Fishing Reports index > April 2009

The last couple of days have given me the opportunity to spend a bit of quality time with my boys, camping on one of the Mackenzie Country’s premiere rivers, the Tekapo.  Whilst the main aim was quality father/son time, of course it included some fishing time and a chance to check out the water over the period of a few days.  I am reminded of the quality of the fishing on this magnificent river and whilst the summer time has been poor on the Tekapo for fishing in the last few seasons, late autumn sees a return to quality mayfly hatches and trout feeding freely on the surface.

Both dun hatches and spinner falls were a feature throughout the day and with a high pressure system moving over the country, both the trout and the Black Fronted Terns had a field day, with plenty of food to keep them going all day.  Stretches of river which had seemed dead three weeks ago, were alive with rising trout throughout the day.  It was a case of taking a few minutes time out from the boys here and there, strolling 20 metres to the riverside and casting to a rising fish.  Bliss!  However, it was around 4pm when the real action started and the river was literally alive with swooping terns and rising trout as far as the eye could see.  True evidence of the high number of fish this river holds. 

Three great things about this; the fish were not impossible to catch, with short accurate casts with a suitable mayfly dry imitation, or emerger, catching fish after two or three presentations; there was no-one else to be seen most sessions and three, the wind was absent and the weather was spectacular! 

Other areas of the Mackenzie have enjoyed similar mayfly hatches and fish activity in this settled period of the season. A couple of recent trips to the Waitaki have been well rewarded with 25 lovely fish hooked up by a couple of anglers one day and a dozen or so by another the next.  Once again, there is no one fishing this magnificent river – possibly the didymo (which despite a good flush in January is back again in many areas) keeping jet boaters at bay. So the long and the short of it is, if you have a day or two before the close of season on the 30th, grab it with both hands and enjoy some truly spectacular dry fly fishing to rising fish.

Will Spry

Will Spry is an independent fishing guide; his reports are not officially representative of Fish & Game NZ

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