Central North Island - Freshwater

A summary of the last two week's fishing reports from Brian Willson in Turangi. Find the promo-code at the bottom of the report.

Turangi fishing reports from guide Brian Willson - dry fly season approaching on the Tongariro, plus an exclusive 15% discount promo code from I Love Fly Fishing

The great lake is yielding quality catches, with jigging currently favoured by anglers and cooler weather bringing trolling back into play.

Anglers adapting to fluctuating thermoclines and increased boat traffic, finding success in deeper waters and looking forward to a more consistent March as fish put on condition for winter.

The holiday season brings excellent fishing in Taupo, with successful early morning harling, prolific fly fishing due to rising temperatures and abundant fly life, and great catches in local rivers and backcountry, all while anticipation grows for a full cicada season.

Fishing on the great lake has been excellent this month, with a variety of well-conditioned fish, particularly effective jigging results, successful early morning harling in shallower waters, and promising fly fishing in local rivers and backcountry, all amidst a backdrop of fluctuating weather and anticipation for a lively summer season.

Fishing on the great lake has kicked off impressively this month, with well-conditioned fish and effective methods like jigging and harling, while fly fishing is gaining momentum and backcountry rivers show remarkable early-season fish condition, setting the stage for a potentially exciting cicada season.

A sunny weekend with steady fishing on the lake, early-season maiden fish in great condition, and a shift towards summer fly fishing tactics.

Fishing on the great lake has been reasonably consistent throughout the winter. The advent of some warmer spring weather will signal the return of a lot of post spawned fish looking to regain condition after the winter spawning runs.

The great lake continued to produce good fishing pretty much throughout this winter, and activity will likely start to ramp up even further as we head into spring.

We’re going into August now, and the fishing on the Taupo tributaries has been good, but not quite the repeat of the last couple of years of exceptional fishing that we enjoyed so much.

The beginning of June started with a hiss and a roar with some good rainfall and a band of low pressure arriving that got some of the first winter runs really going.

The long awaited, and some may say overdue, runs of winter spawners has officially started here in Taupo.

Fishing reports from the lake have slowed down now that winter is almost on us.

The lake fishing this last couple of weeks has really started to fire up. As predicted, like everything else this summer, it is happening late.

Well with February hopefully a memory to mostly forget, we look forward to the sun shining a little longer as it has finally started to do.

Is Taupo the only place to fish in this crazy summer of storms?

Holiday makers have had some mixed fishing this year on the great lake.

Rain rain go away, come back another day!

November can be a transitional period for the great lake and the surrounding river systems. A definite change to warmer water and later evenings means more time on the water. Harlers and lead-liners are enjoying more action as fish re-enter the lake to put condition back on after the arduous winter.

The winter seems very reluctant to let go at the moment as the rain continues to pour down as I write this. The good news is the fish are still running our local rivers in particular the Tauranga Taupo and the Tongariro, they just keep giving.

Well the amazing fishing on Taupo rivers just keeps on going this year. What an amazing we are having!! The Hine is now starting to peak as we go into August and we will see a lot more darker spent fish appear in the catches. In saying that there are still very large “backend” spawners entering the river although not in big numbers but certainly bigger fish.

Fishing in the Taupo district continues to amaze everyone this year, it has got to be one of the best seasons recorded for many years!! Moving into July now and the fishing continues to fire on all of the rivers and they all seem to have had an increase in size and numbers.

Exactly as I predicted this season is turning into one of the best for many years not just in terms of numbers but also of magnificent quality and size. I have personally never experienced such a fantastic winter season here in the Taupo region.

As predicted we have had a really good autumn period on the great lake, not so much numbers wise but fish in stunning condition and size.

As the great lake starts to cool down now we see the thermocline back at around 35-40 meters. A lot less boats on the water means that the fishing is starting to improve once again with good numbers starting to appear and fish in stunning condition. This time of the year can produce some of the best fishing as trout really start to get into the shoals of smelt in a last ditch effort to pack on as much weight before winter and the arduous spawning season.

Lake temperatures remain very high as we go into March. They will slowly cool over the next few weeks but until then the fish have gone much deeper in many areas with depths being fished between 50-60 metres.

Fishing on the great lake continues to fire! Big shoals of smelt are being marauded by ever increasing quality rainbows and browns pretty much over all areas of the lake. Jigging continues to be the number one method as to be expected at this time of the year. The thermocline still sits predominately at 30-40 metres but on some of the hotter afternoons fish are being caught at around the 50 metre mark.

What a summer the great lake is having this year. The fishing has been nothing short of outstanding and holidaymakers have some of the best fishing the lake has had for a number of years with light winds, hot sunny days and trout of excellent size and quality in good numbers. Jigging has been the go to method as you would expect at this time of year with a good thermocline at 30-40 meters indicating the depth you need to be at.

Heading into summer now and Taupo fishing continues to improve both in quality and numbers. Trolling on the lake during the day with traditional leadline has been working well with the traditional favourites still going strong. The small black toby, white and light coloured zebra and tassie devils and the smaller size chinook lures all catching fish. A smelt type fly in front of the lure has also been a key ingredient. Harling has been one of the most successful methods on the lake at the moment and certainly one of the most enjoyable methods when fishing by boat or kayak.

