Reel Life April 2021

With moderate summer water temperatures, regular freshes and no damaging floods, Taranaki trout fisheries have come through the current season in good shape and all streams and rivers are in good condition heading into the trout spawning season.

Although many Taranaki region fisheries close to angling at the end of April, a good selection of waters remain open during the “winter season”.

Success from the Lake Mangamahoe casting platform (photo Curly McEwen)

These include Lake Mangamahoe, a picturesque lake near New Plymouth that contains brown and rainbow trout up to 2kg.

Above Right: Curly McEwen tries his luck from the Lake Mangamahoe casting platform (photo Charmian Stancliff).

Casting to sighted fish cruising the lake margin or retrieving a green/olive woolly bugger from the new casting platform are good ways to spend a few hours on a sunny day.

Please note that Lake Mangamahoe is restricted to fly fishing only, with a fly rod, fly reel, fly line and artificial fly.

Located an hour’s drive south of Hawera, the 14km of the lower Patea River between McColl’s Bridge and Trustpower’s Patea dam is also well worth a visit at this time of year.

Anglers can park on the side of Maben Road to access the river or fish at the power station tailrace.

This section contains tagged brown and rainbow trout from four years of Trustpower-funded releases, plus some larger rainbows from Fish & Game’s Hawera hatchery that have an adipose fin-clip.

Hawera hatchery volunteer Kevin MacDonald releases hatchery rainbows into the lower Patea River, March 2021.

If you catch a tagged or fin-clipped trout, please send us a photo along with the tag details, or if keeping the fish also record its length, weight and freeze the stomach – which we’ll gratefully arrange for pickup.

Generation flows below the Patea dam can vary significantly over short time-frames, so avoid crossing the river.

Weekends are often a good time to visit with reduced power demand resulting in lower river flows.

Near real-time data on flows at McColl’s Bridge are available on the Taranaki Regional Council’s website at https://trc.govt.nz/environment/maps-and-data/site-details/?siteID=28&measureID=9&timePeriod=30days

The lower reaches of a number of ringplain streams and rivers also remain open to angling, including the Waiwhakaiho River, where there is a good stretch of fishable water accessible from a walking track at the right-hand end of Rimu Street extension, upstream to a white-yellow and black marker pole.

The lower reaches of Kaupokonui Stream below SH45 is another popular stretch of water, with easy access from the Kaupokonui beach camp off Lower Glenn Road.

In the Ruapehu district, the main-stem of the Manganuioteao River downstream of the Makatote River confluence remains open until the end of June and fly fishing with a weighted 2-nymph rig, or spin fishing should produce fish.

The river between Ruatiti Domain and the Orautoha Stream confluence will be well worth a visit on a nice sunny day, as fish congregate in this area prior to spawning.

From 1 July, only the section downstream of Ruatiti Road Bridge remains open and spin fishing in the pools adjacent to the Ruatiti domain will be a good option.

Additional information on Taranaki Region trout fisheries is available at https://fishandgame.org.nz/taranaki/freshwater-fishing-in-new-zealand/fishing-locations-and-access/

Many Taranaki anglers also visit the Awakino River in the Auckland/Waikato Region at this time of year, particularly the fly fishing only section upstream of the Mahoenui SH3 Bridge, although the entire river remains open until June 30.

Likewise, the Rotorua lakes also attract their fair share of Taranaki anglers in May.

For anglers who’ve not purchased a 2020/2021 whole season licence, the option of a reduced price winter season licence is now available and allows anglers to fish waters throughout NZ (except the Taupo fishing district) that remain open through to 30 September, including the Rotorua lakes – see http://www.fishandgame.org.nz/content/fishing-licence-info

TARANAKI REGION WINTER SEASON ANGLING WATERS

Tight Lines

Allen Stancliff, Taranaki Fish & Game Officer.