Trout Fishing & Boating

Lake Brunner is the largest lake on the West Coast. The lake and some of the surrounding rivers and streams are renowned for brown trout fishing with year round fishing in the lake and some of the rivers.

Lake Brunner is fed by a number of small rivers and streams all of which offer excellent fishing opportunities where they enter the lake. The lake is drained by the impressive river Arnold. At the northern tip is the small settlement of Moana. Most of the lake is only able to be reached by boat though some areas can be walked to especially when the lake is low in mid to late summer.

Lake Brunner is a wonderful lake to fish. Although it is deep, fish rise freely across the whole lake and there can be spectacular evening rises particularly where rivers or streams enter the lake. Mostly the lake is surrounded by native bush which provides an endless supply of terrestrial food for the fish.

There is a boat ramp at Moana. The fish are all wild brown trout and the methods of fishing includes casting a fly, spinning or trolling.  Around many bays there is shallow water where fish can regularly be seen cruising around the weed beds and under the bankside vegetation. These fish provide great stalking opportunities as they often follow a regular beat and can be ambushed with a fly placed along their regular course and then twitched or slowly retrieved as they come close. A fly cast just behind a cruising fish will often cause them to spin and take the fly – all fishing methods can be used in these situations.