Latest News
Ponds closed
The youth fishing ponds at Appleby will be closed to the public from 2nd of April until the 31st of May. This is to enable maintenance and weed control , fishout days , special group events and restocking of the ponds.
Fishout dates for April and May now confirmed
The dates for the sport fishing for youth Trust fishout days have now been confirmed as Sunday the 21st of April , Sunday the 5th of May and Sunday the 12th of May. For the fishout days children aged between 5 and 17 years can be booked in for a one hour time slot when they will be provided with equipment and a guide. Bookings are essential and can be made on the Trust’s website youthfishing.org.nz . This is a great opportunity for youngsters to have an introduction to trout fishing.
new BBQ’s at the ponds
Two new BBQ’s have been installed at the ponds, one at each end. They are similar to the old Rabbit island BBQ’s. You need to take your own wood to get them going and cannot be used if there is any fire risk. A big thanks to Tony’s Engineering Brightwater , Allied Concrete , and Ellis Street Autos.
Pond opening dates for parent supervised fishing.
The ponds are open for parent supervised youth fishing from the 20th of December until the 30th of March 2024. They will also be open for parent supervised fishing from from the 1st of June 2024 until the 30th of September . Any changes to these dates will be posted on the Trusts Facebook page.
guided fishout days.
The Guided fishout days for youth between the ages of 5 and 17 will be held on the 12th and 17th of November and on the 3rd of December. On these days we will provide the equipment to enable children to fish for a 50 minute spell and they will be assisted by an experienced fisher. It is essential that you book a time slot for these occasions and bookings can be made at the ” bookings” tab on this site.
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.