Reel Life January 2025 - Wellington

Weather Comes Right For Best Part of The Season

After a fairly trying few weeks over the Christmas and New Year holiday period, the weather in the lower North Island appears to have finally come right.

All rivers across the region are looking great for fishing at time of writing, and some are even approaching low flows despite the intermittent rain.

Catches have been encouraging too – the cooler inflow from the rain evidently keeping the fish actively on the feed.

Standouts so far are the Rangitikei River which looked stunning last week when staff flew over the middle reaches while conducting annual game bird population monitoring surveys.

We’ve also had reports of good fish coming from the Manawatu, from the city reaches in Palmerston North well up into the catchment.         

The Hutt has also been firing with some solid browns around the 5-6lb mark for persistent anglers.

The Ruamahanga hasn’t quite fired like it did last summer. We suspect the cooler water temp in the lower reaches mean the fish have been able to hold there longer.  Another few weeks of settled weather and low rainfall should see fish start to migrate up the river system.  

Plenty of angling action on offer in the Wellington Fish & Game region – grab your licence and get into it.