South Canterbury Report

Graeme Marshall

Canterbury anglers have been frustrated by weeks of dull, grey days, making sight fishing difficult at times. On the positive side, a lack of strong wind has been a compensating factor. The Ashburton, Temuka and Opihi are fishing well, despite water levels dropping quickly in the last few days. This week has seen a return to near perfect summer conditions with gentle upstream breezes and sunshine, once the morning mist clears. The writer has experienced some superb but challenging fishing on local streams in recent days. The fish appear to be concentrated in two distinct areas – right up in the fast water, where small, well weighted nymphs fished blind are doing the job, and further back in the long runs where some great sport is to be had employing tiny (#18/20) emergers and dry flies. Accurate casting and very fine, long leaders are essential. The fish will not look at anything tied on tippets greater than 5X. Look sharp when they head for the willows!

Salmon are still being caught in the surf at the Rangitata mouth and fish are well distributed up-river. The best fishing is to be had at dawn and dusk as water levels are dropping quickly and the water is the clearest it has been all season. Up-river anglers need to target deeper pools where fish are likely to hold before moving on up. The writer took a salmon on the third cast using a 12 gram zed spinner a few days ago.

The Opihi mouth has produced a few fish, mainly in the surf but has yet to really come on. Ironically, after one of the wettest springs and early summers on record, a bit of rain would now be welcome.

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