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Fishing the Hydro canals near Twizel
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Im heading down there in June. I presume fishing around the salmon farm is the best spot? Any other tips or spots? Im a spin fisher, so will try that, but may take some shrimps and try some bait fishing - as seen in latest fish and game mag. best way to rig for canal using bait? any tips help is much appreciated.
Not sure there are too many bait fishers in here mate.
If you fly fish though, there are some really BIG fish that cruise the edge.
This is a photo of a salmon I hooked but that was too good for me on 4lb tippet.
I had him on for a while before he buried me.
It would have been about 9kg's plus.
Just behind it to the left, you can also see a big brown trout that was trying to chase him off. This brown was easy double figure itself.
It's great fishing there, but can get busy over weekends.
Take something warm - that wind slices right through you to the bone.
"Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught,will we realize that we cannot eat money" - 19th Century Indian Creed
Thanks, I spin fish, just saw in a article how people use shrimps. Thanks for the info.
80% or more of those fishing will be using bait mostly prawns or
huhu grubs.
Rig is very much like a sea rig ie running line with a fairly heavy
sinker to combat the current using a small float on the trace to
lift the bait above any weed or suchlike on the bottom or alternatively
use a ledger rig altho does not seen to work quite as well for some
reason.
As with softbaiting will need to re cast each time the current has taken
your bait well downstream by which time it will probably have collected
weed anyway.
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
Thanks Bazza.
So without wanting to sound thick, I dont understand the float part? So under the float I should have 3 or so meters of line with my hook and sinker attached?
Im fimiliar with the ledger rig. Wonder why that doesnt work so well?
 TheWonderStuff wrote:Thanks Bazza. So without wanting to sound thick, I dont understand the float part? So under the float I should have 3 or so meters of line with my hook and sinker attached?
Im fimiliar with the ledger rig. Wonder why that doesnt work so well? |
No the sinker rolls along the bottom & the small float is maybe 200mm below the bait
on the trace so as to raise the bait off the bottom away from weed. A tiny bubble float
or suchlike would be ideal but I did not have one so improvised with a small chunk of
that white plastic foam stuff used for refrigerated packaging etc. The float will remain
submerged held down by the sinker & only needs to provide enough buoyancy to keep
the bait above the weed.
Yeah .... in theory a ledger rig should acheive the same but suspect the drag in the line
towards the start & end of the drift is prone to dragging the bait down also seems to
collect more weed .... altho does catch fish at times.
They do catch fish spinning altho I have never seen it happen & given the incredible rate
of water flow your drift is over in a flash even moreso if flyfishing.
I watched about 8 guys from a fishing club spin & flyfish for almost 6 hrs. without any of
them taking a fish yet maybe 18 or 20 were taken on bait in that time ... my two included.
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
And don't forgot ya deckchair Wonderstuff! It's classic the canals, like a Sunday gathering at the beach... surf casters, 6oz weights, rod holders, 30lb nylon, music blearing, people fishing out the window of their campervans... it's brilliant entertainment!
Awesome pic Jappie, that's a beast brown right there...
Awesome pic Jappie, that's a beast brown right there...
Yep it is much as FF describes but is amazing how quickly a purist
can be corrupted when others are catching.
The first time I only went out of curiosity to have a look & thougt
"How bloody pathetic as a flyfisher I would NEVER lower myself to
fish like that!" whereupon the guy adjacent hooked & landed a
salmon.
Was halfway thru lunch when he landed another one & that did it
.... could not rig up my sea rod quick enough & went on to land two.
Have only been back once & again caught two but like any fishing is
subject to quiet spells then something or other seems to trigger a
sudden burst of activitywhich is likely to stop as fast as it started.
Good Luck
I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
Thanks for the info. Oh yeah, Ill bring a deck chair. Only been trout fishing for about 2 months, but as I travel for work I have got around. Last week I was down in the Nelson region and had a decent brown get away from me on the Pelorious(sp) River, man, he ran, then twisted his head when I had worked my way down to him and slipped away. Had a go on Argyles Pond too. Bring the mossie repelant.
Auckland based and got my first trout at Wilsons dam, much to my wifes surprise. Then got a rainbow down in the waikato, just south of Cambridge(Karapiro dam).
Down to Dunedin next week, down to Invers, then across to Queenstown. Alot of rivers closed, but still some good options I see. In the process of finding a 4 piece rod(think Ill go for a Daiwa) as Air NZ like to charge for your 3rd piece of luggage.
Want to head up to the Kai iwi lakes comp to in July.
| bazza wrote: .... could not rig up my sea rod quick enough & went on to land two.
|
I think I may need a sturdy rod too? Ill keep the rod im using for this trip, my new 4 piece (when I get it)could be a little flimsy for these monsters? Ill use 9lb line.
I enjoy the scenery of freshwater fishing, but saw this article and thought I had might as well give the canals a crack as I had a oppotunity to do so.
Hopefully Ill be able to post some photos of some river(canal) monsters next month!
The article was written by a friend of mine, Martin Simpson, he's recently started fishing the canals, but is already a wealth of knowledge on them and the method's that work, 5 minutes talking to him will put you on a much faster learning curve! Let me know if you'd like his contact details, he's always willing to share and it's not exactly a secret location!
You'd be surprised at the size of the fish you can land on light spin gear, every year we land Salmon averaging 10-12lbs up to 18-20lbs on trout gear with 3lb braid and 8lb leaders. Softer rods especially are brilliant at taming large fish.
You'd be surprised at the size of the fish you can land on light spin gear, every year we land Salmon averaging 10-12lbs up to 18-20lbs on trout gear with 3lb braid and 8lb leaders. Softer rods especially are brilliant at taming large fish.
| flyfisher wrote: Let me know if you'd like his contact details, he's always willing to share and it's not exactly a secret location! |
Yes please
blue and white toby for the salmon, 17 gram hex wobbler painted balck, the two flat sides panted red with black stripes for the trout. ended up with 28 salmon and 2 good browns for 3 days fishing (20 minutes spinning with the hex wobbler for the two browns)
some big big fish there, go to the salmon farm and feed them,my first thought was kingfish 
then i remembered where i was haha
Yeah, I remember a few years back feeding some salmon down there.
Might keep a couple of the bait pallets for the hook 
youd'd have a better chance chucking a 5/0 gammy through the back of one of the salmon
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