Winter Lake Fishing Options in Canterbury by Peter Langlands

The extended winter season has been in place now since 1995 allowing anglers the opportunity to fish a variety of waters from the coastal estuaries to high-country lakes.

In my opinion the winter season offers the best fishing during the months of August and September. There are several reasons for this, but most importantly the water temperature starts to creep up at this time of year. Rainbow trout are congregating close to stream mouths prior to their spawning runs and the browns are starting to feed again in earnest.

The winter season in North Canterbury goes from June until the end of September, although several locations close at the end of August, such as Lake Coleridge.

Late winter and early spring is a magical time to be in the high-country with snow on the mountaintops. The days are frequently calm and offer relaxing fishing and great conditions for sight-fishing the edges.

I have been avidly fishing the winter season since 1995 and as each season goes by I learn a little more, along with my small band of hardy winter-angling companions. Each season I also checkout a new location or two so the sense of discovery keeps winter angling ever challenging.  Also the weather is different each winter. As I write at the end of June in Christchurch I look out over white, frost covered rooftops. This winter is a bit of a shocker and certainly more severe than those we have experienced in the last five years. I feel happy writing this article in a heated room and shudder to think about a friend of mine who will be braving the icy shores of the Ahuriri Arm on Lake Benmore as I write. Still, fortune favours the brave.

When and where

Let’s look at some specific options to get you started. We still have a couple of months of the winter season to go (August and September). September is a great time to fish the winter season as it is right before the main season (October to April), so many anglers flag this month away. But a few clever fishers have a ball at locations such as Lake Benmore, stalking the edges. They often land up to a dozen fish a day. September is also a great month as it is usually not plagued by the dreaded nor’wester.

Anyway, let’s get down to the places and methods that have worked for me that I would like to share with you.

Close to home

Lake Taylor has a very healthy population of brown trout.  Most of the fish are around the one-kilogram mark. From mid-August onwards they cruise the lake margins in pursuit of bullies and dragonfly nymphs. The lake has a stony shoreline, so stalking is a favoured method if it is a clam day. There is a nice sheltered embayment on the lake also, which is a good option if the wind picks up. Try drifting a black and peacock under a large elk hair caddis indicator over the weed bed.  A heavily weighted damselfly nymph is highly effective for blind fishing.

Nearby Loch Katrine offers a similar fishing experience. The deeper waters of the lake’s eastern and northern shoreline favour the use of a slow sinking line. Try a size 8-10 Hammill’s Killer or Mrs Simpson. A 4WD is required to reach Loch Katrine over the winter months.

Both of these lakes are suited to spin fishing. A small black Toby, black and gold Tasmanian Devil (use the smaller sized ones for best results) or sinking Rapala are highly effective. Spin fishing can be a good method when the nor’wester kicks in. You can fish along the shoreline where the waves wash in the food.

Remember: these are brown trout lakes so keep your line light — say 2kg.

Just over the hill, Lake Sumner offers winter fishing mainly for browns cruising the edges. The lake is also open to boats and trolling can be effective.

Heading south, the next lake we encounter is Lake Pearson. Pearson is a beautiful hourglass-shaped lake. It is quite a shallow lake with dense weed beds so its supports a healthy trout population.  Since State Highway 73 travels along the lakes western shore, it gets a bit of attention from anglers passing by. 

The lake is exceptionally low this winter and it is possible to walk around the lake’s entire stony shoreline — a great chance to stalk cruising browns. Browns from 1-1.5 kg can be seen cruising the edges. The fish are a little trickier to catch here than in the previous lakes. Keep your flies small and use tippet no heavier than 1.7kg (in technical terms 4-6x lines are best). I like to use small water boatman and soft-hackle nymphs when sight fishing the edges. Size 16 flies work well for me, but if the trout are shy you can go down to size 18.
Fishing during dusk with a small Mrs Simpson, Hammill’s Killer or Black Woolly Bugger is also highly effective — but make sure that you move around and cover the water.

