South Canterbury Report

Graeme Marshall

The salmon bonanza continues – for some. The Rangitata especially continues to fish well with fish of good size now well distributed throughout the river. In the ideal world anglers would refrain from disturbing fish near the upper limit to allow them to go forth and multiply. Besides, many of these fish are now quite dark and lacking condition – mediocre eating at best.

A few salmon are being caught at the Opihi mouth most days with good numbers of frustratingly difficult fish occupying Milford lagoon. The writer observed a young chap landing his first salmon, a beauty too, on the north side just above the gut recently. Whilst seemingly under control initially it made a run down into the gut which was flowing very swiftly at the time. Eventually though it was dragged back upstream inch by inch and finally landed, much to everyone’s relief. It was a proud and happy angler with a grin a mile wide that made his way back along the spit.

Perhaps the most underrated stream this season is the Ashburton. My informants tell me that good numbers have gone up-river when the mouth has been open.

Anglers need to be aware that the salmon season finishes at the end of March. While there are some grumblings regarding this early closure it needs to be realised that the regulation was set in place in response to a succession of poor seasons. Hopefully the good run this season will be reflected in more fish being available in future years.

Some terrific brown trout are showing up in the Rangitata. The writer observed a pod of nine large fish gorging off the top at the tail of a run near Arundel recently. Most of these fish were in the 3 –4 kg range and appeared to be on caddis. An Elk Hair caddis pattern would probably have produced results, but being armed with salmon gear I could only ogle them. There will still be plenty of opportunities after the salmon season ends.

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