Central South Island Region Update
Graeme Hughes

Although the holiday season is winding down, those who take their holidays a little later are enjoying fine weather but enduring some high temperatures . On several days temperatures have soared with mid 30’s not uncommon. This is affecting levels of smaller streams and fish activity or the lack of it is quite understandable. Fishing early morning and at night is a good ploy if one wants to be successful in these conditions.  Despite climatic difficulties the hydro lakes have continued to provide a staggering number of trout and salmon for the thousands that fish there.

With big flows in the Waitaki River over, for the time being, flowing at mid 300 cumecs has meant that angler access is back to about normal. At 950 cumecs most known access routes to major braids are impassable and as the islands and channels are battered by the current the lower reaches  of the river become very turbid and unfishable. The high flow has been called a “flushing flow” by some media and they have reported that the release of water was to assist Fish and Game , DOC and Environment Canterbury. While the flows were of benefit due to the  lack of high flows in recent years, it reached 800 cumecs in 2005, the fact remains that with the lakes full and with the levels becoming higher due to  the tributary inflows the hydro power managers had no option but to spill water. The effects were obvious to see when I took a jetboat ride down river at 370 cumecs  on Saturday 24th January. A clean stony substrate, clear of didymo was a great sight. In fact it was strange almost emotional  just to see what we had previously taken for granted, back again, albeit for an unknown period, until didymo growth smothers the riverbed again. Some of the islands we knew have gone and some of the drop offs which we fish have gone but there are knew ones to explore. All is clean and pristine, and although I repeat myself, just to see clean gravels and riffles on the Waitaki is quite an event.

The release of excess water from the Waitaki hydro lakes has cleared the lower Waitaki River of didymo, a huge benefit to anglers and fortuitously just as the salmon runs are about to begin

Environment Canterbury, when informed of the proposed increase in flow, began a cut in the shingle dune to facilitate an opening of the river mouth in line with the flow of the river.  Prior to the opening anglers had a 4.5 km journey north  to the mouth if leaving from the south mouth car park or 3.5 km from the north bank car park.  In its new location there is disappointment amongst some who point out that there is now a very limited area to fish and there won’t be enough room for the usual number of mouth anglers should the salmon begin their run upriver. 

The rivers to the north are producing salmon however the Waitaki runs have been slow to start. Fish and Game Officer Hamish Stevens has a keen interest in salmon and provides the following report.

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