Weekly Fishing Report– Central South Island Region – 27-10-2017

Get your gear sorted and destination locked-in for the coming weekend because it’s going to be a cracker region-wide.

Weather and river conditions should be mint.

Perhaps the only good excuse for not going fishing this weekend is that you’re banking your free time for High Country opening next Saturday the 4^th of November.

Above Right: Midweek family fishing trip, Temuka style.

On that note, a heads up High Country opening is on the first Saturday in November in the Central South Island Region, while the Otago Region has theirs on the 1^st of November.

As an angler, it’s your obligation to stick to the regulations so read them up online here, or grab a regulation guide from a licence agent or Fish & Game Office.

If you need clarification or can’t find what you are looking for give a Fish & Game Office a phone call or email.  

For quick reference the CSI’s pages are #32-41, Otago’s are 42-51 and include contact details.

The season finally kicked off for me in earnest yesterday while taking some annual leave to spend time with my family.

I have had few quick casts with the spinner this season, but I finally got half a day spare coinciding with ideal river and weather conditions.

Being relatively new to the region and having the Temuka River on my doorstep I thought it was a good opportunity to put some time into learning how to fish it - I generally target the Opihi.

It rained a bit over night and the river jumped a cumec or two but stayed clear, perfect recipe to get the fish on the feed!

I only fished two elongated pools, and in the first I came up short on 6 different fish and donated a pheasant tail to the riparian vegetation.

On the second pool I spooked 3 small fish and then spotted a decent one.

With the river gravels clean from the winter floods and the bright sunshine casting fishy shadows, the fish were easy to spot.

My lack of luck lead me to remove the indicator wool, thinking that could help with spooky fish.

First cast and a strike one second after the fish moved and bingo! A light coloured 2.75 pound brown made it to the net, and will be on my plate about the time you read this report.

I hooked 3 more, two bigger and one smaller, all released, two intentionally.

I put my indicator back on too; once I was confident in my fly selection. Everyday #16 and #14 tungsten bead pheasant tails, and a long leader with one metre of 5lb fluorocarbon at the pointy end did the job.  

What an awesome spot to have close to home!

How lucky are we in NZ… river conditions are fantastic currently so don’t let your family slow you down, put them on your back and get out there. 

If your kids are big enough to fish keep in mind we have the CSI Kids Fishing Day coming up on the 18^th of November near Twizel. All the event details can be found by  clicking here.

We had Fish & Game Officer Hamish Stevens along at the Waitaki Irrigators Take a Kids Fishing Day last weekend.

He said around 200 kids had a blast at the event and caught plenty of salmon, many being that memorable ‘first fish’.

Let’s hope we can emulate the success of the event up at Loch Cameron on the 18^th of November. 

A stone’s-throw from Loch Cameron, are the world famous canals.

You have seen the canals publicised here, every Bob, Rick and Mary have posted pics on Facebook and even TV shows dedicated to snapper and marlin fishing have had a crack.

Now Pure Fly NZ, New Zealand’s answer to fly fishing TV have given it a go too. Their ‘canals episode’ is set to go to air on Sky Sport on Monday the 30^th of October, including a wee informative cameo from yours truly.

Only 2% of anglers fly fish the canals but the method can be very productive with some experience.

It will be interesting to see how they get on. Check out the Pure Fly NZ Facebook page for the episode teaser.

Salmon Symposium          

On the weekend of November 11-12, the Central South Island & North Canterbury regions will be hosting a Salmon Symposium at Hotel Ashburton for anglers and other interested parties to review the state of our sea-run salmon fishery and the disappointing runs of recent years.

We will have a range of topics and experts to talk to them during the two day symposium. If you are keen find out more about the event and register to attend please click here to link to the Fish & Game website.

Tight Lines

Rhys Adams, Fish & Game Officer, Central South Island Fish & Game Officer.