Otago Weekly Fishing Report - 13 April 2023

Hadley from Hunting & Fishing Dunedin says the Tokomairiro River is currently offering some great fishing opportunities. Hadley recommends targeting the section below Duns Bridge in particular, although he notes that most of the river is fishing well at the moment. According to Hadley, olive and bronze pearl soft baits paired with a light jig head have been bringing success when worked along the edges and through the deeper runs.

Extra motion

As the end of the fishing season draws near, it's common for fish to become more cautious due to the significant amount of fishing pressure they've experienced throughout the season.

However, Tim Johnson from Hunting & Fishing Central Otago has found that adding extra motion to his flies has been an effective method in persuading trout to commit. Tim recommends using smaller pheasant-tailed and CDC-style nymphs, ranging in size from 16 to 18, and giving them a gentle twitch as they approach the fish. It's important to exercise caution when twitching the fly line, as creating drag, or presenting an unrealistic drift could quickly turn the fish off. Overall, incorporating additional motion into your fly presentation may be just what's needed to successfully entice those cagey end-of-season trout.

Tim Johnson with a great conditioned brown trout which after an early rejection of a dry could not resist a twitched pheasant tailed nymph. Credit: Tim Johnson.

Promise of protein 

Trout require a significant amount of energy to successfully complete their spawning activities. This means that in the weeks leading up to spawning, trout will often seek out high-protein food sources to build up their energy reserves.

Common protein-rich foods for trout include small fish, crustaceans, and larger aquatic insects such as stoneflies. For anglers, this presents a perfect opportunity to target fish that are often feeding aggressively and cannot resist the promise of extra protein in the form of a large stonefly or streamer pattern. During periods of rising water levels, don’t be afraid to go big and heavy to reach fish that may be holding at the bottom of the pool. Anglers have recently reported success in backcountry rivers using large stonefly patterns such a 101 or Simons Ugly. However, it's important to ensure that you have a large dry fly or indicator significant enough to hold the heavy flies to avoid missing any takes.

A fly box full of pre-spawning specials hopefully to entice a bite out of a trout that can’t resist the promise of extra protein. Credit: Mason Court.

Getting down

With increased rainfall resulting in high, swollen rivers it is important to get down to the fish. Santillan from Queenstown Hunting & Fishing recommends adding a spool of Di3 or Di5 sinking line to your arsenal.

These sinking lines are even effective on the smaller rivers as they allow you to fish high flows or deeper pools unreachable with floating lines. Sinking lines can be paired with a booby fly to float off the bottom or another streamer like a woolly bugger to work the area closer to the bottom.

Don’t be afraid to get flashy

Nick from Southern Wild in Wānaka is recommending spin anglers to add some flashy lures to their tackle box as we approach winter. Fishing lures that have flashes of gold or silver can be an effective way to attract attention and entice bites from fish, whether in clear or dirty water conditions.

One option Nick suggests is the black and gold hex wobbler. This lure casts well and has a smaller profile than other lures of the same weight, allowing for longer casts and more time in the strike zone. Nick also suggests varying your retrieval speed to work different areas of the water column and potentially trigger more bites.

Sea-run salmon

A few large sea-run salmon have been caught below Roxburgh Dam in recent weeks. Graeme Rae, of Teviot Angling Club, has been helping to survey angler catches in the lower Clutha at Roxburgh on behalf of Otago Fish & Game in the past few weeks.