Nelson/Marlborough Reel Life April 2019

Lake Argyle prize gifted to junior anglers

A local Blenheim man who won the $500 Henderson’s voucher has gifted the prize to junior anglers. 

This person, who wants to remain anonymous, purchased five spinning rods with reels and asked that they be given to any junior anglers who handed in tag returns from the Lake Argyle competition. 

Luckily there were plenty of young anglers who enjoyed success at the lake, catching tagged fish, and five suitable candidates were easily found. 

Above right:  Weesang Paaka enjoyed some excellent fishing in the Branch catchment recently.

All recipients were absolutely stoked with their newly acquired rods and couldn’t wait to hit the water.

They all expressed their thanks to the generous angler who donated his prize.

Branch/Leatham release

While the regular season is done and dusted for another year, Fish & Game wish to inform anglers of a late season release of large rainbow trout into the Branch & Leatham rivers, entirely funded by TrustPower. 

While there were just three weeks left of the season at the time of release, plenty of anglers got the chance to have a go at these fish, as well as fish from previous releases, and indeed, the wild population of brown and rainbow trout. 

The fish were real stunners, with many around six to seven pounds, and will spawn in early spring hopefully helping to create a run of wild fish.

All fish were tagged, so we’re keen to hear from anglers; if you manage to catch any tagged fish please let us know.  

Winter fishing options

With very high trout counts in both the Motueka and Wairau rivers – these two regional mainstays are excellent options for wetting the line in early winter. 

The lower Wairau in particular, showed very high numbers of large and medium-sized trout below the Renwick Bridge, while the Motueka is bursting at the seams with trout in the one to 1.5kg range. 

As days become shorter with water temperatures cooling, the best fishing for fly anglers will be on sunny days around mid day when the water temperature heats up. 

Spin fishing is a great option too – especially as the river is dropping from a fresh. 

A reminder that you can now fish the Rai River, from the confluence with the Pelorus to Carluke Bridge.   

As a tempter, Fish & Game will soon be releasing a tanker load of large tagged rainbow trout in the two to 3.5 kg range, and we’d be delighted to hear from you if you are successful on this new winter fishery – this sort of feedback is really important to monitor the success of these regulation changes. 

The Pelorus itself is a good winter fishing option, with plenty of medium-sized rainbows currently in residence. 

For this river you can fish downstream of the Rai confluence all year round. 

Tight Lines,

Jacob Lucas, Nelson/Marlborough Fish & Game Officer.

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