Reel Life January 2026 - Auckland/Waikato

The crowds are gone and the fishing is good

Reports from our Waikato and King Country streams have been excellent over the holidays. Staff were recently on the Waihou and saw dozens of fish from the walkway. If you are one of the lucky ones that did not use all your vacation during the holidays now is the time to get out for a fish. School will be starting in the couple weeks, and our rivers are in great shape for the summer season.

Drift Dive season

The Conservation Act requires Fish & Game to monitor sports fish and game populations. In the Auckland/Waikato Region we fulfil our monitoring requirement for trout by conducting annual drift dives of representative streams around the region in January and February when fish are forced into headwater streams by the summer heat. Staff will be conducting drift dives over the next month on the streams listed below and don’t want to interrupt your fishing. 

• Upper Waihou (Blue Springs walkway)
• Awakino (Gribbon Road)
• Whakapapa (Owhango)
• Waione (Amos Road)
• Mangatutu (Wharepuhunga Road)
• Puniu (upper)

We will post updates of our drift dives on our Facebook page but if you are planning a mid-week trip feel free to check in with our staff to make sure you don’t show up to find someone swimming through your favourite pool (adaniel@fishandgame.org.nz).

Image above: Staff drift diving on the Mangatutu Stream  

It’s time to start knocking off early… to protect trout.

Temperatures in the Waikato have reached the point where there is an elevated risk of poor outcomes for released trout. Water temperatures will fluctuate throughout the summers so we would like anglers to be aware of the water temperature by carrying a thermometer or keeping an eye on the Waikato Regional Council website. Peak temperatures on the council website are generally a couple of degrees hotter than our upriver fisheries, for example when the Mangatutu Stream gauge on the Waikato Regional Council site is reading 20°C the water temperature at the Wharepuhunga Road is about 18°C . The critical temperature for trout is about 19°C but all small streams will fluctuate by about 4°C during a sunny day. So, even if afternoon temperatures are peaking at 20°C smaller streams may only be 16°C in the morning.  If the afternoon temperatures are hot, consider starting early or knocking off early to protect the trout you release from lethal afternoon temperatures.  

Hourly temperature on the Mangatutu stream