Pearson also holds a reasonable number of rainbows, although the catches of rainbows seem to have declined in recent years. When targeting rainbows I like to drift in my dinghy and cast out heavily weighted woolly buggers or spin fish using a small Rapala. 

My favourite parts of the lake are the Flock Hill Bank and the lake’s eastern shoreline (the part of the lake furthest away from the road!).

Lake Lyndon would have top be my pick of winter fishing locations in North Canterbury. Being only an hour’s drive from Christchurch, it is also the most accessible lake during the winter season and makes a great half-day angling option.

Lyndon only has rainbow trout. Dense oxygen weed beds nurture a thriving food source for the trout. From mid-August onwards trout move close into shore, with the best angling being in late September. When the lake is low the rainbows can bee seen cruising the lake’s margins (these fish are usually out deep in the summer), so sight fishing becomes a viable option.

Over the last few years the average size of the trout has crept up to 1.2kg and fish up to 2kg are taken. But the fish have also got a little harder to catch, so keep your flies small and use light line. Again, size 14-18 nymphs will take fish, especially when fished under an indicator during the day.

Little glo-bugs fished under an indicator or to sighted fish are effective. I usually use a size-6 glo-bug in Lyndon.

In the late afternoon there is quite often a mayfly hatch. A size 12-16 Adams will take rising fish once the sun sinks over the ridge. Small midge “buzzer” patterns should also be tried if you see trout dimpling the surface.
During the evening a small green woolly bugger does it for me. Use a heavily weighted fly along the deeper parts of the shoreline. After dark the rainbows will enthusiastically hit a lumo fly.

Just down the road from Lyndon is Lake Coleridge. Coleridge offers fantastic angling in August. Recent regulation changes have stopped fishing at Coleridge in September. 

If you are after a big rainbow then the areas of shoreline in the vicinity of the Ryton and Harper Rivermouths are the places to try.  Night angling with lumo flies is the way to go, and the darker the night the better. If it is windy use a type-2 sinker to put your flies through the surface chop. Woolly Buggers are also effective and if it is calm you can use them in combination with a lumo fly. The occasional salmon is also taken on lumo flies, especially just before dawn. 

Sight-fishing the shallow flats around the Harper River mouth during calm conditions is a great way to target rainbows. Trolling is a highly effective way of catching a mix of rainbows and salmon in Coleridge during August. When trolling keep your boat speed slow — say around 1.5 knots and use-diving lures or downriggers to put your gear into the strike zone.

If it gets a bit windy on Lake Coleridge, Lake Selfe is only a breath away. Selfe has a good population of browns, but they are bloody hard to catch. Fish and Game stocked the lake with rainbow trout. Over the last few winter seasons rainbows from 1.5- 3 kg have been taken from Selfe. Try fishing a heavy lure off the shingle fan on the far side of the northern part of the lake. Sinking lines can help put your fly into the strike zone.

Fishing lumo flies off the beach at the eastern end of the lake is also effective for rainbows in August.  Don’t expect to catch many fish in Selfe — but if you do hook up, the rainbows are hard fighting and sometimes very big! Lake Selfe is also a very scenic lake.

It is along way south to the next lake that has a winter season. Lake Alexandrina is only open during June and July. The lake offers good winter angling for rainbows, but by the time you read this article it will be closed — still, file it away for next year.

MacKenzie Country

Now we venture into the realm of the Mackenzie Country.  Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki, Ohau and Benmore are open all year round. Yet the only lake I have fished regularly in the winter is Lake Benmore. It is at a lower altitude than the others, so the trout are more active there. It is also a shallower and therefore more productive lake.

If you have access to a motorised boat then the world is your oyster as there are miles of lonely shoreline to check out. Benmore is a great lake to fish in August and September. Good numbers of gullible browns cruise the edges — just cast a small black and peacock in front of them and the rest should be history, provided you make a delicate cast.

You can drift in a small boat across the deltas (of the Tekapo, Ohau and Ahuriri Rivers) and cast to cruising browns and rainbows. Blind fishing the stony edges with a variety of lures is also effective — especially where there is a narrow, stony edge plunging away into a deep weedbed.

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