Fishing News index > September 2006

Southland Fish and Game Fishing News September 2006

We’ve had a pretty long cold winter and there is more snow on the mountains than normal although the strong westerly winds that we are having at the moment are melting some of this. Nevertheless it is likely that the main rivers, especially the Mataura and Oreti will be high with snow melt for the start of the fishing season. Their tributaries should be in better condition ready to provide good fishing from the 1st of October.

Spawning surveys done during the winter revealed that counts were down a little in the Aparima but average in the tributaries of the Oreti and Mataura that were surveyed. In the Waituna system we counted slightly more than the long term average.

Lowland streams such as Waimatuku still have low numbers of trout spawning and are not as good as they used to be 20 years ago.

Didymo discoveries are becoming more common with recent findings in the Eglinton, Hamilton Burn and upper Mataura. These added to the Upukerora, Whitestone, Mararoa, Oreti, Aparima and Waiau mean that the alga is widespread in Southland. However several of these have not been accompanied by large mats of the alga and it is apparent that it will not affect all rivers badly.

Our observations of the alga in the Oreti River suggest that it may not be a significant problem in rivers where the substrate is unstable, or where the river is affected by a moderate degree of enrichment from nitrogen based fertilisers. Most of the Mataura and much of the Aparima fall into this category. It will still adversely affect the more pristine waters in our region if it gets to them, especially those where the water is clear and shallow and the flow is stable.

There are a number of commercial products on the market now that can be used to treat your fishing gear. We recommend that anglers get hold of one of these and use it to treat their gear between rivers and at the end of their day’s fishing.

There is no evidence that didymo is in the rivers of Fiordland so far except for the Eglinton. Because of the pristine nature of these waters anglers wanting to fish the lake tributaries will have to take special precautions before they go into these rivers. A clean gear certificate available from the Department of Conservation and Fish and Game and a few selected sports stores and garages will be needed. In addition the Clinton and Arthur Rivers will have a special controlled fishery status on them. Anglers will have to get a special permit to fish these rivers (only available from Fish and Game) and they will have to specify the dates they will be there. The permit will have to be produced to rangers who will be present in the Clinton Valley at Glade House or the Clinton Hut. Lake Ada, in the lower reaches of the Arthur will be closed to fishing but the upper reaches including the Joes River will be open to anglers gaining access via the Clinton where they can get their permit checked. Full details will be available on the Fish and Game website at the Southland Pages. The season does not begin until 1 November and will end at the end of the track walking season. Department of Conservation are planning to close the lower reaches of the Arthur and the Clinton to boating as well.

Maurice Rodway
Manager.