Pursuant to sections 26R(3) and 53(4) of the Conservation Act 1987 and the Taupo Fishery Regulations 2004, the Minister for Hunting and Fishing approves the following Anglers Notice for the Taupō Fishery.

Notice

This notice shall come into force on 1 July 2026.

1. Interpretation

(1) Words and expressions in this Notice which are defined in the Conservation Act 1987, the Taupo Fishery Regulations 2004, or the Taupō District Trout Fishery Licences Fees and Forms Notice 2023 shall be so defined.

(2) In this notice, unless the context otherwise requires:

anchored means to use any anchor, or other weight, to secure a boat to the bed of a lake or river but excludes use of an electric motor to keep a boat stationary.

artificial fly includes any lure of feather, fur, wool, or other material used in the making of artificial flies.

bait means natural bait, including any insect or spider, worm, crustacean, shellfish, fish or fish ova, bread or cheese.

boat means any vessel or floatation device.

fly fishing means to fish for trout with a fly rod, fly reel, fly line, leader, and artificial fly or flies.

fly line means any floating or sinking line used to facilitate casting that is at least three metres in length.

fly rod means a light, extremely flexible fishing rod specially designed for use in fly fishing to cast an artificial fly.

foul hook means to hook a trout otherwise than through the mouth.

landmark post means a white, black, and yellow ringed post including those placed in Lake Taupō at the Tongariro Delta.

leader means a line made of nylon, fluorocarbon or other material attached directly to the end of the fly line including any tippet. A leader must not exceed twice the length of the fly rod being used.

length, in relation to a trout, means the total length from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail of the fish.

lure means any artificial fly, spinner or soft bait.

soft bait means a soft artificial lure that mimics the appearance and movement of small fish, or crustacea with or without the addition of chemical attractants.

spin fishing means to fish for trout with a spinning rod, spinning reel, and lure, and includes tackle customarily used for harling, trolling, and jigging for trout;

spinner means any artificial lure other than an artificial fly.

strike indicator:

(a) means only synthetic or natural yarn, and its means of attachment to the line used by the person fishing as an aid to detect a strike; and includes coloured line incorporated into a leader and used as sighter for euro nymphing but

(b) does not include any other material or any object attached to the line.

Taupō Boat Harbour means that part of the Waikato River lying between a straight line between the two landmark posts on either side of the outlet of Lake Taupō, and the control gates bridge over the Waikato River at Taupō.

trout includes:

(a) any trout, whether alive or dead, and any part of a trout;

(b) char of any species; and

(c) any hybrid of any trout or char.

2. Authorised Methods

(1) The only authorised methods for fishing for trout in the Taupō District are:

(a) fly fishing; and

(b) spin fishing.

(2) No person fishing for trout shall use in any water specified in the Schedule any fishing method other than a method specified in the Schedule for that water.

(3) No person shall attempt to foul hook any trout.

(4) Any person who foul hooks a trout shall return it immediately to the water with as little injury as possible.

(5) No person shall fish for trout when wearing or using felt-soled waders or footwear incorporating or having attached a sole of felted, matted or woven fibrous material.

(6) No person shall fish for trout from:

(a) the Taupō Boat Harbour wharf or Taupō Boat Harbour jetties;

(b) the control gates bridge over the Waikato River at Taupō; or

(c) any state highway bridge within the Taupō Fishing District including the bridge over the Tokaanu Tailrace Canal which is part of State Highway 41.

3. Authorised Tackle

(1) No person may use bait when fishing for trout in the Taupō District.

(2) When playing a trout, a person may use a landing net to secure or land that fish.

(3) No person when fishing for trout shall:

(a) take trout by any means other than with one rod and running line;

(b) use a gaff to secure or land a trout;

(c) use any net, trap, wire netting, or similar device, except as provided for in subclause (2) of this clause;

(d) use any spear or similar implement, or spear gun;

(e) use any hook which has a distance greater than 14mm between the point and the shank;

(f) use any lure having attached to it more than one hook or a hook that is not a single-pointed or single-barbed hook;

(g) use more than three lures;

(h) use any fish-attracting electronic device;

(i) use any fly treated with any fish attractant or chemical preparation other than that used solely to control the buoyancy of an artificial fly; or

(j) use any preparation not attached to a lure to attract fish.

(4) No person fishing for trout in waters reserved for fly fishing (as set out in the Schedule), shall add to or attach to any fly line, leader, or fly:

(a) any bare hook, spinner or bait; or

(b) any sinker or other weigh except split shot or putty made from lead, bismuth or tungsten attached directly to the leader;

but may attach a strike indicator, use tippet rings and swivels as part tackle used when fly fishing.

4. Daily Bag Limits

(1) The maximum number of trout that may be taken from waters in the Taupō District by one person in a single day (the daily bag limit) is as set out in the Schedule.

