Thread: Catch Any Trout Today?

Originally Posted by Haggie

Yea I have heard that they hang out by the intake pipe and have hooked up there. Keen to get into the salmon more but have alot more luck with the trout.

Hmmm hard to see because I had cut its head off already in the picture and its on bit of an angle but had a streak of pink on its cheek and along the body and was quite green on the top. Are hybrids are a thing?

Hybrids are a thing but that's 95% sure a brown. Bows just don't get spots like that.

Not sure about hybrids ?
Either way it looks tasty

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This evening effort, Lake Dunstan. First cast. Nice condition Rainbow. Softbait doing the business again.
Released. Also got a slabby Brown, again released.

Originally Posted by viper

This evening effort, Lake Dunstan. First cast. Nice condition Rainbow. Softbait doing the business again.
Released. Also got a slabby Brown, again released. Attachment 224336

That's a fantastic looking fish.
If you were planning to release fish in future there's a couple pointers that will give your fish a far greater chance of survival.
Please don't take this as a lecture, plenty of people just don't know and think they're doing a good thing releasing trout.
Don't let you fish touch the ground. Gravel, sand, rocks etc typical around NZ waterways. This removes the mucus layer protecting your fish. Without this they will have less chance of surviving due to increased risk of infection. Same with a dry net or hands. Dragging them up the bank is also a no-no for the same reasons.
Easy fix is buy a net. Wet it before you use it and cradle this fish in the net (in the water).
Cameras kill fish. Every second out of the water reduces the survival chance. If you want a photo they look just as good in the drink in the safety of your net.

If you really have to get that photo do it quickly and support the fish. Don't do the Dundee death grip. Support the fish under the pectoral fins and wrist of the tail. Do it quick, you're pretty much waterboarding the fish while posing for your photo.

I've no problem killing fish. Just don't kid yourself that your doing a fish a favour by releasing it poorly. A poor release and you'd have been better off to kill it and feed it to the neighbours cat.
A compromised fish will swim away and "look okay" initially. It's later on when the adrenaline wears off and the lactic acid kicks in is when they die. If they survive the initial shock they can also die of infection later on, the loss of their mucus layer is effectively like a burn to us. Easy to get infected.
BAD RELEASE = 3rd degree burns while waterboarding in a vice
GOOD RELEASE = Drunk on a ferris wheel at the circus where you got a piercing you can't remember and now have mild PTSD and a bad hangover.

Originally Posted by kiwijames

I've no problem killing fish. Just don't kid yourself that your doing a fish a favour by releasing it poorly. A poor release and you'd have been better off to kill it and feed it to the neighbours cat.

That's a great post! It's even harder to get this stuff in to the thick skulls of saltwater anglers. Barotrauma is an additional issue for snapper which many choose to ignore. Heaps of social media posts daily showing gallant anglers releasing big snapper after they describe an epic fight from 50 metres. Seriously? I can often tell from a short video that the fish is destined to be shark food. Rant over. Sorry to go off topic.

Cheers for the release tips. I do move quickly and always make sure my hands are wet, also very careful with the cradling and handling.
They swim off strongly, guess a fighting chance is better than none. I will try the net thing as well.

Originally Posted by viper

Cheers for the release tips. I do move quickly and always make sure my hands are wet, also very careful with the cradling and handling.
They swim off strongly, guess a fighting chance is better than none. I will try the net thing as well.

Nice. Using a net gets easier the more you do it and it's a big plus for the fish. I like the McLean ones but anything is better than nothing.
Swimming off strong is just instinct. You'd haul ass too if you'd just escaped some psycho who tried to murder you.

Weighted nymph dangling off a float bagged a brown first cast this arvo.

Upgraded the rod to an 8’ 6’’ Daiwa strikeforce with a Daiwa RE LT real with 10 pound braid. Feels alot more responsive and should work for egg rolling too.

No luck on the float rigs today so chucked on a black and yellow tazzie devil and caught 3 fish in 3 casts. Ended up catching 3 browns and a rainbow. Let the first fish on the new rod go and kept the smaller of the brown trout to bake for lunch.

Fun lunch break trying the new rod.



Rubbed with crushed garlic, ginger, soy, a little oil, pepper and chilli flakes and baked at 200 for 20 mins.

Hi Haggie, nice catch and cook, may I ask the line diameter of your 10 pound braid, it `s 0.6mm, or...?

Originally Posted by Black Rabbit

Hi Haggie, nice catch and cook, may I ask the line diameter of your 10 pound braid, it `s 0.6mm, or...?

Says 0.11mm on the box. It’s the berkley blue camo stuff.

Tried out the new rig at twizel rolling some eggs and caught a few baby salmon. No monster trout unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Haggie

Says 0.11mm on the box. It’s the berkley blue camo stuff.

Tried out the new rig at twizel rolling some eggs and caught a few baby salmon. No monster trout unfortunately.

Attachment 224786

Right. Recently, I brought some #0.4 braid line, the diameter is 0.105mm for long cast on my baitcaster reel. Thank you for let me know, this size of line is capable for trouts. I got lots of fishing lines in NZ but they all too thick, the thinnest I can remember is #3.0 braid.

Originally Posted by Black Rabbit

Right. Recently, I brought some #0.4 braid line, the diameter is 0.105mm for long cast on my baitcaster reel. Thank you for let me know, this size of line is capable for trouts. I got lots of fishing lines in NZ but they all too thick, the thinnest I can remember is #3.0 braid.

I have used Daiwa Tournament EVO + 8 Braid this year. Fantastic stuff. I have the .14 mm / 10.2 kg. Could go down one weight but no more.
Very expensive here $79.99 for 135 metres. What price in China ?

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I have used Daiwa Tournament EVO + 8 Braid this year. Fantastic stuff. I have the .14 mm / 10.2 kg. Could go down one weight but no more.
Very expensive here $79.99 for 135 metres. What price in China ?

@Moa Hunter
Hi mate, just checked for you, the price for 135m is about $20-$30 dollars, as usual same product in NZ is 3 to 5 times expensive than you by from country of origin. I do `t use expensive lines or any fishing gears, because I think for me it should be all the same if it `s not defective products. How many meters do you want? As you know I am coming in soon, have `t finished my shopping list yet. But, keep it light all right, this time I only have one checked bag because there is no direct flight now to Christchurch. If you are strongly asking for Daiwa, I can bring you something else and you can help to check their quality.

@Moa Hunter have you used any 6lb 0.06mm braid x8 or x12? I normally go for kairiki in 8lb but temped to put 6lb on a new 1000 Stella fk I've managed to get hold of. Except I'm having a hard time finding any so maybe I should stick with 8lb.