday, leaving the Tongariro uncluttered by anglers and full of fish just waiting to be caught at one of the best times of the year.

For the dry-fly angler, evening rises on the Tongariro have started sporadically - go for an elk-hair caddis.

At Rotorua, I took a brief walk along the lower Ngongotaha Stream at the back of the shopping centre this week. In a pool about the size of a double-bed, I watched two local fishers land six in half an hour, including two of 3kg plus.

They estimated that 40 trout had been landed from that pool during the day - and that's just one of many little pools in that part of the river.

On Lake Rotorua, boat-fishers have been picking up the odd trophy fish (4.5kg) off the entrance to the Ohau Channel, which is packed with smelt and trout, indicating a great day when the channel opens next Sunday.

Other top trolling areas on Rotorua are along the eastern shore and from Sulphur Pt to Kawaha Pt, where the fish have been feeding profusely on smelt. O'Keefe's tackle shop reports two new tassie lures, the Stinger and Red Sunset, have been very successful.

At Lake Aniwhenua in back-country Bay of Plenty, big, hungry browns have returned from the spawning streams and are cruising the shorelines, gulping anything that moves as they rapidly rebuild condition, offering ready targets for shore-based flyfishers. Woolly Buggers trailing nymph patterns have been the main fish-catchers, and the area straight out in front of Aniwhenua Lodge is as good as anywhere.

My pick for the next few days would be the Tongariro, where angling pressure is easing and the fish are running.

Sporting Life tackle shop in Turangi keeps two big wooden dice under the counter, one naming the river pools and the other various flies. If an angler is not sure where to go and what to use, he can ask the shop assistants to throw the dice for a bit of fun.

We asked Sporting Life to throw the dice for the Herald's fishing report. The dice say: Pheasant Tail, Major Jones Pool. So try your luck on the throw of the dice and give it a go.