(2) No person shall on any one day take and keep more than the daily bag limit for trout; and no person shall continue to fish on any day on which he or she has already taken and kept the daily bag limit for trout.

5. Minimum or Maximum Fish Length to be Taken

(1) The minimum or maximum length of trout that may be taken from waters in the Taupō District is set out in the Schedule.

(2) A person taking a trout of a length less than the minimum or more than the maximum set out in the Schedule must, whether it is alive or dead, immediately return it into the water from which it was taken.

(3) For the purpose of clauses 2(4) or 4(2) or 5(2), any person who takes a trout and fails to return that trout immediately to the water from which it is taken is deemed to have taken and kept that trout.

6. Hours of Fishing

(1) No person shall fish for trout between 12.00am midnight and 5.00am on any day.

7. Open Season

(1) No person shall fish for trout in any waters in the Taupō District except during an open season for those waters.

(2) The open season for waters in the Taupō District is as set out in the Schedule, except where a closed season is specified in clause 8.

(3) If any waters are included in both the Schedule and clause 8, clause 8 takes priority and a closed season will be in place for those waters as set out in that clause.

8. Closed Season

(1) A closed season is in place for the following waters, and no person shall fish for trout in any of these waters at any time of the year:

(a) all rivers and streams (including their tributaries) flowing into Lake Taupō other than the rivers and streams listed in Part B of the Schedule;

(b) all tributaries of the rivers and streams listed in Part B of the Schedule;

(c) Tokaanu Tailrace Canal for a distance of 110m downstream from the powerhouse;

(d) that portion of the Waiotaka River (Stream) that lies wholly within the boundaries of the Tongariro/Rangipo Prison (from approximately 2km upstream of the Hautu Ford on Waiotaka Road to the north-western boundary of Kaimanawa Forest Park);

(e) the segment of the Hinemaiaia River bypass channel from the Hinemaiaia HB dam downstream to the HB powerhouse and that segment of Hinemaiaia River between the lower Hinemaiaia HB powerhouse and a sign situated approximately 300m downstream;

(f) Te Whaiau Stream and its tributaries (including the Whanganui River diversion culvert outfall) and all other streams (including their tributaries) flowing into Lake Te Whaiau;

(g) all rivers and streams (including their tributaries) flowing into Lake Ōtamangakau other than the Ōtamangakau Canal; and

(h) all rivers and streams (including their tributaries and including Poutu Aqueduct) flowing into Lake Rotoaira except the Wairehu Canal.

(2) A closed season is in place, and no person shall fish for trout at any time of the year within:

(a) any waters in which trout are held in captivity for display, hatching, monitoring or other purposes; or

(b) a distance of 80m from those waters.

(3) Subclause (2) of this clause does not apply to authorised fishing activities held in the children’s fishing pond at the Tongariro National Trout Centre.

9. Use of Boats

(1) No person shall fish for trout from a boat in those portions of Lake Taupō within 200m of a landmark post or posts situated at the mouth or mouths of any river (including those landmark posts positioned in Lake Taupō at the Tongariro Delta) or stream listed in Part A of the Schedule.

(2) Despite subclause (1) of this clause, a person may fish for trout from a boat in those portions of Lake Taupō within 200m of a landmark post or posts situated at the mouth or mouths of the following rivers, if the boat is securely anchored parallel to the flow with not more than two anchors:

(a) Tongariro River; and

(b) Tauranga Taupō River.

(3) In waters other than Lake Taupō, no person shall fish for trout from a boat in waters where only fly fishing is permitted unless the boat is securely anchored parallel to the flow with not more than two anchors.

(4) No person shall fish for trout from a boat in the following places:

(a) the Taupō Boat Harbour;

(b) that portion of the Hinemaiaia Stream (or River) which lies between Lake Taupō and the lower hydro-electric dam (known as the HB Dam);

(c) that portion of the Tongariro River upstream of a point at the head of that stretch of water known as Downs Pool (situated downstream approximately 3.1km in a straight line from the State Highway 1 bridge at Turangi) which is normally marked by a landmark post;

(d) Lake Te Whaiau;

(e) that portion of the Ōtamangakau Canal, also known as Te Whaiau Canal, which flows from Lake Te Whaiau to Lake Ōtamangakau, upstream of the site normally marked by a landmark post; and

(f) that portion of the Wairehu Canal, which flows from Lake Ōtamangakau to Lake Rotoaira, downstream of the site normally marked by a landmark post.

(5) No person shall fish for trout from a boat in the Tokaanu Tailrace Canal unless the boat is securely anchored parallel to the flow with not more than two anchors.

10. Revocation

(1) The Anglers Notice for Taupō District 2024, published in the New Zealand Gazette, 25 June 2024, Notice No. 2024-go3026, is revoked.

Schedule

Open Season, Authorised Methods, Daily Bag Limit and Minimum Length

Dated this 26th day of May 2026.

Hon JAMES MEAGER, Minister for Hunting and Fishing.