KEY POINTS:
The mud-fishers are happy.
Well, someone had to be after the atrocious weather of mid-week.
At Rotorua and Taupo they missed the worst of the rain and wind, getting just enough of a fresh to spark good runs of fish in the rivers.
The forecast for opening day at Rotorua on Monday was for 35-knot winds but the day proved calm and anglers were able to fish all day, enjoying their best catches for several years, said Rob Pitkethley from Fish and Game.
Best prize was a 5.6kg brown taken from the Ohau Channel, where the biggest rainbows were also caught.
But the most prolific catch was on lakes Okataina and Tarawera where numbers and size were up.
"The 2-year-old fish that make up the bulk of the population are a good bit larger than last year, 1.8 to 1.9kg average," Pitkethley said. "Catch rates have been high."
Rotoiti's fish were smaller and about the same size as last year and the fishing was harder. Water had been one degree warmer through the winter and so the fish had grown quickly.
A long, warm spring would continue good growth rates, he said. The fish growth slows in the hotter summer weather.
"The longer it stays between 16 and 18 degrees the better."
At Taupo, Graham Whyman from the Sporting Life store in Turangi reports "magnificent fishing".
"We missed the worst of the rain and heavy wind and it's left the rivers in perfect condition. The fishing has improved in the lower Tongariro. It's late in the season and the fish are starting to move whether they like it or not."
The catch has been a mix of small fish, spent fish and some real beauties, especially jacks.
There is lots of insect life and natural flies are working well, caddis, mayfly and pheasant tails. Wet-line fishers are getting results with woolly buggers and rabbits in green and orange.
Boat anglers were doing well at the Delta and in other areas around Taupo, Whyman said, with all methods from harling to trolling and jigging producing fish.
The good news for sea fishers is that spawning snapper have started turning up in the Far North and down to the Bay of Islands.
In Doubtless Bay, good catches have been taken around Whatuwhiwhi and off Fairway Reef as sea conditions allow. Tokerau Beach has been good for surfcasters.
Charter operator Geoff Stone on Major Tom II reports schools of snapper from 1.5 to 4kg on the bottom and in midstream. Drift-fishing through the schools is the best method.
There was more bait school activity and bird life, Stone said. One spearfisher found himself surrounded by mackerel just off the beach at Tapeka Pt then managed to nail a 12kg kingfish tailing the food.
On the Hauraki Gulf, fishing remains patchy, with anglers doing well if they can find the few, rare work-ups. Live mackerel has been a productive bait, taking john dory if there are no snapper about.
On the Manukau Harbour, gurnard have moved towards Huia and snapper are moving in, with plagues of small fish in the upper channels.
Trevally are about in numbers on the shellfish beds, falling to shellfish baits tied with bait elastic.
Lots of anglers also reported encounters with sharks, said Manukau guru John Moran.
* Meetings on the Maui's dolphin protection plan in the past week have been poorly attended, presumably due to the mid-afternoon timing and short notice.
Agreement has been reached to consider a new regulation requiring fishers to stay with a set net, but talks hit a stumbling block when the Ministry of Fisheries and DOC could not define "attendance" - is it remaining within 10m or 100m?
The NZ Big Game Fishing Council and its 60 clubs and 32,000 members have ended affiliation with the NZ Recreational Fishing Council after a vote at the AGM last weekend.
The recreational council is increasingly seen by anglers as a group with a questionable mandate and a convenient puppet for the Government to "consult" with.
Big Game Fishing Council chair-man Jeff Romeril stepped down and was replaced by Richard Baker.
