Fishing News index> July 2007

Southland Fish and Game Fishing News June 2007

Floods in the North Island and frozen rivers in the south! Does anyone know of a reason why we don’t all emigrate to somewhere warm and dry for the winter. Needless to say the trout fishing over the past month has been slow. However I did hear of a Chinook salmon being caught in the lower Waiau below Tuatapere where the season is open all year. This must have been a young fish not yet ready to go to the sea. It is not the first salmon reported from the Waiau Lagoon where trout fishing is also quite good in the winter.

As August comes round the weather will improve and by the middle of the month, when the whitebait season gets underway trout will be starting to get interested in feeding again. Whitebaiters often have a line out with a worm or a smelt on it while they are waiting to catch some whitebait. It’s a good combination and provides a bit more interest for when the ‘bait are a bit scarce.

Whitebaiters fishing for trout must have a licence. Even if they believe they are trying to catch something else such as a flounder for example, a licence is needed. Recently a gentleman who said he was fishing for kahawai in the Waiau lagoon was fined for fishing with out a licence. The judge made it clear that persons fishing in freshwaters with gear that could catch a trout must have a fishing licence. Freshwaters includes lagoons and estuaries and river mouths out to 500 meters beyond the point where the river enters the sea.

The winter provides calm days and fly fishing around the margin of a lake can be rewarding as the days get a bit longer. The water temperature in lake margins is more comfortable for trout at this time of the year so they are likely to be there looking for something to restore their reserves as they begin another year.

Maurice Rodway

Manager.

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