Believe it or not, the days are getting longer, and thoughts turn to the possibilities for fishing, both locally and areas that may be a bit of a drive.
Locally the lakes are dropping, which makes it better to access the incoming river mouths where fish can congregate. A streamer pattern is often the best bet if the rip is quite defined. Take great care when wading as the gravel is loose and extremely dangerous if you get too close to the edge. On calm days there may be a few browns cruising the mudflats post spawning. Rainbows will be present but they are hard to see, and mostly caught blind fishing the rips.
Around the shorelines the weed beds are a good bet if conditions allow spotting. While the trout are certainly not very active this time of year, the right movement of a small streamer off the bottom can trigger a strike, but it can be a long time between drinks! A bit of wind swell can stir things up and make them more obliging.
If you fancy a bit of travel, the canals are fishing well around Twizel, with “C” producing some good numbers of salmon. I often move around a fair bit between canals if nothing is happening - it’s a good excuse to warm up in the car! Braid line really helps the catch rate. We had mixed results, with success on soft baits, egg patterns and shrimp.
Over on the ocean, cod fishing is going well at Moeraki and Karitane. We has a great time last weekend with all anglers catching plenty for a feed, as well as some good paua to bbq. Remember the limits have changed with the blue cod keep which is down from 30 per angler to 10. I and most other anglers think this is a good move as 10 is a lot of cod for one person, and hopefully the fishery will benefit from the reduced take. We had most success on traditional cod rigs with red flashes and 6 - 10 oz sinkers as there was a bit of wind drift to contend with.
Southern Wild has plenty of gear to help your success rate be it fresh water or salt.
Below is a really nice winter brown from the head of Wanaka taken on a small hare and copper.
