Trout are resilient critters!

Freshwater.

The 2021/22 freshwater season is underway, and the reports that we have had coming through so far this week have been encouraging. With opening being a Friday, plenty of punters took the opportunity to make a weekend of it, with many exploring new areas which is always great fun. It sounds like the flooding that occurred during the winter months has, in many cases, changed riverbeds from previous seasons. This can mean that some of your favourite holes or runs are gone, but it also means that others will have been created. Trout are very resilient critters, rest assured they will have weathered the storm and found that new hole to live in before you do!

Remember, the water is colder this time of year so most of the trout’s food will be taken beneath the surface, and post spawning they should be hungry and looking to put condition back on.

With school holidays upon us the canals, as normal, will get plenty of attention. This is a great spot to take the family and introduce them to fishing, somewhere like the Tekapo bowl is easy to access and can be effectively fished with spoons, bait, or soft baits.

The Ohau river also opened on f October 1, there are still plenty of late spawning rainbows up there so well worth the challenge of targeting these monsters on the fly. If you are heading to the Ohau river, please remember that you now require a back country endorsement on you licence to do so.

Whitebait. There have been some consistent catches in the Waimakariri for those that put in the effort and a little bit of time, and numbers increase in the Kaiapoi too. We should see bigger runs of bait later in the month as we head towards the full moon and bigger tides.

Saltwater. We are lucky down here that we are in Level 2 so we can use our boats and head out onto the briny and catch a feed. With some slightly more settled weather we have heard of good numbers of late season puka being caught out of Akaroa and those that have ventured north to Kaikoura have been into the cod and perch.

Moeraki has seen a few of our customers heading that way too, fantastic cod fishing as rule down there, and the best thing is you generally don’t have to travel too far, and you are fishing shallow so it can be a great place to try soft plastics and slow jigging techniques. The brightest note over the weekend was the confirmation of the first elephant fish of the season have been caught! I haven’t heard of any close to home, but down around Timaru has seen some early action! Time to get the rods dusted off, re-spooled if its required and the traces ready. Shellfish bait is the most effective, and like any fishing, fresh is best.

 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

https://www.facebook.com/ballingershf.co.nz