Thought I would kick off by cutting and pasting this post over. There's also some threads in the freshwater fission forum.
Well you could get a Crucis for 1/2 the price if you can find a shop in Aussie that will send to NZ. The Lox Yoshi could be had for the same price ordered direct from the manufacturer (same company, more upmarket line.) I'd have to say though that from your setups you must have something that works well without spending coin.
You can also catch them on bait, but where's the fun on that? I find that most bait fishermen seem to wait for hours between bites. A good soft baiter can cover more water.
What works best is gear as light as you can go. I use 4lb microfuse, 8lb fluoro leader (though bring some 4lb or 6lb if the water is extra clear.) and a range of 1/16 to 1/6 bream hooks. Use the lightest weight that will hit the bottom in a drift. 1/16th is my default and I will only go heavier if forced. I use 3inch gulps (pilchard works a treat on the salmon, but bring a variety and experiment: the wife caught a 14 pound brown on a 1/4 oz with a pumpkin seed brown.) Bring small hooks so there's plenty of wiggle in the bait. I set my drag so it will just let line out if I hold my rod by the line and let it dangle.
What most people I've seen there do wrong with soft bait is that want to spin it. Just let that bait drift to the bottom and work it just a little bit. Stay in touch and wait for the takes. Best places depend on the time of year so move around a bit, but I usually go to: Ohau C by the farms, Tekapo especially anywhere around the bowl for light gear, I also go to high country salmon and sneakily drop a bit of salmon food off the side of the net to see if anything comes up for it. If so I fish near the farm. You can also go to the Lake Ohau gates/Pukaki gates, or between where the Ohau flows into the Pukaki canal.
Last trip I caught many small ones above Ohau A powerstation, about 6 good sized ones in the bowl and the wife caught a 14 pound brown in Ohau C.
Complete Angler has Youtube videos which go through the basics. Well worth your time. One change is that from Oct 1 this year you are now allowed four fish total, including no more than two trout, or two salmon over 50cm. It used to be two of each.
Probably more detail here than you need judging by your posts on other threads, but others might pick up a thing or two. November is an excellent time to go I reckon. You can catch them at any time of the day, but if you don't have luck try going after dark to the bowl with a slightly longer shaft jighead and put a lumo bead up above the softbait. Worked very well for me and the other guy I saw doing it. I made a lumo bead by cutting a strip off a non scented lumo white soft plastic. He was using a pink glow tazzie and catching a lot but 'only keeping the ones over 6pound.'