Andrew Harding shares his tips for fishing the trout opening season in New Zealand...

The anticipation of heading to a favourite stream on October the 1st that’s been untouched for six months makes December 25th seem almost mundane in comparison! However, I’ve come to the realisation that early season, where I live in Wellington anyway, is usually utterly poop! The reality is that it’s always freezing cold, windy, and wet, and the fish generally aren’t feeding due to said temperatures. And to make matters worse, after a long hiatus of sight fishing to fickle browns over the winter months in favour of wildly striking at massive shuttle-clock indicators in the central North Island, in my haste to get ‘on the board’ early season, when I do eventually find a fish I usually blow the strike before the poor trout has even looked at the fly!

Thankfully, the rest of the country can be quite different, Southland comes to mind with its plethora of stunning, trout-filled streams and endless angling opportunities around every bend, the experience often marred however by stumbling across other anglers with similar intent, the waiting in anticipation at the first hint of sunrise, ruined by approaching car headlights, or the distant whiff of a campfire from further upstream. Therein lies the biggest issue with early season frustrations: angling pressure. But there are some steps you can take to minimise this.

Firstly, is it absolutely necessary to run for the hills? The New Zealand fly fishing scene has a very narrow-minded view that the backcountry is solely where the magic happens… it isn’t. In fact, I’ll wager any day if you want uncrowded fishing and big numbers of trout, stick to the lowland rivers and those rivers and streams that enter a large lake system. Here, you’ll always be guaranteed larger numbers of fish propped up from a massive pool of run-fish, eager to feed and pack on condition after spawning. And then there are so often over-looked lakes! New Zealand is dotted with them in every nook and cranny and virtually all hold trout.

I personally love fishing lakes early season, uncrowded, and often great fishing without the pressure. Find a lake with a decent stream inflow or overhanging vegetation and you can have some fantastic early season fly fishing. Lake Otamangakau, ‘The O,’ is a favourite early season spot – the fish are simply massive. Last season, the browns were averaging a whopping 4kg (8.8lb)! The latest trap data from DOC just out suggests that ‘The O’ will again have a bumper year on huge fish, with many double-figure fish through the traps. However, ‘The O’ can be a desolate, cold and inhospitable place early season – even moreso now with DOC’s earlier September 1st opening date, a measure put into effect to counteract the lake’s closure through February coinciding with high water temps and an apparent high mortality rate on caught-and-released trout. Although I personally have my doubts this is a factor that warrants a total closure for the month. And don’t forget neighbouring central North Island waterways, you know… those rivers you only hear about for six months of the year.

If you want sheer numbers of good-sized trout on a stunning uncrowded waterway early season then look no further than the Tongariro River! Come October 1st, the hordes of anglers hell-bent on chasing winter chrome have departed for the holy grail of back country fisheries in the South Island, leaving the Tongariro River void of anglers and arguably the BEST fishing of the year! Sure, you will encounter darker, coloured-up fish, but also fresh chrome rainbows, and browns of epic proportions mixed amongst them as well! Over the past 35 years of fishing this river, I have witnessed a gradual creep of spawning activity right through until December! Yes! Run fish can be VERY prolific in October and November, in fact, I would say the last few years, these months have seen the peak of the runs. What’s even better is that without angling pressure, these fish will generally lie very shallow resulting in some fantastic shallow-water sight fishing opportunities. Picking off these individual fish is a pure joy, you can put that 8 and 9-weight away and bust out the 5-weight, or lighter gear, scale down everything and enjoy some of the best, uncrowded sight fishing New Zealand has to offer.

