Thread: 2016 Opening Day

Who's got big plans for 2016/17 season opening day? 1st October being on a Saturday certainly helps those of us who struggle to get out of the office.
Locally I was hoping to get out up one of our headwaters but that looks pretty slim with the rain forecast.
Does anyone else have anything exciting planned? Always thought I should try the upper Mohaka up around Oamaru again. Went once out of shear luck and it was beautiful with a good count on fish.

@kiwijames

You may miss opening weekend mate

Rains still raining, Rivers are still rising, might take awhile for them to come right.

Cheers
Pete

Be heading to the Rotorua lakes, should be good

So when did that happen????? I thought opening day was the first Saturday in May!!

Bloody hell, I need to get the decoys out and paint them, get the mason bees out of the caller, load some more ammo, check the outboard on the dingy, prep the maimai ........
So much to do in such little time!

Some lucky buggers are in with a chance to win 10k I will be fishing our local river if it clears up,no money in it for me.


10k ‘green tag’ trout now ‘out there somewhere’
Somewhere in one of three Rotorua lakes is a fish that can net you $10,000 – and “all you have to do is catch it…”
Fish & Game officers say they’ve “done the hard yards” getting ready for the Fish for Gold promotion which puts a $10,000 prize up for grabs as the new fishing season gets underway on October 1, 2016.
Fish & Game Officer Mark Sherburn says the 30 green tagged fish at the centre of the promotion were released last Wednesday in bleak, cold and rainy conditions.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that the 30 green tag fish have been put, ten apiece, into lakes Tarawera, Rotoiti and Okataina.
“It was quite an operation that involved transporting fish in our live trout truck and the transferring them to our runabout, into an oxygenated plastic tank, for the trip out into the lake.”
But Mr Sherburn says that “naturally we won’t be giving out any further details of the release places, but let’s just say you won’t catch one sitting at home!.”
Anglers will know immediately if they catch one, he adds, as the green tags are prominent and the fish are healthy specimens around 35-45cm long.
Numbers on the tags correspond to prizes contained in sealed and numbered envelopes and one of them contains the grand prize of $10,000.
The other envelopes each contain a $200 tackle or voucher prize, “so every qualifying angler who returns with a Fish for Gold green tag will win a prize, even if it’s not the big one.”
Mr Sherburn says anglers and families who are planning to fish any of the three lakes from opening on, are urged to “enter and have a go” as they have nothing to lose and entries are completely free
“There’s still time to enter as entries don’t close until September 30 and although we are only accepting the first 1200 entries, we are still some way off that figure.
“Our hope that Fish for Gold will stoke up the fun and excitement factor, and build some suspense around ‘will I catch a 10k fish?.’ ”
Mark says that because the October 1 Opening Day falls on a Saturday Fish & Game expects a strong turnout of fishers, especially if the weather plays ball.
“Our officers and helpers will be out in force as usual”, he says, “and we traditionally talk to around 1000 anglers on the three most popular lakes – Tarawera, Rotoiti and Okataina”.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Fish & Game Officer Mark Sherburn
Tel 07- 357 5501

Just another normal day on the river down here..like @P38 says need a few good days with no rain

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Originally Posted by P38

@kiwijames

You may miss opening weekend mate

Rains still raining, Rivers are still rising, might take awhile for them to come right.

Cheers
Pete

Still got Taupo and Rotorua as options and Im not on call so could do a trip up North. Been meaning to try Flaxy and Wheo canals too so could be an option?

Originally Posted by bomber

Just another normal day on the river down here..like @P38 says need a few good days with no rain

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Our rivers don't normally look like dairy shed run off.

Where is the Nelson lakes release and prizes?

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Where is the Nelson lakes release and prizes?

By licence numbers and angler hours Tasman district qualify for 0.04 trout.

You're welcome

Originally Posted by kiwijames

By licence numbers and angler hours Tasman district qualify for 0.04 trout.

You're welcome

Exactly! why buy a licence when you get nothing for it!

@kiwijames

Head for Rotoiti, Tarawera, or Okataina ..... You could be $10k better off

Fish for Gold


And take some Islay single malt for @Gapped axe


Cheers
Pete

Intend to paddle board for the first part of the morning then jumping on clients boats for Whiskys/I mean fishing. I don't range over this day just enjoy myself with friends and clients. The night before I'm pretty busy with drunks. illegal fires, guys who think there're tough, the odd idiot in a boat, not counting domestics, and opportunist thieves . So roll on Saturday morning.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Exactly! why buy a licence when you get nothing for it!

Odd logic. Have yet to get a free lottery ticket by getting rego on my truck either

Maybe visit F&G website to see what I get for MY licence.
Im pretty happy at that, plus I get to fish at around $2-3/kg for fresh fish. YMMV

Originally Posted by P38

@kiwijames

Head for Rotoiti, Tarawera, or Okataina ..... You could be $10k better off

Fish for Gold


And take some Islay single malt for @Gapped axe


Cheers
Pete

I don't share Islay whisky, and I prefer something a bit more stimulating than lolling around on a boat dredging for trout.