Lake Coleridge fishing competition Results
- North Canterbury Central South Island
- 9/12/2023
Hundreds of anglers flocked to the Canterbury High Country over the weekend to celebrate the opening of the high-country fishing season.
Despite some windy and choppy conditions making it hard for anglers to catch fish, those that were out early had success.
Some spectacular fish were caught by anglers of all ages and entered in the annual Lake Coleridge Fishing Competition.
For the first time in several years, the heaviest fish were all caught by shore-based anglers and all over 3.2 kgs.
Christchurch’s Ken Carter caught a 3.57 kg brown trout from the beach of Lake Coleridge at Ryton Bay.
With two other brown trout entered by anglers also over 3 Kg, and all the salmon and rainbow trout weighed in were, on average, much heavier and longer than last year.
"Average fish condition factors for all three species were pretty good, with all species averaging a better than average score on the condition factor scale", says North Canterbury Fish & Game Officer Emily Craig, organiser of the competition.
"Of all the fish entered, 75% were caught trolling on Lake Coleridge, but it was shore-based anglers that caught the biggest fish; going to show that you don’t need a boat to catch big fish."
With 58 fish and 171 anglers entering the competition, it’s important to note that there were many more anglers in the high country for the opening day.
"Anglers didn’t need to catch a fish to go in the draw for over $8000 in prizes provided by the three Hunting & Fishing NZ stores in our area: Tower Junction, North Canterbury, and Ashburton".
"It was impressive to see over 200 people braving an afternoon downpour and staying for the prizegiving on Saturday, with an estimated 500 people visiting the area for opening day".
Lake Coleridge Fishing Competition 2023 – Winners
Adult Chinook Salmon
| 1st | Scott Bawden | 1.68 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 2nd = | David Harris & Ben Hansen | 1.58 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 3rd | Arthur Harrison | 1.54 kg | Lake Coleridge |
Adult Rainbow Trout
| 1st | Gary Batchelor | 1.82 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 2nd | Jason McGrath | 1.59 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 3rd | Shayne Harris | 1.32 kg | Lake Coleridge |
Adult Brown Trout
| 1st | Ken Carter | 3.57 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 2nd | Cole Atulolu | 3.24 kg | Lake Selfe |
| 3rd | Daniel Pye | 3.22 kg | Lake Selfe |
Junior Chinook Salmon
| 1st | Malcolm Chisolm | 1.60 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 2nd | Flinn Taylor | 1.58 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 3rd | Sjaak Lammers | 1.55 kg | Lake Coleridge |
Junior Rainbow Trout
| 1st | Quinn Brown | 1.31 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 2nd | Jett Hooper | 1.13 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 3rd | Ellie Jensen | 1.12 kg | Lake Coleridge |
Junior Brown Trout
| 1st | Roary Bruce | 1.19 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 2nd | Lily Rutledge | 0.88 kg | Lake Coleridge |
| 3rd | N/A |