The season ends tomorrow on most rivers but plenty are open until the end of may. For those who enjoy the lakes, most of these are open year round. Many rivers are open year round too and it’s often the case that rivers between the sea and the first bridge are open year round even if it’s closed above the bridge. Therefore, you can fish all year round over here and the winter fishing can be excellent.
Last year a group of angling friends and I descended on Lumsden for a few days to finish of the season. The fishing and the craic was great so we decided to do it again this year. Unfortunately this year due to coloured water, adverse weather and a very limited hatch every day the fishing was poor for the most part. Simon Chu and Mike Wilkinson put in some great performances catching lots of fish when the going was tough! Simon’s trout cottage was where we stayed. After each fishing day we ate well, drank well and told fishing stories.
Thank you Simon for your hospitality!
Ronan..
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This week on SLTV. Episode 7, “Squids, Kahawai & Mugwai”, check it out below the photos..
One last Gorge before close of season…
Mike makes a tricky crossing in high, coloured water..
The best of 2 for the day..
Back she goes..
I have devised some new flies and methods for next seasons gorging. One is to bring a rope.
Some preparation for Lumsden 2013!
Mike in action on a coloured river..
A couple of these before the weather took a turn for the worse and the sparse hatch ended..
Chris Dore and Simon Chu..
A little one about to take off!
Which approach??
A beautiful, strong fish to end April!
In this episode Paul, Hairy and I try to target squid on fly at St Helens in Tasmania. First we compete to see who can tie the best fly! Paul cooks his annual lasagne feast.. We catch lots of fish but there was a disaster…
The weather was pretty bad all Labour Weekend. I took a chance and went to one of my favourite rivers on Saturday, It was coloured as expected but fishable, only just though! I made a poor choice to start with and went upstream. The reason I went up was to get above 2 feeder streams that pump a lot of colour into the main river after rain or snow. I thought it might be reasonably clear above them and it was, but crossings were difficult and I knew they would get harder and more hazardous in the gorge. So after not seeing a fish all day I walked half an hour back to the truck, then drove down stream a bit, then walked an hour down at 3pm. I considered getting out because it was so late in the day but that would be losing!
With renewed optimism I took on the river again. While getting a read on the river I hooked a fish blind and lost it. Then I sighted a fish on a sand bar, it took a number of casts but I got him. 7lbs. I decided to give up on the blind fishing and concentrate on spotting the edges which I could just about see into. I found a fish in a similar position to the last, on a sandy edge inside the eye, so I figured I was on the right track. This approach worked. I sighted 7 for the day, all in similar water. I hooked 6 of them and landed four. 7lbs, 5.5lbs, 5.5lbs, 8.25lbs. All on nymphs. This day would have been well suited to streamers but I prefer to nymph fish when I can. It would have been interesting to have been fishing with another angler using a streamer to see which method was more effective. Certainly the streamer would have dragged a few from the body of the pools blind… well, maybe!
I caught up Chris Dore and Simon Chu for the rest of the weekend, We discussed shipping a Irish lakeboat to NZ amongst other things. It will happen! Just not now..
Ronan..
A stone-fly to greet me on the river..
Cows in the river..
The first fish. Persistence after a bad start!
And another.. They were holding on sand inside the eyes..
Another from the same pool..
Pretty coloured!!
The last and the best of the day! Over 8lbs..
Day 2. Blown!!
Tried a lake edge for an hour.. no joy.
So we tried this spring creek.. it always runs clear!
Chris Dore and I failed miserably but Simon Chu nailed 2 of these!
Back he goes.. straight into the security of the weed!
The end of the season was a thoroughly enjoyable fishing and social event! Superb fishing, lots of fish, good friends, plenty good food and drink and a fantastic “Trout Cottage” to kick back in when evening arrived. From about April 20th to 30th myself, Chris Dore, Simon Chu, Bob Wyatt, John Mclean, Quenten Donnelly and Mike and his brother James Wilkinson fished the Mataura nearly every day. For the most part it was challenging and that is a good thing! There was an intense hatch every day for 1.5 to 2.5 hours and the bulging rise forms made it clear to us that the fish were taking beneath the surface. Emergers were the way to go. We fished the glassy water during the rise because that’s where the fish were. Fishing glassy, flat calm water is never easy. An up stream cast to a rising fish simply didn’t work! It was essential to lead the fish well with a cast 90 degrees to the lie of the fish. Fine tippet, long leaders, reach casting, neat distance presentation casting and slack line presentations made the difference between a good day and a great day! We all caught lots of fish and probably averaged about 8 or10 each per day, mostly around 2lbs. Quality fishing!
