South Canterbury Report September 2008

The big day approaches. With October 1 looming the excitement mounts. Whilst the days of literally counting down the hours and hitting the river long before the crack of dawn on Opening Day are long gone the sense of anticipation is still there.

Its been an interesting winter with little rain early on despite substantial snowfalls on the ranges. A snowfall right to sea level in the weekend after Queens Birthday gave the ground a good soaking when it melted and was followed by some much needed rain. Lowland rivers have been subject to at least two substantial floods and the last one, just weeks ago actually did some damage, especially to the Opihi.

On a pre season foray just days ago I was quite shocked to discover that the access road I can normally travel a couple of kilometres on was bisected by a substantial portion of the river. That area of the river bore no resemblance to the one I fished at the end of the last season. The sheer ferocity of the flood is obvious with new channels cut and some quite well established pools filled in. However, experienced local anglers are quite adamant that the “blow-out” will be beneficial to the fishery. Time will tell.

The good news is that the small, lowland streams are flowing well for the first time in years. Hopefully, former gems like the Orari, Hinds and Pareora will be productive, at least for the first month or two of the season.

In the meanwhile salmon anglers wait with bated breath for the first runs into the Rangitata, traditionally the first in the region to fire up. Last season it was all happening during November with some truly memorable fish caught in the surf, especially. We also have fingers crossed for the return of the first McKinnons Creek progeny this season. A terrific voluntary effort from many South Canterbury anglers has seen the transformation of the old hatchery site. Work parties and fin clipping days have seen many thousands of healthy juveniles returned to the sea over the past three years to take their chances. If even a relatively small number return this year it will at least give an indication that things are on track. Meanwhile, most fishers will be concentrating on trout, for the first part of the season at least.

Hot tip. Last year I advocated fishing for sea-runs in the lower rivers early on, especially the Rangitata. As the lower parts of the CSI region have been rested during the month of September this may not be a bad idea again as the sea-run browns follow the whitebait. While the spring floods are due at any time the lower Rangitata holds a lot of excellent browns of sea-run origin that are catchable when conditions are right. The same applies to the Waitaki which holds terrific stocks of trout.

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

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