Hi Donald,

There are some sea run browns and rainbows here. However, I think the currents and such in the southern hemisphere, at least near NZ, are a bit odd to them, and the cues that the trout use to migrate back home in the north are not here, so many of the fish that go to sea end up lost and don't return. I think this applies more to sea run rainbows (steelhead) and that sea run browns will not venture so far out to sea and they tend to be the stock that returns (this according to a fellow who gave a talk to our club last year anyway). Also, the rainbows in Taupo seem to use the lake as their ocean, and will live primiarly in the lake for a few years before migrating up river to spawn. The lakes have a lot of freshwater smelt in them, and koura (fresh water crayfish), that the trout feed on and they get to pretty large sizes. 10+ lbs fish are not quite a dime a dozen, but they are certainly not rare. That being said, my personal best is a modest 7.25lbs brown from Lake Rotorua. That year, the average size of the browns being measured in the fish trap going up the Ngongataha stream was 7.5lbs, so mine wasn't even an average sized fish!

- Jeff

P.S. Just read an article last night on fishing sea run browns in the south Island. Perhaps this is not surprsing since the south island fishery is more "brown trout" and the north is more "rainbow" (generally speaking, as there are "both in each", to speak Nova Scotian for a moment). And, I'm not as familear with the south island fishery.