South Canterbury Report March 2008

Salmon continue to run up all the recognised Canterbury rivers in numbers unprecedented in the last decade, and most anglers who have put in the hours have had a fish or two to show for their efforts. Not only have the fish been prolific but they have been in outstanding condition. The writer took two on consecutive afternoons from the Opihi gut recently that verified this. Both were large, well-conditioned, “silver bullets” full of fight; truly magnificent fish.

Reports continue to come in of big days at one river or another, and just when it seems that the run is over another pod of silver beauties comes along to confound the theory. Rough seas have made life difficult for the surf fishermen some days but this has been more than compensated for by fish running the gut and becoming well distributed further upstream. From now on fish entering the river mouths will have nothing but spawning on their minds and will not be inclined to hang around long in any one spot so they can show up anywhere. In his wonderful book Salmon Fever, Ross Millichamp advises fishing the less likely looking pockets and backwaters at this stage of the season as fish will often hold briefly in such places before continuing the run up-river. He also advises using smaller lures and lighter line when river levels drop and the water becomes very clear.

This season many anglers from outside the district have enjoyed success, with quite a few catching their first salmon. With Easter falling early this year there is still time to catch the fish of a lifetime before the season ends in our region on March 31. Be aware that the regulations vary from region to region and make sure that you have your licence on you as rangers have been checking regularly this season.

On my last trout fishing foray to the Opihi, the river was deserted and the fishing excellent. It was a bright, sunny day and fish of all sizes just jumped onto small, beadhead nymphs. Fast water nymphing comes into its own on such days and surprises are in store, with some fish holding in quite fast, shallow water. Tiny, mid-stream pockets have also produced the goods. Strangely, surface activity has been sparse, but more than compensated for with some excellent nymphing. The fishing has been hard though, on dull, windy days when the barometer has been falling. It’s a case of pick your conditions well.

Hot Tip: Whilst the main focus of attention has been on the salmon run in the Rangitata this season my Oamaru informants tell me that the Waitaki is now producing very well too. The Waitaki fish always run later than most other rivers and typically are bigger as well.

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

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