We never stop learning and there are plenty of other things we can do to increase our chances when on the water. For example:
In strong currents, use fresh bait like strips of kahawai or mackerel. Soft baits like pilchards will come off and you will not know you have lost your bait. But, when using tough baits, you can add a cube of pilchard to the hook as a sweetener.
Start fishing at low tide in a channel and, as the current increases, move out into open water where the current will be softer.
Plan your fishing so that when anchored, the wind and tide are from the same direction. It will always happen on one tide every day - either in or out.
If drifting, choose days with little wind or go in the early morning. Drifting too fast makes it difficult to keep baits on the bottom. Wind against tide helps slow the boat, as does a sea anchor or large bucket.
Look for flocks of birds circling and diving. They are always an indication of fish. But don't drive through the activity and put the fish down; skirt the edges.
Clean reels regularly by taking the handle out and oiling the main bearing which rotates. On spin reels, you can take the spool off and add grease to any moving parts. After each trip, reels should be sprayed with a silicon-based product which will build up a protective coating over time.
When soft-baiting, it pays to use a spin reel down to 20m and an overhead-type reel like a baitcaster in deeper water. The lure will sink faster and you can thumb the spool to control the descent and pick up strikes.
Concern over late spawning runs of rainbow trout in the Tongariro River has led to an experimental programme to release 10,000 fingerlings in April or May. The yearling trout will be marked and catch rates monitored over the following two years, which will hopefully give an indication of what is happening in the fishery.
One theory is that large brown trout are eating juvenile rainbows, which spend the first year of their life in the river before migrating down to the lake. As a result, fishery managers are encouraging anglers to kill brown trout they catch in the river rather than release them.
Over recent years, the runs of mature trout into the river, which is the main spawning tributary for Lake Taupo, have been progressively later in the season. A generation ago, anglers would expect the runs to start in April and May, but now they don't peak until September-October.
Unlike the Rotorua lakes, the Taupo fishery does not rely on liberations of hatchery-raised fish to sustain the population, as Taupo has many streams and rivers where trout can spawn and so there is no control over the population in the lake. In lakes like Rotoiti and Tarawera, the annual liberations make up about 70 per cent of the population, the rest contributed by natural spawning in the few tributary streams.
But the Taupo fishery has been declining in terms of numbers and size of trout in recent years, and managers are looking at probable causes.
Managers are also disappointed with the apathy demonstrated by anglers during a recent survey on the state of the fishery, where only 90 results were received from 12,000 licence-holders.More fishing action can be found on Rheem Outdoors with Geoff, 5pm tonight, and on the internet television channel www.FishnHunt.Tv
