Call it either beginner's luck or the fruits of a newly-formed passion but a 17-year-old has hooked one of the largest trout ever recorded in Rotorua's Lake Okareka.

Cambridge schoolboy Campbell Ware landed the 5.2kg fish after a 20min predawn fight during the weekend, during the Lake Okareka Fishing Club's annual winter tournament.

Campbell Ware with his 5.2kg rainbow trout, caught in Lake Okareka over the weekend. Photo: Lake Okareka Fishing Club.

What's even more remarkable is that Campbell has only been fishing since the start of this year, though it's obvious he's a quick learner.

"I was on pretty light trace and gear because it's Lake Okareka and you'd never expect to catch anything that big so I was pretty conscious of that as I was playing it," says Campbell.

"I kind of knew it was big, just by the way it was fighting, and I saw a few flashes once I got it in closer. I was definitely pretty stoked when I got it in - I guess I was just in the right place at the right time."

Campbell, who fills most of his weekends rowing and playing rugby for St Paul's Collegiate, ventured out early on Saturday morning, fly-fishing in waist-deep water around the western shallows of the lake.

"I was there at 5am in the morning and hooked up about 10mins later - I got that one in and then had nothing else for the rest of the day."

His solitary catch, however, was more than enough to win 'heaviest adult male' and 'best condition factor' - a measure of fatness - at the club prizegiving.

"We don't normally give out two prizes but we did in this case, just for the simple fact it was so big," says Lake Okareka Fishing Club spokesman Dean Foster.

"It was a whopper and, with all the locals hanging around watching it come in, no-one could remember a bigger fish coming out of the lake."

Eastern Fish & Game officer Mark Sherburn agrees it is easily the biggest fish he has heard of coming out of Lake Okareka too - but it just illustrates the incredible opportunities in the region.

"Lake Okareka isn't known for trophy trout but it just goes to show, if you're in the right place, anything can happen," says Mark.

"You never know when you're going to strike it lucky."

Although streams such as the upper Ngongotaha, Utuhina and Waiteti are now closed to fishing because of winter spawning, the lower sections remain open, along with boat fishing on lakes Tarawera, Okataina and Rotoiti, providing plenty of options for winter anglers.

Lakes like Rotorua, Okareka, Rerewhakaaitu, Rotoma, Rotoehu and the smaller Ngapouri and Okaro are all good options, while the stream mouths on Lake Rotorua are also fishable, especially the Ngongotaha and Waiteti mouths.

'Anglers should check the regulation booklet or contact Fish & Game if in doubt about where they can fish, or need any advice. We're only too happy to pass on some fishing tips.”

As for Campbell's whopper trout? It's going straight to Rotorua taxidermist Ray Port to be mounted, while Campbell intends making the most of the school holidays with a few more fishing trips to the family bach at Lake Okareka.