Fishing Reports

 

Our big drought shows signs of ending as winter approaches. Warm water temperatures remain in Canterbury. Yesterdays Southerly storm brought a touch of snow to the mountain tops, so this should quickly change river water temperatures. Trout North Canterbury Fish & Game regions main season ended April 30th when all the High Country and most of the smaller low country waters closed. Fishing has been difficult but not impossible over the past month as brown trout felt the spawning urge. The lower reaches of the Rakaia, Waimakariri, Ashley, Hurunui and Waiau are open all season. Just South of Christchurch the Selwyn River is open from the Upper Selwyn Huts to Lake Ellesmere, and on the outskirts of Christchurch the South Branch of the Waimakariri is open downstream from Dickeys Road bridge. (See Fish & Game’s South Island Sports Fishing Regulations 2000 / 2001 for full regulation details). Some of Canterbury’s High Country lakes have a Winter Season starting on the first of June. These will be covered in later reports. Over the Winter it would be worth while fishing for rainbows on the Waimakariri from the Willows up to the gorge bridge using Tongariro nymphing techniques when the river is low and clear. Fish of 2 to 4 lbs can be expected with the possibility of much bigger fish from time to time. Waimakariri low flows are about 30 cu sec but the river will often remain clear up to some 80 cu secs. Even a modest rainbow can be a handful in these strong river flows. There is always the chance for resident fish in the estuarine reaches of the larger rivers. Many serious Canterbury angler’s will appear at Turangi over the next three or four months. Salmon By the end of April the accepted salmon run is over, but there is still the possibility of getting late fish coming into the rivers in May. This year’s absence of good freshes in the rivers since Christmas could well bring more late salmon than usual into the rivers following early winter storms. A few hardy anglers are likely to reap a justified reward (and will probably keep their success a secret). While many people put this seasons poor salmon run down to warn water temperatures out at sea, it is great to see Fish & Game and local Clubs and Anglers now rallying together to work towards restoring the fishery by improving as many contributing factors as possible. Some positive moves are under way with respect to smolt releases, protecting & developing spawning habitat, & where necessary modifying regulations to ensure sufficient breeding stock from each years run reach spawning habitat. Saltwater Colder sea temperatures have brought on the bottom fishing with some very good groper being caught out of Kaikoura and trumpeter off of Akaroa. Canterbury’s surf fishing is pretty quiet just now but some enthusiasts will be waiting for a spell of frosty weather here to sneak over to the West Coast for good land based fishing. Ramblings. I’ve just returned from a week or so fishing out of Te Anau. With low water levels and warm temperatures in the South, the rainbows have not yet entered the rivers in any numbers. Browns are spawning in some streams and have schooled up in larger holes in others. Mayflies were still on the water enabling us to catch a number of fish on dry flies & emergers. Small bead head nymphs were also successful. North Island readers might be surprised to learn that we fished for 8 consecutive days without getting rained on! For further information contact Malcolm & the boys at The Complete Angler 03 366 9885

 

From steve Smith

Report type: Saltwater and Freshwater

Report date: 16 May 01