Te Whaiau Canal

Access map
Access map with topography

LINZ topographic maps: 1:50,000 (260 series)

Lake level of Lake Otamangakau

View a graph of the current lake level at the Genesis Energy website.

Rainfall

View a graph of recent rainfall at Turangi at the Genesis Energy website.

Weather forecast

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- Tongariro National Park

- Taupo

The Te Whaiau Canal is short slow moving and deep. It generally has steep banks with quite dense vegetation coming down to the waters edge. There are few areas however where the land opens up allowing for good casting. Much of the length of this water is difficult to both find a good place to satnd and cast from.

The fish numbers, particularly early and late in the season can be very high and the fish tend to free risers. During the warmer months they can often be seen crashing onto terrestrials and chasing emerging insects.  That said they are often very difficult to fool and will rise close to anglers yet reject even the most beautifully presented fly.

The water is quite similar to a still water of a lake as the flow can be quite slow and the angler must adjust accordingly. Fishing slowly and with jerkily retrieved wet flies is a popular method when other methods fail. Spinning is also popular as small fish make up a good portion of the trouts diet.

This water suits all methods at differnt times. Using sunken nymphs that are slowly retrieved can be effective when no surface activity is seen. In summer large terrestrials such as cicadas and hoppers can be the answer when there are splashy rises. Often however any surface activity is from fish feeding on emerging insects or small bullies just subsurface.

This is one water where you will need to continually change to suit the conditions (or out of sheer frustration when what you are offering continues to be rejected).

Dry fly: Cicada patterns, Hoppers, Beetles (brown), Ants, Blowflies and even Muddler Minnow fished dry during the summmer months can be

Nymph: A dark green or olive nymph such as a Stone Fly, buzzers, or Hares Ear that is almost black when wet.

Wet flies: Small bully patterns such as a Mrs Simpson or Hamill's Killer or a green or olive Wolly Bugger.

Spinners: Rapalas in small sizes are favoured as well as bladed spinners such as Mepps or Veltic in dark colours or a black and gold Toby.