Chris and I fished together on the last day of the season. We got off the Mataura and went in search of a big fish. We found a few in a river that was rising and colouring after rain and snow but they were chasing each other around, pairing up, anxiously moving around pools, even spawning! Some appeared to be feeding and I got one of those, an absolute cracker and the perfect end to the season on a freezing cold, wet and windy day.
On May 1st Chris, James Wilkinson and I went to the Oreti bike track hearing. Fish & Game spoke very well and the witnesses they had expressed many excellent points. I had an opportunity to speak myself so I did. Many submissions were read out, All but 2 strongly opposed to the track running alongside the Oreti River. Those who spoke in support of the track really had no point to make at all. If the 2.5m wide track goes ahead it will be a travesty and a wrong doing. Most people oppose the track so lets see what happens next. Thanks to all of you who wrote to the editor of the Southland Times. It’s still not too late! 250 words or less..
Ronan..
Some spectacular gorgy headwaters.. I managed one fish on this day.
Bob Wyatt and Chris Dore.. Angling legends!
Cold mornings were the norm during the final week of the season!
Bob taking on the glassy water..
Photography is a big part of fly fishing for many anglers..
Chris with a nice Mataura fish..
These were my flies tied specifically for the mataura. Size 16 claret emergers and nymphs. They worked.
A good mataura brown.. the average size is down a bit this year I think.
Simon Chu with the best fish of the end of season mission..
About to swim off…
Glassy, flat calm water provided some very challenging and enjoyable angling.
The end of the day.. As usual I was “Paddy last” off the river. My primary school teacher Mrs Ryan used to call me that!
Last day of the season.. Chris is not too happy about the snow on the ground!
Chris not catching a very big fish!!
Me catching a very big fish!!
A very big fish!
Chris’s truck, the transport home!
The sun goes down on the last day of the season as we head home…
The end of the season is approaching and with all the fishing opportunities available to me I find myself going back to the rivers where a really big fish is always on the cards. A few days ago Simon Chu and I teamed up to fish together for the first time. We have know each other for a long time but not very well. One learns a lot about a fella during a day on the river together and now I know Simon a lot better and I look forward to fishing with him again. Not all anglers are compatible on a river. For example, some anglers move quickly and others slowly. A quick moving angler coupled with a slower moving angler means one or both anglers will get frustrated. Its important that both anglers fish at about the same pace and so work as a team, sometimes spotting fish for each other. Both Simon and I waste no time on the water.
Over the next few days I hope to catch up with my good friend Bob Wyatt. Bob has just completed his latest fly fishing book which should be on the shelves any day. I’m proud to be in it! Chris Dore and I will fish together one day and hopefully Chris, Simon, Bob and Myself will take on a river together. two up two down I expect.
Sean is heading back to Tassie in a few days so we won’t be fishing together for a while. He’s off to Invervagas for a farewell root but we may have a few beers on Sunday night. If not, All the best mate!
Sleeping in the truck has been uncomfortable lately so I went to the skip and got some ply and bits of wood to make a proper bed that I can stretch out on. I’m off the The Warehouse soon to get a mattress for it. Roughing it doesn’t have be rough!
Enjoy the photo’s! My big fish hunt continues…
Stuntman Ronan..
A tying session at Simon Chu’s place the night before our day on the river..
Seans selection fresh from the vise..
And my few… these are quite heavily weighted 12’s
Anglers!
Simon into the first of the day……..
Note Simon’s straight rod.. this is the moment the fish broke the cast!
My first of the day!
Lunch!
A sandfly enjoying his last meal!!
Magnificent, strong fish.. Today the fish prefered my size 12!
One in his sights…
Got him!
This lovely hen fish reminds me of a very special hen brown I caught in Croatia during one of my best ever days on the water a few years ago..
Back she goes…
It’s not easy to get a good under water shot..
Simon into an energetic brown..
Solid
I hope this valley will never change, It’s far more than just a river..
Back at the car in time for a beer before the sun drops over the hill..
A send off steak for Sean!
Borrowed the tools and got the ply from a skip! Waste not want not!!