How Brown And Rainbow Trout Found Their Way To Poronui, April 2010

The Brown Trout found its way from the United Kingdom.

During the nineteenth century many unsuccessful attempts were made to bring brown trout out to the antipodean colonies of Australia and new Zealand from the United Kingdom. Eventually a shipment of moss and ice-packed trout ova, from the Itchen and the Wye streams in England, survived a trip to Tasmania. The eggs of these Tasmanian fish were successfully transported to New Zealand, where they were raised in a Masterton hatchery by the Wellington Acclimatisation Society.

In 1878 the first and only recorded brown trout liberation took place at the bridge crossing on the Taharua Road. As no other trout have ever been released into the Taharua, it is a commonly held belief that the brown trout found here at Poronui are now the purest strain of brown trout in the world. Their original English home streams have been over-fished and re-stocked many times over the last century.

A series of rapids just before the Taharua flows into the Mohaka ensures our Poronui brown trout remain pure and don’t stray far from home!

The Rainbow Trout Arrived a Little later!

The Mohaka rainbow trout have a more diverse history, as there have been many releases into this long river over the years. The first rainbow trout were brought to New Zealand as ova from California and hatched into specially built ponds in the Auckland Domain (a plaque there still commemorates the release).

Auckland weather proved too warm for rainbow fingerlings and the population started to decline. Survivors were rushed to a specially built hatchery near Putaruru in the Waikato, where they thrived and formed the basis of future rainbow trout liberations. They were first released into Lake Taupo in 1883, and the nearby Mohaka River soon after.

Today, the catch and release policy and the management of fishing pressure ensures that the trout population at Poronui is healthy and robust. The Taharua, Mohaka and other nearby rivers regularly yield their wily trout – to the delight of Poronui guests.