Wangapeka River

The Wangapeka is the largest tributary of the Motueka. It rises in Kahurangi National Park and runs about 37 km northeast to join the Motueka below Tapawera, about 30 km south of Motueka town. The water is very clear over a bed of stones and gravel, and it holds wild brown trout that average about 1.8 kg (4 lb) and can grow much bigger. There are fewer fish than in the Motueka, but they are bigger. The Water Conservation Order protects its brown trout fishery from the source to the confluence, and the Wangapeka is recognised as a nationally important trout fishery.

It is good dry-fly and nymph water. The lower river runs through open farmland, and the upper river runs through beech forest in the national park. Nymph with a Pheasant Tail or variant, a Hare and Copper or a stonefly nymph. For dries, carry an Adams, a Greenwell's Glory and a March Brown, beetles in early summer and cicadas from midsummer. Spinning is allowed and works well near the Motueka confluence or when the river is high, with a small, dark spinner such as a small Toby or a green Veltic. The fish see you easily in water this clear, so stalk them and expect to work. The Walter Peak gauge sits on the lower river, about 2 km above the Motueka confluence, and reads the whole river. As a rough guide it is easy to wade at about 4 to 20 m³/s, and it runs high and coloured over about 45 m³/s.

Wangapeka Road runs west from Tapawera up the valley. The lower reaches near the Motueka are close to the road, and the middle reaches cross farmland where you need the landowner's permission. Past the Dart River ford, an old forest service ford that needed repairs in 2023, the road runs 7 km to Prices Clearing and 1 km more to the Rolling River car park, where the Wangapeka Track begins. The track follows the river to Kings Creek Hut, about 3.5 hours and 11.4 km from the car park, and on to Stone Hut, about 2.5 hours further. The upper river in the national park is the most scenic water, and with the huts you can carry a pack and fish it over several days. The track has unbridged river crossings, so do not cross any stream in flood. There is a campsite at Siberia, near the start of the track. The road is gravel, so check with DOC on the state of the Dart ford before you drive in. The upper Wangapeka and Rolling River are also protected habitat for whio, the blue duck, so give them room.