Fishing report for the North Canterbury Region Friday 9th November 2018

Hello and welcome to the North Canterbury region fishing report.

Due to some field work I am undertaking this week, I have to write this report on the Wednesday so talking about the conditions in the weekend is a bit of a guess sometimes. 

However, there are a couple of significant weather events this week which will affect the fishing conditions.

Above Right: Alex Burrowes with his 2.44 kilogram brown trout caught on the Henrietta Lakes.

There is a big Nor-Wester moving over the country on Thursday bring heavy rain to the back country. 

This will mean that all the alpine rivers are likely to be un-fishable by the weekend. 

There is also southerly rain hitting Canterbury from Thursday evening and leading into Friday.

  This could also affect foot hill streams such as the Ashley and the upper Selwyn which already have reasonably high flows. 

The weather for the weekend looks to be quite reasonable. 

The back country will have a calm day Saturday and Sunday starts off calm with some North West winds building in the afternoon. 

On the plains it will be reasonably calm with some North East winds in the evenings. 

The temperature is going to drop significantly as a result of the southerly.

So with all the dirty rivers around this weekend it is definitely worth considering a trip to the high country lakes which are now open. 

Last weekend we celebrated the high country opening with some severe winds. 

Despite this there was still a reasonable turnout to the Coleridge lakes. 

I was impressed with the numbers and size of salmon being caught this year in Coleridge. 

Salmon around the one kilogram mark were pretty common.

Limit bags were being regularly achieved through the weekend. 

With the wind being a lot calmer this weekend it should be a lot more pleasant and offer a chance for fly anglers to stalk the lake edges. 

The lakes are full and have an ideal water temperature thanks to the windy conditions.

Backcountry fishing has been very good this year with fish in great condition already and feeding very actively. 

Finding fishable water will be the challenge this weekend with the forecast rain. 

Check the flows before you go and seek out those waters that clear quickly such as spring fed systems or bush fed streams. 

Clearing rivers are ideal for spinning or soft baiting.

Spring creeks around Lake Ellesmere and Christchurch should remain fishable into the weekend and can present some handy opportunities.

Heading into next week anglers should start thinking about salmon entering the rivers after the freshes have receded.

Tight lines.

Tony Hawker, North Canterbury Fish and Game Officer.