Anglers who turned out for the first day of the new trout fishing season on the Rotorua lakes were greeted by warm balmy conditions – and most went home happy with their catches.

Lakes including Okataina, Tarawera and Rotoiti reopened after being closed for three months over winter.

Danika Bay-Waugh, 13, from Rotorua, with one of the 18 fish their family group caught, a 2.1kg rainbow, with one member remarking he could only recall one better Opening Day.

Fish & Game officers turned out in force at boat ramps and on the water to interview anglers on their catches, and weigh and measure the fish.

The catch of the day appears to have been on Lake Rotoiti where a solid 5.5kg (12 pounder) was landed.

Fish & Game Officer Matt Osborne says anglers on Lake Tarawera were generally 'pretty happy” given the nice day and the fact that most caught trout, and good numbers of fish.

Anglers on a couple of boats upped the stakes – one group caught 15 and another 18 trout - releasing most but coming home with around half a dozen solid fish.

Most of the fish, as officers predicted, were two year-olds from 1.1kg to 1.5kg, with some older fish tipping the scales at 2.6kg – the biggest seen by early afternoon.

Leo Apimerika, 11, tries his luck at the Ohau Channel. His father Aaron hooked his first fish within 10 seconds of his first cast and the pair had around four fish before mid-morning.

Meanwhile, at the Ohau Channel anglers were seeing a big improvement on last season's opening with fish being caught in reasonable numbers, if not of trophy size.

The chance of catching a fish worth $25,000 was generating a 'real buzz” among anglers but by mid-afternoon no one, it seems, had hooked a ‘red tag fish.'

Under the Fish & Game promotion 40 fish were released into the lakes with special red tags – and only one has the winning number every red tag qualifies for a prize worth $200. Entries have now closed.

Graeme Byres from Auckland with his six year-old grandson Tyler Moore.