Reel Life April 2023

Above Right: Ollie Bassett, with one of many fish landed.

A New National Fly Fishing Champ is crowned

Twenty-one-year-old Ollie Bassett won the National Fly Fishing River Championships held on the Whanganui River on April 15^th and 16^th.

Ollie is the youngest competitor to hold the title and has done an outstanding job of reaching the top of his sport in New Zealand.

Sport Fly Fishing New Zealand puts on the event annually and has previously hosted the World Fly Fishing Championships and the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Champs on the Whanganui River.

Competitors landed some impressive trout just outside Taumarunui, with several large fish caught near the power station. 

Te Awamutu Fish & Game Club hosts a record crowd at the Arapuni Trout Fishing Contest

Tyler McClunie with the Bill Sullivan Memorial Cup.

Event organisers not only hosted over 100 competitors but also recovered 36 tagged fish to help in the effort to evaluate the success of sterile hatchery trout releases in Lake Arapuni.

Tyler McClunie’s 3.133 kg brown won the Bill Sullivan Memorial Cup and is the biggest fish entered in the comp in recent history.

The junior section of the competition was won by Chase Butcher with an impressive 2.023 kg brown.   

Fish release at Quarry Lake

Staff released the first of three loads of trout in Quarry Lake (Lake Pupuke) after a traffic-delayed five-hour drive from the Rotorua hatchery.

There will be three loads of trout released in the lake this winter, and releases will be announced on our Facebook Page.  

It is time to dig out the glow bugs!

Anglers in the central North Island have found fishing slower than average due to the extremely cold-water temperatures.

Keep in mind the fish numbers have probably not changed, but rather fish are much more spread out than normal, so keep moving and cover as much water as you can.

The good news is that we are nearing spawning season, and staff have had plenty of tag returns from below Waipapa Dam in the upper end of Lake Arapuni over the last couple of weeks.

Fish that are stocked in reservoirs or that have been washed down from upstream will often migrate to upstream dams looking for spawning water.

Fish will be on the move over the next couple of months, positioning themselves to spawn.

So, it is time to start thinking about intercepting fish at stream mouths and dam tailraces.

If you do fish the Hydro Lakes please keep an eye out for tagged fish like the one shown below. 

Dirty fish tag in an Arapuni Rainbow

Staff need the length to the fork in the tail and the weight.

Right Lines

Adam Daniel, Auckland Waikato Fish and Game.