Latest News
youth fishing extended to 9th October
The Trust felt that with the heavy use over the first week of the school holidays we would defer maintenance for a few days to give families more opportunities to catch a fish . The ponds will now close for maintenance on Monday the 9th of October.
June Update
The children’s fishing ponds are now open until the end of September for children to fish with their parents/caregivers. They are quite well stocked with fish mainly in the 1 – 1.5 kgs range but with a few resident monsters up to 4.5 kgs. Just remember children need a licence, it is one fish a day, and the fishers ( defined as the person holding the rod) must be under 17.
More fish were added in late June so the ponds are well stocked for the school holidays. hopefully the weather will be fine. Please take care around the paths as the recent rain has raised the ponds water level and some of the paths may be under water.
7th of May Fishout Cancelled
We do not usually cancel fishout days if it is raining. However if the river level gets very high/flooded the ground water levels also get very high and the ponds can flood. An inspection this morning , Saturday 6th, showed the ponds water level very high , almost to the level of the wooden fishing platforms. Some of the ponds were linked up with no gravel track between them.
Most of the walking tracks and fishing points around the ponds were under water so access is not safe.
We therefore have, very reluctantly, cancelled the fishout day for the 7th of May.
March Update
More fish were added to the ponds in early March and the ponds are very well stocked at the moment. Also the weed has started to die down with the cooler evenings so is less of a nuisance when catching a fish. That said it is still easier and more effective to fish with a float and bait rather than some form of spinner or soft bait. There is a nice fish , 5lb plus, in the small pond. :)
Remember that the ponds close for public/parent assisted fishing from the 30th of March to the 30th of May to enable maintenance, some fishout days, and events for special needs children.
There were 100 plus fish added to the children’s ponds in February , mainly about 1.3 kilos or heavier, so there is good fishing at the moment. With the warm weather there has been a lot of weed growth which makes fishing challenging. If the kids hook a fish that runs into weed tell them to keep steady pressure on the rod/fish and given a few minutes the fish is likely to find its way out of the weed.
We will undertake weed removal in late March to have it most of the weeds removed for the winter and for some fishout days in April/May.
January Update
There were 100 plus fish added to the children’s ponds last week, mainly about 1.3 kilos or heavier, so there is good fishing at the moment. With the warm weather there has been a lot of weed growth which makes fishing challenging. If the kids hook a fish that runs into weed tell them to keep steady pressure on the rod/fish and given a few minutes the fish is likely to find its way out of the weed.
We will undertake weed removal in late March to have it most of the weeds removed for the winter and for some fishout days in April/May.
December News
The fishing has not been easy at the last two fishout days , and we have had rain , but the young fishers have persisted. There have been lots of true fishers amongst them and our guides were very impressed by their application.
A few years ago we changed our Trust deed to allow the disabled and the elderly to fish the ponds with Trust approval. On Tuesday the 6th December one of our Trustees , Jim Jobe, took a group of elderly ( half on wheelchairs) from Somerset Richmond to the ponds and they hooked five fish , most of which were released. The look of delight on the face of these elderly persons was great to see.
The ponds will be open for youth to fish from the 17th of December ( officially from the 20th but the weekend before will be ok) . We will be restocking the ponds before then.
pond availability update
Taylors Contracting are starting work on the new access road from the end of Challies road next week so ,all going to plan, the new access should be available in early November ready for fishout days. Taylors have also offered to do some deepening of our existing ponds while they had machines on site so we should end up with better access and better ponds.
The TDC gravel extraction project has enabled the development of another fishing pond nearby. This pond will be managed by Fish and Game and will provide an opportunity for adult licence holders to fish.
Great fishing on the 11th of November
The first fishout day on the 11th of November went well with most kids catching fish. There was fine weather , co-operative fish , and great fishing by the kids. The biggest fish was 2.6 kg caught by Jayarn with the average being around 900 to 1000 gms. TDC have done a great job in grading the access road and Corrections in preparing the surrounds to the ponds.
News
the ponds are open for fishing by kids with family/caregiver supervision until the end of September. Please note that the conditions of use must be complied with , particularly no fishing with spinners, lures including softbaits except in the big pond.