Weekly fishing report for Central South Island and North Canterbury 11 April 2024

Central South Island Report

 

Sunny Sunday follows the rain

It’s fair to say we are looking forward to the forecasted rain much more than the beautiful sunny and calm day forecast for Sunday.

The region remains in the grips of a drought – there is some hope that the rain forecast from Thursday night through to Saturday morning could break that grip.

In this part of the world, though, we look at rain forecasts with a level of scepticism - how many times have we seen a good dousing of rain forecast and then only about half or less eventuates!

Like many areas, the Ōpihi Catchment is very dry and in need of rain – our proactive monitoring of the Ōpihi River flows revealed that the river became disconnected at one riffle downstream of SH1 this week.

To our knowledge the Ōpihi has not disconnected like this since the Opuha Dam was built – prior to the Opuha Dam being built the river would disconnect on drought years and the staff and volunteers of Fish & Game and our predecessors the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society would spend days salvaging fish.

No stranded trout or eel/tuna were observed in the disconnected pool and surrounding deep pools still provide plenty of life preserving capacity.

No fish salvage is required yet and there’s hope the flows will rise with the forecast rain, however, multiple groups prepared to salvage if necessary.

Pictured above: The Ōpihi downstream of SH1 has become disconnected due to low flows but deep pools remain to support fish life. Credit: Steve McKnight.

 

Outlook for the weekend

Make the most of the season while you can as many waters close on April 30th. Credit: Jason Harmon.

If you are heading out fishing this weekend, Sunday will be pleasant.

If the rain increases flow fish will likely be on the feed as the flows drop back – that could provide some opportunity for you – especially for spin and bait methods which tend to spook trout in low flow conditions.

Keep a close eye on the ECan rainfall and river flow and  Outdoor Access livestreams for the latest info on river conditions.

Main Divide draining rivers like the Ahuriri and Rangitata / Rakitata are high and unfishable currently from the westerly rain – Mt Cook village has had around 300mm of rain over the week.

The end of the season for many waterways is fast approaching on April 30th.

Make the most of what’s on offer – despite the drought conditions many of our waterways are still providing ample opportunity to catch and harvest a sports fish.

Sea-run salmon update

Word from long-time Waitaki River salmon angler Linn Koevoet is that sea-run salmon are scarce in the river this April.

He has heard of 3 or 4 caught over the last week and like the Rangitata / Rakitata river most fish are small this year being under 8-pounds.

Linn reckons a good way to tell if the salmon are running are the numbers of jet boats on the river and there haven’t been many lately.

Meanwhile, up at the Rangitata / Rakitata where the salmon run earlier than the Waitaki, it’s spawning time in the headwater creeks.

My colleague Hamish completed the second of 5 aerial live salmon spawning surveys last Saturday.

The count of 99 adult salmon spawners was low.

Based on 30 years of annual monitoring the recent counts indicate that the 2024 Rangitata / Rakitata salmon spawning run is on track to be one of the smallest on record.

If you have already achieved your season bag limit or have finished fishing for sea-run salmon this season we point you to the banner at the top of the report that links you through to the online season bag card return form.

 

Ōhau River controlled fishery ballot

The ballot schedule for the upcoming 2024 controlled period / Spring Season will be decided in May 2024.

Mark early June on your calendars to check in on our website here to find out the decision on the ballot schedule and see all the update information for the 2024 ballot.

 

North Canterbury Report

Malings Pass reopens to vehicles!

Anglers have had a long walk if they have wanted to fish the Upper Waiau Uwha River Designated Waters Fishery since the road was closed in November due to the fire risk.

DOC has reopened the road this week, and anglers keen to experience this incredible fishery now can have easier access.

Check out this link for more information and to get your vehicle permit for the St James Conservation Area.

With 19 days until most of our rivers and lakes in the region are closed for the season and school holidays starting from the 13^th of April, this is the perfect opportunity to get the family out and make the most of the remainder of the season.

Whether it's hiking into a backcountry river or getting the boat out on the lakes that have been fishing well recently.

Lake Coleridge, in particular, has been fishing well with some great conditioned rainbow trout getting caught; the salmon in the lake will be making their way up the streams for spawning.

So, if you want to target salmon, I would recommend fishing around the river mouths and trying to catch them before they leave the lake.

I would say that after April 30^th, most of the salmon in the lake will have left the lake; however, brown and rainbow trout will congregate in these areas.

Another great place to take the family if you can’t get away over the school holiday period is Lake Roto Kohatu, located on the edge of the city near Christchurch Airport.

There are salmon and trout in these lakes, and you can use the following methods: fly, spin, and bait. The great thing about these lakes is that the whole family can fish there.

They aren’t a junior fishery like the Groynes lakes, so you can set up the kid's rod with a bait rig while the parent can either fly or spin fish.

A frequent visitor to the lakes says the lakes are fishing well and recommends a shrimp under a bubble float for the youngsters.

 

Where to go fishing this weekend?

