Daylight Saving upsets anglers' plans

Daylight Saving upsets anglers, plans for Rotorua lakes fishing season opening day.
The early advent of Daylight Saving will mean most anglers fishing on the first day of the Rotorua lakes fishing season will have to start an hour later than the official start time of 5am.
Three of Rotorua's best fishing lakes, Lakes Tarawera, Okataina and Rotoiti, are closed to fishing over winter to allow fish to spawn and grow without pressure from anglers which ensures high numbers of good sized fish for the new season in spring.

The lakes are open again to fishing from 5am Thursday, 1 October and traditionally anglers start fishing as soon as the season opens but with the shifting of the clocks last weekend, the official 5am start will be too dark for most people to attempt to fish and the likely start time will be 6am.

Opening day on the 1st of October is the day of the year when the angler gets to target the maximum number of large trout during the season and Fish and Game, the organisation that manages most of New Zealand's freshwater fisheries, expects thousands of anglers to be out on opening day morning.

The other lakes in the Rotorua region remain open all year round and still produce good winter fishing, but the start of the season on Tarawera, Okataina and Rotoiti is where the celebrations of the new season is focused. The other hot spot is the Ohau Channel, and this typically produces the largest fish on opening day with some 7kg, or heavier, brown trout being caught, says Rob Pitkethley, Manager, Fish and Game Eastern.

The Fish and Game trout hatchery at Ngongotaha is having an open day on Wednesday, 30th September with kids' fishing, demonstrations, filleting and cooking displays. Hatchery tours will be held to give visitors an insight to the work Fish and Game does to keep New Zealand's lakes and rivers clean and stocked with fish. At midday, local experts will be giving tips on how to catch trout on Rotorua's lakes. A Blessing of the Boats ceremony will be held on the shores of Lake Tarawera at 5pm on Wednesday, 30th September. For the past ten years, this ceremony has attracted hundreds of participating boats.
ENDS

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