Fishing News index>May 2007

The Season That Was and the Winter to Come

Richard Fitzpatrick, Fish & Game Officer

If I had to pick the top 3 highlights for the fishing season just past they would be salmon, sea run trout and Lake Dunstan rainbows, the later which is still providing fantastic fishing and will do for another couple of months.

How long is it since salmon anglers have had the kind of success that was enjoyed, pretty much across the board, this summer? You would have to go back to the mid 90s to find a better run. It started in spring with rumours of good catches off the entrance to Otago Harbour. A story made it into the Otago Daily Times and pretty soon everyone with a boat was trolling around a short distance out to sea and having great success. But unlike the short-lived runs of recent times this bonanza just kept getting better, right through the Xmas holidays, through February and it wasn’t until mid March that the fishing slowed. The rivers didn’t produce as many salmon as the harbour, but, if you were prepared to put the time in there were certainly fish to be caught in the Clutha, Taieri and probably most of all the Pomahaka. Not to mention the good fish that were taken from February onwards in the Leith.

Sea run trout were a feature of the spring in the lower Taieri and Lower Clutha, with some of the best fishing for a long time on the porina grub or spinner. As summer moved on so did the sea runs, on upstream and it wasn’t long before rafts of fish could be seen in the big pools of the upper Pomahaka. Unfortunately they did ‘mob up’ earlier than usual and were therefore quite tricky to catch. But it was certainly nice to see them in such good numbers and I do know of a few double figure lunkers being caught.

Lake Dunstan produced some magnificent rainbows when it was first filled in the early 90s, but a spate of large flood events through the mid and late part of that decade slowed the growth of fish and while there were plenty to be caught, the size and condition was often a bit disappointing. Not this year. These fish are back to their best with rainbows of 3kg and bigger not uncommon at present and they are in awesome condition! Most of these fish are being taken in the Clutha Arm of the lake near the head, and also in the upper Clutha River just upstream of the lake. As the winter goes on more of these fish will head upstream towards spawning areas, but fishing should continue to be good right through to late winter.

Elsewhere in the region, the next 2 months are probably the quietest time for anglers, as estuary fishing goes off a bit with most adult fish away spawning. Late July always sees the return of not only tired hungry fish from spawning, but a fresh lot of maiden fish anticipating the arrival of whitebait. Some of the post-spawning fish or ‘kelts’ are a bit worse for wear, but many seem to return pretty unscathed and regain condition quickly. August and September are always good months for targeting the lower reaches of the Taieri, Tokomairiro and Clutha with Spin or bait gear especially. The Clutha also holds a bit of a bonus for fly anglers as mayfly hatches intensify, especially around the Balclutha to Clydevale reaches. On calm late winter days the rise is generally from about lunchtime through until 3pm or so, but may be longer or shorter depending on the temperature on the day.

So there’s still some life in that old licence yet, it’s up to you to make the time and get amongst it!

Tight lines!

Back to Reel Life May 2007