Reel Life October 2024 - Hawkes Bay

The 2024 Hawkes Bay Trout fishing season started on 1 October, with one of the nicer opening days we have had for many years, with bright calm weather conditions and clear rivers, there was lots of anglers out and about, enjoying the great conditions. After cyclone Gabrielle creating havoc in 2023 and left rivers dirty for such long periods, it has been great to see the rivers and their fish in such great condition at the start of our new season.   

Opening day and the first weekend had great weather and river conditions, and most anglers our rangers spoke to were catching a trout or two. The relatively settled winter with minimal floods have benefited the fish and fisheries - the trout caught look to be in excellent early-season condition, with maiden fish in great condition and spawners recovering well.

The generally settled winter weather with the occasional high flow events have helped the rivers recovery with rapidly recovering stream insect populations evident and some good rises noted already, add to that many pre cyclone pools are reforming, so things are looking positive in most catchments.

The Tukituki, Waipawa and their tributaries saw lots of angling activity on opening day and many good sized trout caught. A recent interclub event between the Napier and Hastings clubs also saw some great fish caught including two nice browns around 6 pound and some potentially better fish hooked and lost on the Tukituki.

The Ngaruroro and Mohaka systems have provided good fishing, although some will have been disappointed when they got to their chosen access point and found the river dirty. It’s a timely reminder that some of our bigger rivers, particularly the Ngaruroro and Mohaka may get significant rain in their headwaters from “westerly conditions” when we see no rain down here on the coast; checking the Regional Council river flows and keeping an eye on the Turangi forecast as well as the Hawkes Bay forecast may avoid the frustration and lessen the risk of getting caught out by a rapidly rising river.

Many backcountry rivers won’t have seen many anglers yet, close to home waters fished well and those who ventured into the smaller feeder tributaries which opened on October 1 had good angling to trout that have been well rested over winter.

With relatively low bag limits, and regulations that state an angler must cease fishing once the daily bag limit has been reached, anglers may find that they want to catch and release, so they can continue fishing.

All anglers need to be aware that how they handle the fish is critical to its survival after being released.

Here are our ‘Quick 5’ tips for handling fish with care:

• Always wet your hands before handling a fish and if possible, use a knotless landing net.
• Keep the fish in the water while removing the hook – a specialized hook remover or forceps readily available on your vest, will definitely help.
• Do not squeeze the fish and never touch the gills.
• If you feel you must photograph your fish, do it in or over the water and make it quick - the fish should never be out of the water for more than 5 seconds.
• Revive the fish by facing into the current long enough for it to regain its swimming strength.

In the unfortunate instance that a fish you intended to release does end up bleeding from the gills or cannot maintain itself upright, so long as you can legally take that fish, we recommend you should keep it as part of your bag limit and utilize it.

In the lower parts of our rivers a smelt fly, soft baits or a spinner is likely to bring success on trout chasing whitebait. As the weather warms up, we should see more evening rises, so nymphs earlier in the day, switching to emergers and dry fly in the evening is an approach many experienced anglers will take.

Here at Hawkes Bay Fish and Game we have been running introductions to flyfishing courses, we are currently hosting two student flyfishing courses and a women’s flyfishing course. These courses are 6 sessions long; students 1 evening per week after school and the ladies’ course on Sundays, all with around a dozen participants in each, progressing from setting up a flyrod, tying leaders, fly casting and reading the water. We hope to run additional courses through the summer so keep an eye on our Facebook page to see what’s coming up.

The favourable weather looks set to continue for most parts of our region for a while so Grab your licence if you haven't got one already, read the regulations and make the most of the good conditions.