New Trout Season Looks Promising
This year the new trout fishing season gets underway on Saturday October 1st meaning anglers have a full weekend to get back out on their local rivers and enjoy the peace and solitude that comes with the fishing. Taranaki ringplain streams have had regular freshes throughout winter and spring and a period of intense rainfall on 18th and 19th of August 2022 caused many of them to surpass their average annual flood flows. However, they cleared quickly and most will be in good condition for angling come opening weekend. Unfortunately, the Hangatahua (Stony) River at Okato has suffered another headwater erosion event and its recovery will likely take several months.
While the Waingongoro River and Kaupokonui Stream had high flows during the August flood, they came though pretty well and anglers have reported good results in the winter season reaches below SH45, which demonstrates the resilience of these valuable fisheries. The upper Patea and Manganui Rivers are also in great condition and they’ll be fishing well coming into the new season. There is good access to the Patea River running through Stratford via the Carrington Walkway, where anglers can target brown trout as well as the occasional rainbow.
If the rivers are in fresh, Lake Mangamahoe will be worth a visit for the flyfisher and has recently been topped-up with rainbow trout up to 1kg from Fish & Game’s Hawera hatchery. For a family day out, Lakes’ Ngangana, Ratapiko and Rotomanu have also received good numbers of hatchery rainbows in recent weeks and along with the resident perch population, they’ll be a great place to take the kids on a sunny day. For a relaxing backcountry experience, the lower Patea River downstream of Patea Dam is well worth a visit. In recent years Fish & Game has released tagged yearling brown and rainbow trout into the river downstream of Patea Dam on behalf of Manawa Energy, as well as some larger 2-year-old rainbows. The reach between McColl’s Bridge and the dam provides 15km of accessible water and the landowner is happy for anglers to park on the side of the road and walk across to the river, provided no dogs are brought onto the property. The lower Patea fishes best at flows below 25 cumecs and flows at McColl’s Bridge (and other rivers) are displayed on the Taranaki Regional Council’s website at https://trc. govt.nz/environment/maps-and-data/ regional-overview/?measureID=9&siteID=13 For more information on the Taranaki trout fishing opportunities go to https:// fishandgame.org.nz/taranaki/freshwaterfishing-in-new-zealand/fishing-locations-andaccess/ and click on the “Taranaki ringplain” Anglers are reminded that they need a current fishing licence available online from Fish & Game or from local sports shops.