Early-season trout behaviour can be totally dependent on water temperatures and fluctuations, anything under 10 degrees can make them downright sluggish in feeding behaviour; above this mark, and often during the heat of the afternoon, feeding activity can ramp up nicely. Don’t forget the afternoon hatches. Sporadic in nature, these can occur out of the blue at any time, Southland’s Mataura and Waikaia case in point. So be well prepared, make sure you have some emerger, and small #16 mayfly patterns such as a Parachute Adams in your box at the ready., I generally fish a dry-dropper combo exclusively early season on sighted and blind fish, so often a trout will happily grab a dry when you least expect it, so why not double up on your chances? There is nothing worse than seeing a large fish turn up towards your indicator, only to turn away at the last second.

Temperatures can be pretty chilly through October, trout will expend as little energy as possible, so look for them in quieter pools, slower margins and tail-outs. It is not until water temps warm substantially you will find them in well-aerated, broken water feeding. Often early season is about getting deep and getting there fast. Don’t be afraid to use split-shot on deep fish or two heavily weighted tungsten nymphs. Browns, often lazy and lethargic in the cold water by nature, you will really need to get to their level to induce a strike. One thing I have witnessed season after season as well is the pulling power of a big spider pattern – both floating and sinking varieties. These large visible flies have a habit of pulling the most stubborn fish from the depths to engulf them! Although they are tricky to fish unless you can see your quarry, or fish one blind through likely-looking water suspended under a small, neutral-coloured indicator. Early-season fish typically tend to not be indicator-shy until the onset of the more pressured months, so don’t be afraid to use one to aid in detecting the fly being taken sub-surface.

Dirty water is a real possibility early season, and this is where large streamers really shine! No, you don’t need specialised sinking lines to fish them effectively, you will gain far better control and a visual clue of where you streamer is by fishing them on a weight forward floating line. It is an extremely visible form of fly fishing when a large fish turns on your streamer and chargers it right at your feet! Note: This is not a method recommended for those anglers with a weak ticker! Often, the bigger the fly, the better. Black is a stand-out colour in every regard in dirty water and the pulsing motion that massive articulated streamers have is an irresistible enticement for large, early season browns especially. Casting these articulated monstrosity’s can be challenging, however the good part is your leader can be as short as 4-6 feet in length and up to 12lb in breaking strain, it also doesn’t necessarily need to be tapered. Much like Tongariro nymphing… there is zero transfer of energy through the leader, you are solely relying on weight and bulk of the fly to carry the leader along its path.

Opening up your loop is beneficial, and fast, stiff-actioned rods certainly help with the wind resistance factors at play casting such heft. Trout don’t really like a presentation of a large streamer fished down onto them in the direction of flow, such as when casting upstream and stripping a streamer directly back down, it’s unnatural… I mean how often does a baitfish swim TOWARDS its prey, instead, try and get above your target if it is visible and cast and strip a large streamer across the nose of the trout. A presentation style that often gets them chasing and hitting. Many years ago, I landed a huge brown in the Matakitaki out of Murchison in the South Island, casting down onto the massive fish, stripping the streamer across his nose, he charged… and didn’t stop! Running out of room to strip any further with the tippet already through the tip guide, I lifted the fly out of the water… the trout in hot pursuit and totally focused on the eat would stop at nothing, not even deviating an inch from its course… instead running its massive bulk straight up onto the gravel where I simply bent down, grabbed its wildly thrashing tail and lifted it for a quick photo! No fly, or hookup required on that one!

One other really important early season tip: don’t forget your license! Do your bit to further the excellent work Fish & Game do in this country, it’s already been a scary year with the proposed Natural and Built Environment Act reform that looked set to exclude Fish & Game from managing our unique fisheries and even more worryingly, not even recognise the importance of Trout and Salmon as a Kiwi way of life and major tourist drawcard!

Remember to pack for any weather eventuality and let someone know where you are going. PLBs are an inexpensive lifesaver should you be caught out in the elements. Enjoy your season opening! I know I will despite likely falling over, freezing my butt off and, as usual, catching no fish such as my last few openings. But hey, it’s such a special time of year on all our angling calendars and we can all be smug in the knowledge it will only get better from here on in! 

October 2023 - Andrew Harding
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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