Weekly Fishing report for Central South Island & North Canterbury

What a difference a week makes! This time a week ago we were unaware of alert levels and lockdowns have only ever occurred due to some localised threat. 

The Government has asked us to stay at home to protect our community. 

Whilst anglers may feel aggrieved by this, it is important that we all play our part in keeping our communities safe. 

We all have a part to play and this lockdown is definitely a “bigger picture” time. 

An enforced holiday from angling gives us the opportunity to deal to all those little jobs we tend to put off and make sure our gear is in tip top order when the Alert Level 4 drops.

It gives us the chance to get our technique perfected by practicing in the backyard.

We can involve our kids in this by giving them casting practice morphed into a game where prizes or points can be awarded for perfect casts or placement.

We can create angling quizzes where they have to identify pieces of fishing gear, lures etc.

There’s lots of ways we can involve our kids (young and old) in angling without taking them anywhere near the water.

The benefit of this will be that when we can take them fishing, they will be more comfortable and more knowledgeable and therefore they will enjoy it more and we can share the love of the sport with a new generation. 

When we are able to go angling again, our fish will be more catchable after having a month (hopefully) off from angling pressure. 

For all those kiwis that have never fished the backcountry because they have been put off by the presence of overseas anglers, we suspect it will be quite a while before overseas anglers will be in a position to visit New Zealand again! 

So, make the most of it and explore our fantastic fishery once we get the OK from the Government to start fishing again. 

Kia Kaha

The councillors and staff from the Central South Island and North Canterbury Fish & Game regions.