Weekly Fishing Report — Central South Island 31 — 21/04/2022

The end of the “summer” season is fast approaching, but there is still time for a trip or three.

This is our last weekly report for the 21/22 season, so thank you for tuning in, and we hope you enjoyed the content.

If you want to get in touch specifically about the Central South Island weekly report, you can email me directly at radams@fishandgame.org.nz.

General enquiries should be directed to our office, email: csi@fishandgame.org.nz or phone: 03 615 8400

Above Right:‘there’s still time to tango with a high-country trout or two this April’ Credit R Adams

Still time for “summer fishing”

Saturday the 30^th of April is the last day you can fish the majority of our waterways.

That gives us the ANZAC long weekend and the following Saturday, 30^th of April, as weekend options.

Our rangers report that the canals were very busy over Easter, especially the Ōhau C Canal, where quite a few small salmon were caught, and the Ōhau B Canal, where some large salmon were caught – We’d expect this weekend might be busy too with a few salmon about.

If you don’t know your way around the canals, check out the map on our Hydro Canal Guide here.

Disappointingly, three anglers were found by rangers to be continuing to fish after killing their daily bag limit of two sports fish.

Regulation 6.1 on page 10 of your 2021/11 regulation guide states, “No licence holder shall continue to fish for a particular species of sports fish on any day in which he or she has already killed the limit bag for that species….”

Whether your two sports fish daily bag limit is made up of 2 trout total or 2 salmon total or 1 trout and 1 salmon total – you must cease fishing the canals for that day once you have killed 2 fish.

Rangers were pleased to find all 14 anglers checked salmon fishing on the Waitaki River on Good Friday were fully compliant – including that all carried their season bag cards, a pen and their fishing licences. Not to mention all cards were filled out correctly. Great stuff.

None of these anglers had landed a salmon on Friday when the rangers checked them.

Other than that, I’ve heard that a few nice rainbows got caught at Lake Opuha and Lake Alexandrina over Easter.

You have until the 30th of April to get into high-country spots like this‘ Credit R Adams

There is a bit of rain about this Thursday and Friday, but it's mostly sunny for ANZAC Weekend - I’d recommend checking out the ECan river flow website here before picking your fishing spot.

Winter fishing options

Come Sunday, the 1^st of May; fishing options are restricted to our waterways with year-round open seasons– those are the waterway sections in the 2021/22 sports fishing regulation guide that list an open season of “1 Oct – 30 Sep.”

There are quite a few year-round options, mostly lakes and canals in the Mackenzie Basin and upper Waitaki Valley. This includes the Pukaki and Ōhau canals, Lakes Tekapo, Benmore, Waitaki and more.

Fishing big lakes near river mouths can be a great option in May and June as brown trout congregate in preparation to enter the streams for spawning. The same can be said for rainbow trout in July, August and September.

There are two waterways with ‘extensions’ permitting fishing in May: Lake Camp in the Ashburton Lakes and the Tekapo Canal upstream of the State Highway 8 Bridge. However, from June 1^st, these waterways are closed.

For our major rivers downstream of their State Highway 1 Bridges, “winter season” fishing opens again from June 1^st to July 31st. This includes the Ashburton, Rangitata, Opihi and Waitaki Rivers only. Further restrictions apply - see your regulations guide.

Notice Board

Sea run salmon harvest card returns

The quickest, easiest way for anglers wanting to return their Sea Run Salmon Harvest Card to Fish & Game is via the online form available at the top of this page here.

You can also send it in via post, the details are on the back of the card.

JBNZ – Ahuriri River permit

Club members of Jet Boating NZ have been granted a permit to jet boat the Ahuriri River between Lake Benmore and the Ireland Road Bridge.

The permit is valid for One day of 24 or 25, or 26 April and only if the river is 20 cumecs or above. 

Ōhau River Backcountry Fishery – Spring Season 2022

For the Spring Season month of September 2022, the Ōhau River is a controlled fishery.

For all the information you need, please visit our Ōhau River controlled fishery webpage here.

Tight Lines,

Rhys Adams

Central South Island Fish & Game Officer