The annual salmon run goes for much longer than many people realise. Although the best fishing is generally in January and February, there are some fish in the river for at least two months either side. Most salmon anglers give up for the season because they are sick of it, rather than because the runs have dried up. I really enjoy salmon fishing at the start of the season, especially during the months of November and December when the fish are big and I am super-keen after the winter layoff. By the end of February I have generally had enough and am happy to put the rods away for the season.

This year [1999-2000] was a little different for a couple of reasons: for a start the salmon run has been below average this year and I have not been out as much as usual during the prime months. Secondly the big boss and some colleagues were down from the North Island for a meeting and wanted to tack a day of salmon fishing onto the end. The day in question was late in March and unfortunately the Rakaia was getting a bit on the clear side. However, it was the only time that they would all be here together so we just had to make the best of it.
I had not fished the Rakaia for a couple of weeks and so chose to start at the gorge bridge where there is always good boat launching. A mate had given me instructions on getting to a pool near Lowe's Cutting where he had caught salmon a few days earlier. Salmon fishing pools are notoriously difficult to pick from the surrounding water. At times you can find what appears to be a great piece of water and yet for some reason the salmon choose to by-pass it. When you know of a pool where salmon have been previously caught you have a much greater chance of success. With this is mind I decided to head straight to Phil's pool, ignoring everything else on the way, no matter how great it looked.

Halfway to Lowe’s Cutting we ran into problems with ground fog, which is a curse when trying to navigate a highly braided river at 50 kilometres per hour. It got so thick that I could only see twenty metres in front of me and was forced to pull in to the shore and wait it out. After half an hour of fishing the piece of fast water where we had been forced to stop, the fog lifted a little and we were able to resume the search for a more likely pool. As we neared Lowe's Cutting we entered low cloud once again and shot past Phil's pool without knowing we had arrived. However, a short distance down the river I was able to recognise a landmark, regain my bearings and return to our intended destination.

The pool was exactly as Phil had described — a fast run against a scrubby bank on a side stream on the south side of the river. At first appearances it did not appear likely but clearly fish were moving through it based on Phil's success a few days earlier.

We fished through the pool once, gave it a rest and then went through again. The river was now clearer than it had been when Phil had fished it and it was possible that the bulk of the salmon were taking a different route. By now the fog had lifted to reveal a fine day with the Southern Alps providing a stunning backdrop. Best of all was the total absence of wind — a rarity on Canterbury braided rivers. We continued down the river fishing a number of pools but without success. At the start of the day I had explained to my guests that we did not have a great chance of catching a fish as it was late in the season and the salmon run had been below average. That knowledge, and the great weather, somehow shifted the focus from catching fish to just enjoying a pleasant day on a scenic river. By early afternoon we were heading back upstream toward the trailer, stopping to fish any likely piece of water we saw on the way. One of those stops was back at Phil's pool where we spent some time trying to catch a rising salmon. Sadly, after an hour, it was clear that it was not tempted by anything we had to offer and so we moved on.

At about 3pm we stopped in at what had to be our final pool of the day, due to the 5:30 bookings Bryce and Company had for their flights back north. This pool was one that I had looked at on the way down but had bypassed in order to reach Phil's pool before the sun was on the water. It was deeper and faster than most of the other pools we had fished, a good sign when the water is getting too clear. However, I was still most surprised when a salmon grabbed my zed spinner toward the bottom of my run through. Why it had ignored the offerings of the two guys who preceded me through the pool is a mystery but I was not about to complain.

As with most of the salmon this season, this fish was not particularly big and was soon on the bank. While it was a pity that one of the others had not caught the fish, it was good that they at least saw one being caught. A short time later we were back at the gorge bridge and trailering the boat for the trip back into town.

Days such as this reinforce the old saying that there is a lot more to fishing than catching fish. The wild nature of the river, the stunning scenery, the benevolent weather, the almost complete lack of other anglers (we saw only two in twenty kilometres of river!) were all poignant reminders of what angling is about. The fact that we caught a nice fish despite the river conditions, prevailing salmon ran and stage of the season being against us was just another bonus on a great day on the water.

A blast from the past! This article originally appeared in NZ Fisherman magazine – May – 2000