Fishing Reports index >April 2007

Mackenzie Country Fishing Report

Will Spry

Just when you thought the season was drawing to a close, the mayflies of the
region kick in and get the fish firing up again! Some great all day hatches
are becoming the main feature of the fishing through the Mackenzie Country,
with the Tekapo and Ahuriri Rivers firing up again, after a period of
lethargy late in March and early April.

After the end of the terrestrial season from a teeth chattering polar blast
in mid-March, we have enjoyed a bit of an Indian Summer, with some very mild
temperatures and little rainfall. Low rivers and warm temperatures seemed
to put the traditional late season mayflies down, until the frosts and
cooler days of mid-April. However, some cold snowy days and good frosts seem
to have sparked it all off again. Whilst the river mouths are a bit too low
to have good numbers of fish holding, a short walk upstream is producing
some great numbers of very feisty fish, with rise activity during the day
making the effort well worthwhile.

The Tekapo as mentioned is working back up again, and although anglers need
to be removing slime every few casts at times, the deeper riffles and runs
are producing good numbers of fish, ranging in size from 1/4kg to 2.5kg. 30
to 40 hookups for the day are not uncommon, so the action is on.

The high country rivers are also still fishing well, with lower numbers than
earlier in the season, but still plenty of vigour amongst the fish. And
again, the Waitaki is mainly running high, with plenty of Didymo to contend
with, although fly anglers seem to be finding it not too bad to work with,
(aesthetics of fishing excluded sadly) with good numbers and very strong
rugged fish testing tackle and angler alike.

Also on the Didymo front, sadly the good flush the Ahuriri River enjoyed
earlier in the season is starting to fade, as Didymo starts to re-bloom and
re-claims the rocks once more. Also I have had an unconfirmed report that
one of the hydro canals has had Didymo found in it and a recent confirmation
of Didymo in the Opuha River near Fairlie has saddened many anglers. Do be
vigilant and stay ruthless on the gear cleaning programs that you have
implemented.

All the best for the short remainder of the season and I'll look forward to
bringing you up to date towards the start of season 2007-08.

Will Spry is an independent fishing guide; his reports are not officially representative of Fish & Game NZ