Rangitīkei River

The Rangitīkei runs about 250 km from the Kaimanawa Ranges, east of Lake Taupō, past Taihape, Mangaweka and Bulls to the sea at Tangimoana, and it is really two trout fisheries. The headwaters in Kaimanawa Forest Park hold wild rainbows and browns in water so clear it seldom colours even after heavy rain. Fish & Game's own guide says fish there can pass 4.5 kg (10 lb), though the double-figure fish are fewer than they were. That upper river is a designated water with a 550 mm maximum: you can keep a fish under that length, but a bigger one goes back. Below the gorges, the middle river near Taihape and Mangaweka is bigger, easier to reach and more often fished, with fish that average about 1.5 kg and run to 3 kg. A Water Conservation Order has protected the river's wild and scenic character and its fisheries since 1993.

The headwaters are a strong, clear river over rock and stone, with long stretches too deep to wade. The current is stronger than it looks and the rocks are slippery, so cross with care. You can usually spot fish feeding along a pool, but they can see you just as well, so stay low. A 9 ft 5-weight is about right up there: light enough not to spook fish, with enough backbone to turn a big one in heavy water. The middle river is a series of pools, long glides and riffles over shingle and rock, cut through steep papa (mudstone) gorges in places, and it carries more colour. Go to a 6- or 7-weight there. Dark weighted nymphs in sizes 12 to 16 (Hare and Copper, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Halfback) catch the most fish. In summer, size 10 to 12 dries such as a Royal Wulff, Parachute Adams, Humpy, cicadas, beetles and crickets work over the faster water. In the evening, small wet flies (Invicta, March Brown, Greenwell's Glory) take fish feeding just under the surface. Small Mepps or Veltic spinners fished upstream work in the upper river. Use bigger Toby, Zed or Rapala lures lower down.

There are only two ways into the headwaters: a two-day walk or a helicopter. The weather in the Kaimanawa can turn bad quickly, so go prepared. The rules change twice down the river. Above the Ohinewaione Stream, about 9 river km upstream of Springvale Bridge, you need a designated waters licence, and it is fly and spinner only from 1 October to 30 April. From there down to the Matawhero Road (Mangaohane) Bridge, the same season applies, but bait is allowed. Below that bridge the river is open all year. Two Horizons gauges read the river. Pukeokahu, a few kilometres below Mangaohane Bridge, is the nearest gauge to the upper river. Mangaweka reads the middle river after the Moawhango, Hautapu and Kawhatau join, so watch it for most trips. Gorges cut off long stretches of the middle river, so plan your way down to the water first. Below Bulls the river is wide, slow and coloured, and fished mostly with spinners.