By Geoff Thomas
Autumn 2025

This season has seen the best quality trout in Tarawera for 25 years. Fish & Game agree,

and they can take much of the credit.What determines our fishing – and the size and condition of the fish – is a combination of factors. Five years ago the liberation of yearlings was reduced from 15,000 to 10,000, and these are split over autumn (March) and spring (September). As hatchery fish make up 70% of the population, that equates to a 21% reduction overall. To use a farming analogy – fewer cows on the paddock.

Two years ago we had summer floods which washed nutrients into the lake, high levels meant good smelt spawning and with rich plankton for the smelt, their population exploded. The result of ample food and fewer fish meant fast growth. Phenomenal growth in fact, and yearlings liberated last September at 10-12cm and 40g are now close to a kilo. And the two-year-old fish from the previous year are up to 3kg. This bodes well for the winter stream mouth fly fishing when the mature three-year-olds move into the stream mouths prior to spawning.

While deep trolling–with down riggers up to 43 meters deep, and jigging – was the key in mid-summer, water temperatures are falling and you will find fish at 15 meters with lead core lines. One trick is to troll in a figure eight, so the outside lure travels faster and the inside rod slower. The key is variation in the speed, as all lures have an optimum speed to deliver the best action – too slow and lures like tobies and Tassy devils are lazy; too fast and they revolve. Neither is desirable. They should be as active as possible, without revolving. You can watch a lure by the boat to see how it varies, and all boats behave differently in terms of speed through windage and engine size. Fishing into the wind is never desirable as you lose steerage, and speed, and you can zig zag down with the wind to vary your lures’ behaviour.

TIP – Cobras can no longer be purchased. The reason is the factory in Tasmania has been sold to Russians who moved it to Russia. So there will be no more in our shops, although some stores may have some old ones under the counter. If you have any or can get some – hang onto them. They are still my personal favourite. Best colours I have found are the original white and yellow, spotty gold  (barley sugar), green and red, and green and yellow.