Reel Life February 2024

Great time to explore new fishing areas

The long days and more settled weather of March make it a great time to explore new fishing areas. 

For anglers this could mean committing more time and effort to access those remote and hard to get to locations, or it could be as straightforward as trying a new access point. 

If you’re struggling for ideas, the team at Southland Fish & Game make this great simple suggestion - simply try the spot upstream of your usual spot.

Fish & Game Wellbeing and Mental Health Study

For the first time ever, Fish & Game is conducting an angler wellbeing and mental health survey, and we need your help!

In the coming weeks, you will receive an email from Fish & Game asking if you'd be interested in taking part in a study that will look at how trout fishing might be connected to your wellbeing.

If you're interested in participating, the survey will ask a bit about your trout fishing and outdoor recreation habits and request some info about you before getting into questions about your wellbeing and mental health.

The initial email you receive will give you all the info you need but you could also see more details about the study on the Fish & Game website here.

We're looking forward to hearing from you and appreciate your support! 

Licence Photo Competition

January Photo Competition winner: "Pretty brown from Ngongotaha". Credit: Dave Williams.

When you are out fishing, don’t forget to take some photos.

Enter your images in our monthly fishing licence photo competition, and go in the draw to win a $250 Kilwell voucher. 

Plus if you are the monthly winner, have a one in four chance of winning the overall competition and winning an additional $1000 Kilwell voucher. 

You can also enter our Wild Kai photo Competition. Click here to learn more and be ready to enter your Wild Kai photos in the draw. 

Fishing advice

Northland isn’t an area many would think would be a popular trout fishery, but there are some awesome trout to be caught up there.

In this month’s article from the team at Northland Fish & Game, they offer some great advice for fishing the region but also fishing in general.

In each of our regional links above, there is some great fishing advice, be sure to check them out as you never know what gem’s you’ll find.

Have a Hunter as a mate?

Then the Game Animal Council needs your help.

They have underway a major research project to gather information about deer, pig, chamois and tahr hunting in New Zealand and they need your help. 

Please follow this link to participate.

The last time this kind of research was done was in 2011-2012. 

That information informed the hunting sector's collective understanding of hunter participation, recreational harvest and hunter motivations.

However, much has changed since then and it is important for the effective management of hunting and game animals that the GAC and other key stakeholders have access to up-to-date data. 

Drift Dives

Staff member Adam Daniel in the Kauaeranga River.

Fish & Game teams around the country are out diving rivers to monitor trout populations and assess the health of the rivers at the moment.

This helps set catch limits for anglers. The organisation monitors over 100 rivers this way. We kit up in diving gear and glide down rivers, not only counting fish but also checking for things like water clarity and habitat.

The information from the trout population surveys will be used to help set catch limits for anglers. 

Many regions have information dating back over 30 years, the longest running dataset of its kind, which can give valuable insight into the long-term trends of river health. 

No other organisation or government agency does more of this important type of monitoring of our waterways than Fish & Game.

Don’t be surprised if you see a team out in the river this summer.

The Team at Fish & Game NZ