Check out a recent fish from Dame Lynda Topp, Dame Lynda is a long time Canterbury based angler

With the high country expecting 200mm+ of rain over the next couple of days, I would say that the salmon rivers in the region will be unfishable.

Be very cautious if you head out as those rivers rise very quickly, so be careful about not only yourself but also where you may leave your vehicle or boat.

Once these rivers clear up this will provide one last chance to harvest your salmon before the season ends.

However, your favourite salmon hole might change, which means you will have to go back to the drawing board and start hunting them down to find their new resting hole.

Rakaia River local Ken handed back his sea-run season bag limit card with the two fish he caught in a couple of hours on April 2 clearly marked on it.

Remember you don’t have to wait till May 7 to get your harvest details back to Fish & Game; you can click the link at the top of this email.

Our back country rivers will also be discoloured; however, they do clear up very quickly.

This can provide excellent fishing opportunities on the back of a fresh as the fish will be eager to get back on the feed, so they shouldn’t be too fussy when it comes to fly selection.

My pick of fishing locations to visit this weekend would be our high-country lakes, as the weather forecasted is for little wind.

This provides a great opportunity to get either your boat or kayak out on the lakes and fish those hard-to-reach areas, and the lakes shouldn’t discolour with this rain event, which is currently happening as I am writing this.

 

2024 Rangers Competition

Celebrate the end of the sea-run salmon season with Fish & Game Staff, Honorary Rangers and fellow anglers at the 2024 Rangers Competition!

When & Where

• Friday 26^th April
• Kairaki Beach (North side of the Waimakariri River mouth)
• There are toilet facilities in the carpark area.

How to enter

• No pre-registration is required; just start fishing!
• If you catch a salmon, come to the weigh-in station at the Fish & Game tent by 1:00 pm to weigh it in! You must show your 23/24 season fishing licence AND your filled-in sea-run salmon licence when entering a fish (We will not accept any entries without these two licences being shown).
• If you don’t have any luck on the day, you can still present your licence at the Fish & Game tent any time before 1:00 pm to go into the spot prize draw! 

Fishing & Weigh-in

• Fishing may commence at 5:00 am as per North Canterbury fishing regulations
• Fish must be caught between the Waimakariri Mouth and the Kairaki Yacht Club at Kairaki Creek on the north side only (area highlighted in red below)
• Weigh-ins from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Fish & Game tent on the beach (can’t miss it!)
• Prizegiving to follow at 1:30 pm
• The competition will be held rain or shine!

FREE SAUSAGE SIZZLE FROM 9 am TILL FINISH

Prizes

• The angler with the heaviest salmon on the day will be immortalised with their name engraved on the coveted Rangers Trophy.
• We will also award the Jack Kerapa Memorial trophy for “Rangers Fisherman of the Year”.
• We also have a great range of spot prizes kindly donated by North Canterbury Hunting & Fishing, Christchurch (Ballingers) Hunting & Fishing, Amazing Baits, Desolve, Hunters Element, and more!
• For any further queries, please email ncevent@fishandgame.org.nz or call the office at (03) 366 9191.

 

Notice Board

Proposed Fishing Regulations Changes

We usually conduct our regionwide regulations review on a two-year basis, and in this the intervening year, we normally only make adjustments for corrections and or clarity.

However, we are committed to successfully implementing the Designated Waters Fisheries system, so we need to continually monitor the system.

This will involve surveying Designated Waters licence holders and wider consultation around the system's effectiveness.

It will highlight if other control measures are required if the system is not achieving the desired results.

Plus, it will alert us to any instances of angling pressure displacement.

The proposed changes we would like angler feedback on are:

1. We would like angler feedback on possible controlled fishery options in the North & South Branch of the Hurunui River Designated Waters Fisheries and any other Designated Waters or similar pressure-sensitive fisheries.
2. We would like angler feedback on suggestions and or comments on clarifying the boundary of the Upper Rakaia sea-run salmon fishery.
3. For clarity, we are considering removing the separate entry in the regulations for Hackett’s Creek. This is because the site is not actually a gazetted location. It is a local name only and a tiny tributary of the Kowai River, which is already covered with its own regulation, which covers its tributaries, of which Hackett’s Creek is one.

Feedback needs to be emailed to ncevent@fishandgame.org.nz  by April 30, and a public meeting for anyone wishing to discuss these changes will be held at 6 pm on May 7 at the North Canterbury Fish & Game Office, 595 Johns Road.

From this consultation, a report will be collated for the Council to consider at their May 24 meeting.

Groynes Lagarosiphon control

The Christchurch City Council is currently undertaking Lagarosiphon control at the Groynes children's fishing lakes.

The current proposed application dates are:

• Tuesday 16^th April ( Approximate duration half day)
• Tuesday 23^rd April ( Approximate duration half day)
• Tuesday 30^th April ( Approximate duration half day)

We advise anglers to avoid the area during the central dates.

 

Tight Lines,

Harry Graham-Samson, North Canterbury Fish & Game Officer.