Ongarue River Trout Fishing

Access map
Access map with topography

LINZ topographic map: (260 Map Series, 1:50,000)
S17 Mangapehi
S18 Taumarunui

In its upper and middle reaches the Ongarue River is a top-quality fishery, offering many kilometres of excellent fly fishing waters. The river mostly runs over a stone and gravel bed and the ample bankside vegetation provides excellent trout habitat. It is a highly regarded river for the dry fly and nymph enthusiast.

Description

The upper reaches of the Ongarue River run through the virgin native bush of the Pureora Forest. The water in the section generally runs very clean and trout can often be spotted lying in the pools or runs. In the headwaters the river often remains very clear even when other rivers in the area are dirty after rain.

Fish numbers and size

Fish numbers in the section of high and mostly in the one to 2 kg range.

Methods

Excellent nymph and dry fly water.

Access

Access to the upper reaches is via the Ongarue Stream Road which runs parallel to the river for about 20 km. You can get further upstream by tramping. The adjacent Pureora Forest provides several areas for camping. See the Ongarue River access map.

Description

The middle reaches of the Ongarue River above the small township of Waimiha flow mostly over open farmland though some sections run through stands of native bush. This is the most popular section and provides a good range of spinner and fly fishing opportunities. The river is much deeper in this section with a number of the pools punctuated by rapids and long shingly runs.

Fish numbers and size

Fish numbers are high and mostly in the one to 1.5 KG range.

Methods

A good evening rise can be expected, but otherwise this stretch is best suited to wet fly or spinner fishing.

Access

Access to the middle reaches is via the Ongarue Stream Road. See the Ongarue River access map.

Description

The lower reaches of the Ongarue River below the small township of Waimiha are somewhat surprisingly seldom fished, as it contains some large trout in good spin fishing waters. The river here is much wider and slow moving, and is mostly rather cloudy due to the silt it carries.

Fish numbers and size

Some fish reach a very large size as angling pressure is low.

Methods

Some good spin fishing, especially in the gorge downstream from Waimiha.

Access

Access to the section can be gained from SH4 and from the side road that leads to Ongarue and Waimiha townships. See the Ongarue River access map.

Weight 5 or 6 rod with a floating line in the upper reaches.

Light spinning gear for the deep pools and lower section

Nymphs: Small weighted or unweighted nymphs such as Hare and Copper, Halfbacks, Pheasant Tails in sizes 12 to 16 work well.

Dry flies: Small dry flies (size 14 or 16) in patterns such as Hardie's Favourite, Greenwell 's Glory, March Brown and Twilight Beauty work well throughout the year. In summer cicada patterns and in late summer, Lace fly patterns can be very effective.

Wet flies: In the upper and middle reaches small wet flies such as Invicta, Greenwell's Glory in sizes 12 to 14 are very effective when fished just subsurface when trout are rising.

Spinners: Mepps and Veltic patterns in green or red.