Labour weekend provides holidaymakers with a great opportunity to get out and try catching a trout or salmon for the family dinner table.

Fish numbers are good in many parts of the country and are feeding voraciously as they regain condition after a successful spawning season, says Fish & Game.

It's offering new anglers the chance to try freshwater fishing with a special long weekend option among the wide range of licences available.

The new range, introduced last year, now offers nine different licences to choose from.

The new options were introduced following surveys to find out what anglers wanted when they were selecting a freshwater fishing licence.

Fish & Game's national communications manager Don Rood says the 'short break” licence category is specifically tailored for holiday weekends like Labour Weekend.

'The short break category allows people to fish for three consecutive days, which is a great option for people going away for the long weekend.

'There is also a longer nine day licence which covers Labour weekend, the following week and the next weekend. This allows people to get the most out of the short working week by taking four days leave and going fishing,” says Don.

'On Tuesday, they will be out on the water while everyone else is back at work.”

In the Bay of Plenty, anglers should consider targeting trout at sheltered spots on the Rotorua lakes.

Fish & Game staff say lakes Rotoiti and Tarawera offer some great sheltered areas for deep trolling and jigging, and there are plenty of sheltered arms on Lake Rotoehu. Lake Rotorua also has some productive spring trolling runs.