Fishing News >September 2007

Fresh start to the season as winter floods hit the right spots.

North Otago waters have been pretty short on floods over the last couple of years, but this winter provided them with a real beaut! It has changed the face of a few pools in the Shag, Waikouaiti and Kakanui, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When you arrive at your favourite hole from last year and it’s filled in with gravel, it can be a bit distressing at first. But remember, rivers aren’t supposed to be static and floods are a natural and necessary occurrence. Debris and algal buildups are cleared and often new runs and pools can be even better than the ones they replaced. Also you may get a crack at that lunker that was always in the most impossible place to cast, before he finds a new safe haven.
Other waters, further inland had a fairly benign winter and we can expect a good crop of juveniles from this spawning to stand trout populations in good stead for the next couple of years. 

South and West Otago 
The Pomahaka River had a particularly easy ride through winter, with only a couple of minor freshes in the upper river. This is good news after a couple of fairly turbulent seasons, as it needs a bit of a settled period just to let pools form properly again. In South Otago the waters of the Catlins, along with the Waipahi and Waiwera got a pretty good flush out, but this will do them some good as they have stable beds and banks and can tend to get choked with weed if they don’t get some high flows each year. The water was clear and fish were already starting to rise when I looked at the Waipahi in early September, so insect life must be in good health. If conditions remain good the intensity of rise will only increase as waters warm through spring.

North Coast and Taieri River
As already mentioned the north coastal waters had a bit of a hum dinger flood in July, therefore it is hard to guess what fishing will be like, but don’t necessarily expect fish to be in he same places as last season, you may need to get to know these waters again. The Taieri only really got hit with flooding from Middlemarch and downstream. There have been some good searun fish taken on bait in late winter from the lower river and this is a good sign as these fish will move up the river as the season progresses. The Upper Taieri has been very stable and feeding patterns should be well established early in the season.

Central Otago and Southern Lakes
The winter has been fairly benign here as well; therefore all waters are in pretty stable condition. Lake Hawea is low as usual and there will be good opportunities for shore based anglers to catch brown trout cruising close to the bank. As the lake level drops, bullies are displaced from their hideouts and concentrated into the shallow water. This provides brown trout, hungry after spawning, with an easily caught, energy-rich food source to regain their condition. Fishing with a Monsum’s bully or muddler minnow is pretty exciting in spring, or, if you are spin fishing try a small 6g brass hexagon wedge which can be cast in front of cruising fish to good effect.

Look out for our weekly fishing reports, posted on our website (www.fishandgame.org.nz) every Thursday afternoon from the last week in September for up to date fishing conditions and tips.

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