Freshwater firing

The Easter break is upon us, and what a great time to be fishing if the weather plays the game, of course! Whilst the ocean has been a bit messy in the past two weeks, I did manage a quick trip up to Lake Coleridge and it didn’t disappoint!

Saltwater:

With limited opportunity for the boat anglers (close to home anyway) in the past fortnight it has been pleasing to see that the gurnard have still been giving the local surfcasters plenty of good feds off the beach. I know that I sound like a bit of a stuck record on the gurnard topic, but it also feels like the bite is running further into autumn this year too, so let's see what Easter Weekend brings for the beach angler. It is also turning to that time of year when the weather allows for fishing of Banks Peninsula for ‘puka, cod and trumpeter. As mentioned, this fortnight didn’t give too much scope, but the small window did see success out there, and from what we heard through the store, the numbers were good. Watch that weather and make the most of it. The kahawai numbers have been down a little from last year, but still enough to warrant the effort. The Waimak has still been the shining light locally and with such easy access makes it a great place to take the family, especially through the school holidays.

Freshwater:

It’s a great time to look at the canals. The trout are really starting to focus on eggs and think about spawning. I would still be looking closely at the cage areas with fish looking to put on condition. Also, don’t be afraid to fish at night. The upper Tekapo Canal is still open, closing at the end of May – a good chance to give the ‘magic carpet’ a run before this section closes. There has been a notable switch in activity in our high-country lakes with trout starting to build around the stream mouths. As mentioned earlier in this piece, I managed a visit to Lake Coleridge last week, and whilst it was windy, the fishing was great. My friend and I were softbaiting, and of note was the success we had at first light with bigger softbaits than I would normally use. A bigger profile bait like Berkley PowerBait Paddlestinger or the Rapala Heavy Hitter in 3” and darker shade silhouettes worked well in the low light and proved a hit! Once the sun got higher we did change to smaller baits and the good fishing continued. This approach will work well on our other lakes too, remembering to keep a varied jig head weight selection and if you choose to run a bigger bait a slighter bigger hook size is useful also.

Axel with a nice Coleridge rainbow trout he got before returning home to France this week.

I hope you all have a very fishy Easter, and get a chance to get on the water. 

We have a very active team of keen anglers in our Fishing Department, so please fire any questions our way and we will point you in the right direction to keep you on the fish. Please check out our Facebook page for more info on what we are up to in Canterbury.
Simon McMillan

Christchurch Hunting and Fishing New Zealand

75 Clarence Street, Addington, Christchurch

03 3430212

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