Brown Trout, Lake Emma, Ashburton Lakes trout fishing. Featured image.

Lakes Emma and Roundabout

A typical brown trout from Lake Emma weighing around 4 to 5lb. It is the darkest I've seen so far! Photograph courtesy of Paul Spicer. — *A typical brown trout from Lake Emma weighing around 4 to 5lb. It is the darkest I’ve seen so far! Photograph courtesy of Paul Spicer.*

This lake cannot be seen from the Hakatere Potts Road and so is easily missed. The turnoff is 5 km from Hakatere Corner on the left when heading towards Lake Clearwater. The track can be a bit rough in places so a 4×4 truck is always a great thing to have. Otherwise, Lake Emma is approximately 1 km from the main road. Ashburton Lakes Map.

Good spinning lures to try are Johnsons Super Kobras no. 10 and no. 32. Black and Gold Glimmys or Tobys also work well. On the fly rod, Mrs Simpson and Hamills Killer are always worth a try.

Lake Emma is quite shallow. During the summer months, the water quality can be very unattractive. Strong winds stir up the bottom, and this combined with a large bird population and warm summer temperatures can turn the water a horrible greenish brown. That said Lake Emma is usually one of the better fish producers of the Ashburton lakes.

Lake Emma also contains redfin perch. This species will readily take small spinners and natural baits – maggots, worms and the like.

Lake Emma is both a spin and fly fishing water. Lake Roundabout is fly fishing only. For both lakes, the bag limit is two trout per day. The fishing season runs from the first Saturday in November to 30 April. There is no winter season for the Ashburton Lakes. Lake Emma and Lake Roundabout.

Department of Conservation info about Lake Emma to Lake Camp Track.