Thread: Waikato river trout tips

Looking for spin fishing tips as I have 12ft tinny to access the waikato river and usually go from the narrows boat ramp ,got spin fishing setup with plenty of inherited lures but am complete novice,what’s the way to fish the river?casting into eddys,near the willows,near obstacles in the river?against or with the current?any advice appreciated.thanks

Bait is permitted downstream below Karapiro dam. I can imagine a cicada would work well. My Step Father used to fish a lot below Karapiro dam. Always night fishing using a spinning set and wet flies. I never had the patience for mud fishing.

all of the above but normally with current.
see if you can find copy of "trout the other way" bill jameson is author...dumbs things right down and explains the why as well as the how...small paperback book worth its weight in gold.
5-6-7lb nylon is normally your best bet...and lighter and likely to bust off if not really careful,any heavier and it wont cast far and lure action will be crap.
tassie devils work well and easy to cast or troll...BUT rig them with nylon through body tied onto snap swivel with single hook....if trout busts off the lure drops free. the action of lure is better,a headshaking jump doesnt have weight of lure to flick hook out,it may zip back up line towards you ....

7 or 10grn toby in black and gold has probably still caught more trout than any other two lures combined.

if trolling watch rod tip,it should nod nod nod nod nod about half second timing or a little slower,this is lure moving. if it stops nodding,possibly picked up weed,speed up boat and it will pop to surface if it has...wind in and clear and pop it back out...trolling is best done with good length of line out.
rainbows often in schools so if catch one,fish same spot for some time before moving on.
kids like to catch fish...if rules allow,worms are gold..... running rig ideal with tiny buckshot sized sinker.

mud fish,is the term given by folks who never learnt to gill n gut catch straight away..... or who cooked fish in tinfoil with skin on....
salt n pepper on fresh fillets in butter in hot pan is food fit for a king. beer battererd,trout will give blue cod a run for its money.... like kawhawai its all in the handling and prep.

Catch a live small carp, has to be from the same river, find a slow current, hook a balloon on its back and attached a hook. Big brown trout like them, once hit, you have to wait, the carp has to go down head first, flat scales. Then it’s all on, the depth of some of the pools down stream behind the island are very, very deep. 600+mm trout, there used to be, many years ago, a big game trout fishing club in Hamilhole

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

mud fish,is the term given by folks who never learnt to gill n gut catch straight away..... or who cooked fish in tinfoil with skin on....
salt n pepper on fresh fillets in butter in hot pan is food fit for a king. beer battererd,trout will give blue cod a run for its money.... like kawhawai its all in the handling and prep.

Fly fished for 25 yrs til I got sucked in to Auckland. Good to see someone else knows you don't cook big or slow water trout with the skin on, unless you dry bake them on a wire rack in a hot oven. Do the later and you can freeze them for a couple of weeks and go straight from freezer to oven. Dont thaw them or you're eating cardboard. Same if you leave them in freezer more than a couple of weeks. Brown trout from slow water is delicious fileted and pan fried fresh.

Lake Taupo trout in good nick, bled straight away by ripping gils and breaking neck. Gutted and degilled pretty soon after. Filleted, deboned and skinned. Dusted in flour with salt and pepper, then dipped in beaten egg and fried in butter is amazing. The taste is incredibly similar to whitebait. Much better tasting and more healthy than farmed salmon.