Fishing Reports index> April 2008

North Canterbury Fishing Report Friday 4th April 2008

Steve Terry
Fish & Game Officer

As the salmon season draws to an end, many anglers believe this years salmon run was the best seen in more than ten years. Many anglers have packed their fishing gear away until next season, however one of the few spots still worth a look this late in the season is the lower Waimakariri River around McIntosh’s Rocks and the mouth, where anglers are still catching a few salmon each day, however nowhere near as many as they were getting a couple of weeks ago where 30 to 40 were being caught some days in these lower reaches. The salmon run in the Waimakariri River is later than the other rivers and anglers still have a week or two left before things quieten off in the Waimak.

All the North Canterbury rivers have been very low and clear for much of the last two months and salmon fishing has slowed right off in most of the rivers. The main rivers had a small fresh last weekend following rain in the alps but flows have quickly receded back to low flow levels. With nor-west rain forecast in the Southern Alps over the weekend, hopefully the rivers come down in another fresh later in the weekend and trigger salmon movement.

Reports I have heard indicate that there are still reasonable numbers of salmon in the upper reaches of the rivers below the white posts and fishing in both the Rakaia and Waimakariri Gorges has been yielding a few salmon for keen anglers in recent weeks, although these are becoming increasingly harder to catch as the season comes to an end. The Waiau and Hurunui Rivers have quietened right off now with only the odd salmon caught in recent weeks.

Salmon fishing in the Groynes fishing lakes has slowed off also but anglers are still catching the odd salmon in the lake closest to the Clearwater golf course. The best bet for parents wishing to take their kids for a fish is at first and last light using any of the authorised methods.

Good luck over the weekend.