Check out Roving reporter Gary Lyttle with this banger of a rainbow. You can see more of his exploits on Insta @Garylyttleflyfishing. Lake Taupo’s water shortage is well and truly over with the lake now full to the top. The water temperature remains very mixed as the differing spring winds and snowmelt vary the temp all over the lake. Generally it is getting warmer and with that the fishing is really starting to heat up as well. The western bays and southern end of the lake continue to improve as smelting activity starts to build as we head into summer.

Spring has “sprung” in Taupo and fishing on the great lake has been unseasonably good. Usually, October is associated with fluctuating numbers and condition of fish caught but this spring has been quite the exception. Harling has been nothing short of phenomenal this last month of September. Good numbers of fish have been caught but more notably the condition of fish has been outstanding with plenty of good solid silver bars from 4-6lb being caught.

What an outstanding winter season we are having here in Taupo. We thought last year was good but this year has been on another level again with bigger numbers, excellent quality and the size has been simply amazing. However it was a little slow to start whilst we waited for some decent prolonged rainfall but when that arrived in early July it was all go from there. The Hinemaiaia is my local river and to have that standard of world class fishing practically on our doorstep is amazing and never to be taken for granted.

It’s July and finally Taupo has received some much-needed rain and cold!! The last few days of June saw the rivers have their first real “flush” of the season, and thankfully the rivers responded accordingly. The fishing over the last few days coming into July has been nothing short of outstanding both in numbers and in quality and size of fish.

Lake Boaties on the great lake are now having to work a bit harder for their fish now as the water starts to cool significantly this time of the year. The fish are still there but you need to hunt a lot harder by constantly changing depths and areas. The rewards are there though in the form of some excellent sized and well-conditioned fish. Consistent depths seem to hover around that 120 foot mark but this can vary on any one day. Best lures for winter are always going to be the Spotty Gold and Traffic Lights in the cobra range along with the liquorice Tassie Devil and of course the ever-faithful Black Toby.

Fishing on the great lake has been very mixed as we head towards winter. The fish have been a little harder to find with the thermocline breaking up as the water temperature drops. Those who have managed to find the magic spots have been well rewarded with some magnificently well-conditioned fish, big fit silver bars full of smelt.

Check out that stonker old brown landed by Gary Lyttle (of Fly and Gun Taupo)! Fishing on the great lake has just started to pick up again after a bit of a lull that we come to expect at the height of summer. The water temps are cooling down quickly now and the fishing is improving gradually as we head into April. Cooler water and more oxygen from stronger autumnal winds means the fishing improves and so does the condition factor on the fish as they maraud the shoals of smelt to put condition on for the winter months ahead. I reckon we could have some of the best fishing of the season over the next 6 weeks or so.

Taupo is fishing really well, pretty much over the whole lake, now that the main holiday traffic has quietened down. Fish are also reported as gaining better condition as we head into autumn. I predict that we will be in for a bumper March, April, May period as the fish seem to be really starting to hammer the smelt now that the thermocline has settled. The thermocline is pretty much set at between 30-35 meters so setting your drifts between 20 and 40 meters should get you in the zone.

The weather seems to have finally broken and the heat is on however it is still quite windy on the great lake but a lot easier than the last few weeks. As the water is now seeing thermocline at around 20-35 metres the jigging is really starting to fire. There is still a mixture of size and conditioned fish being caught but some really good quality silver bars are coming through. Pat Swift flies in size 10 are doing the business with Ginger Mick and Jack Spratt patterns really standing out. Top areas would have to be over in the north, and western bays, where some phenomenal catches have been made both jigging and on the downrigger.

Generally, Lake Taupo has been performing really well when you can get out on it. However, it has been a bit frustrating trying to fish at the moment, as we have been challenged by incessant westerlies and fronts that have come through on an all-to-regular basis. On the days that have allowed the boats to get out further afield, the rewards have been there. Probably the most successful method over all still remains the traditional harling and trolling. Harling early morning with one to two colours of lead between 5-10 meters with small rabbits, orbits and smelt patterns has been doing the business.

Reports from the great lake have been very positive following the Labour weekend holiday. The weather played ball and allowed the boaties to get out and enjoy some great fishing.Leadline trolling continues to be the most productive method as there is still no thermocline and trout are at different levels all over the lake. Spotty gold, traffic light and various colours of chinook have been the top lures. Local areas to Taupo such as the Golden Mile, Mine Bay, Whakaipo Bay and Kinloch have fished well over the past few weeks

We welcome Taupo Hunting and Fishing on board suppling reports for the central region. Fresh reports and the latest deals coming at you for the rest of the season.

As we move in to December, it typically starts off as the brown trout run through Lake Rotorua’s tributaries after a number of months spent hibernating back in the Lake, feeding up a storm and packing on condition after a big spawning season. We ideally would want the Lake temperature to be hitting anywhere from the 18 to 22-degree mark before the fish arrive in bulk numbers, and the temperatures have been rising steadily according to the Lake Rotorua monitoring buoy.