The 2012 trout spawning season for the Taupo District, took off with a hiss and a roar. By late March/early April I was pulling some beauties out of all the rivers.

Many of these being in the four to five pound mark. The stand-out rivers were the Waitahanui and Hinemaiaia. All the trout were in great fighting condition and battled well above their weight. It was a promising start to the season. However it needed to continue.

September and October are great times to go fishing for Taupo trout.

When we got rain, like most of the country, it came in hard. The flood in July that closed State Highway 1 near Turangi was a beauty and unfortunately will have an effect on the fishery. Two days before the floods, I walked up to the limit pool of the Waimarino, there were plenty of spawning trout doing their thing. About 10 days after the flood I went back in and had another look. Whole sections of the Waimarino have been left high and dry, as the river completely changed course. There were a lot of eggs that will never hatch. The Tauranga Taupo got to its second ever highest water reading and has done some pretty serious damage to the end of the road, that follows it to the lake.

At times all the rivers were very hard to catch a trout in and the lack of southerlies and westerlies didn't help. Even when the conditions were favorable a distinct lack of trout was noted.

The end result of this fairly marginal season, is that DOC for the first time since the rivers were stocked in the early 1900s, released fingerlings into the Tongariro and Tauranga Taupo Rivers. I am sure it was a difficult decision to make, but a positive one for the future of the Taupo system. At the very least it will keep quiet all those anglers who were complaining at a lack of action from DOC. Me personally I can't wait to catch one of the little buggers.

Near the end of August we had a good run of trout go through all the rivers. The Waitahanui had a 12 pound Rainbow Jack pulled by a wet liner with the other Taupo Rivers firing also.

Most of these trout are little clones about the three to three and a half pound mark. They all fight well and when you do hit a larger fish, all hell breaks loose.

The Tongariro was a bit of a mess there for a while as the idiot powers that be, granted permission for gravel extraction on the braids. Heavy machinery and silt laden water would not have been ideal conditions for running trout to endure. Add that to fact they changed the river flow in the process. The Plank Pool is no longer there. Smart move doing it during spawning season guys. I haven't rated the Tongariro this season as a fishery. I believe it has had a bad year up until now.

So what comes next? Well September has always been a good month. This apparently is the best month on the Tongariro, so fingers crossed.

The other rivers will have a mix of older trout moving back to the lake and a few fresher ones coming in.

Personally, I like September and October in Taupo. Then it is a short skip into summer and the cicada hatch. Be safe on the water guys.
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