Winter fishing on Central South Island Regions Rivers.

While the move to allow winter fishing in the lower reaches of several of the larger rivers in the regions was not without some controversy the supporters were enthusiastic and to add value to the anglers fishing licence a winter season was permitted.
 
Trying to find some winter river fishing information is difficult, and it appears that it is not a wildly popular pastime during the colder months. The few anglers who had taken advantage of the season in the Waitaki River report that although each caught several Brown trout they were “smallish” and the weather was cold.

To the north, Hamish Stevens comments similarly. “It  has been pretty quite up here not many going out but some who have ventured out have caught the odd fish in the Opihi, one rumoured to be around 6 pound. The hydro canals (near Twizel) have been fishing well, a local angler caught a heap of salmon (24) around 2-3 pound last time he was out but with the cost of fuel not many out of town people have been able to get up there.

With just over a month to go one wonders how many people take advantage of the lower river winter season. For the record the winter season applies to the Waitaki, Rangitata, Opihi, Ashburton Rivers downstream of State Higway 1 beginning on the 1st June , closing on the 31st August. Fishing methods are restricted to spinner and fly fishing only, bait fishing is prohibited during the winter season.

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