Tauranga-Taupō River

The Tauranga-Taupō is the second-biggest river in the Taupō fishery, and many anglers rate it the best. It rises on the western face of the Kaimanawa Range and runs west through native bush and pine forest into Lake Taupō at Te Rangiita, on the southeastern shore. Lake-run rainbows and browns run it to spawn from late autumn through spring, and in a good season the rainbows average over 50 cm and 1.7 kg. It is fly fishing only, under DOC's Taupō licence.

This is a small to medium river with a gravel and small-rock bed, a mix of easy runs and harder water. It fishes on lighter tackle than the Tongariro, and many anglers use a 5 or 6 weight. Nymphing is the main method, with the usual Taupō rig of a heavy fly and a lighter Hare and Copper, Pheasant Tail or Glo Bug behind it. A wet fly swung through the runs reaches fish that a nymph misses, and in summer the river fishes well on a dry. From the main car park on State Highway 1, a track runs up the south bank past Maniapoto's Pool and Ladies Mile to Rangers' Pool, the winter limit, about 5 km upstream.

The stretch from the car park to Maniapoto's draws the most anglers, so the further you walk, the more room you get. Above Rangers' Pool the river opens only from 1 December to 31 May. It runs through a long gorge on private land, then into Kaimanawa Forest Park, where summer fishing reaches the Tauranga-Taupō Falls. The falls stop the run. That upper water is reached on unmarked tracks from the end of Kiko Road and is best left to anglers who know it. The river floods quickly after heavy rain, and its tracks wash out.