Thread: Last word on Kai Iwi Lakes, Northland

As a kid about 40 years ago, we used to go over to the lakes with the Acclimatisation Society scientist to do the yearly trout survey that set the quota for the trout stocking. We used to set out a fixed length of gill nets in designated locations for a fixed time period (a couple of hours). The number of trout caught, their age (fin clipping) weight and growth profile (based on the growth rings on a bone in their head) were all recorded. This was trended against historical data and with the recreational catch records, the restocking numbers were set.

Gut content was also examined. One of the main food sources was fresh water crayfish.

It used to be one of the best fisheries in the country for average poundage of fish caught. Would be a shame to see it lost.