One of the Wakatipu area's most popular fishing spots, Moke Lake, received a boost yesterday with the release of 350 yearling rainbow trout.
The release by Fish and Game officers follows one at Lake Johnson a fortnight ago. A third will be made at Lake Tewa, Jack's Point, next month.
Fish and Game officer and hatchery manager Steve Dixon said the releases were done because the lakes did not have significant areas for natural spawning.
Fish and Game releases 10,000 fish in Otago each year.
They would be a ''catchable'' size in six to eight months.
Open for fishing all year round, Moke Lake was a ''gorgeous place to fish and handy to Queenstown'' and was particularly popular with families in summer, he said.
Cromwell-based Fish and Game field officer Clare Morris, said the fishing season opened on October 1, while the back-country season, which took in fisheries such as the Greenstone, Caples and Lochy Rivers, would open on November 1.
There would be three rangers in the Queenstown area this season, up from two last season, which was a reflection of the growing number of anglers.
The rangers had to be ''good and bad guys'', educating and advising anglers as well as monitoring compliance.
