Otago Reel Life FEB 2017

Cicadas make welcome appearance

In mid-February summer finally arrived and anglers were able to get out and fish in some decent weather.

Reports from back country fisheries confirm that anglers are catching good numbers of fish and they're in great condition.

Cicadas have finally turned up and fish are enjoying the feast in the west of the region and on some inland reservoirs, but their distribution is patchy.

The talk on the street is put on a cicada pattern wherever you are and the chances are you'll catch something.

The Lower Taieri is fishing well with recent reports of large browns surface feeding during the heat of the day and in the evening.

If you are a spin angler, try a bubble with a floating cicada pattern then walk carefully downstream with the drift.

Often the fish will hook themselves when the buoyancy of the bubble takes the strike otherwise wait a couple of seconds then lift the rod tip to set the hook.

Remember the regulations permit this method in the Otago Region on spin and bait waters only.

Trolling the large lakes

With better fishing conditions boat anglers are having some good success on all the major lakes.

The Simms family trolling on Lake Wakatipu recently caught a mixture of 26 trout and salmon over three days with the fish in great condition.

On board, Ray Simms who lives in Queenstown, landed a 5.5kg brown. Mr Sims is no stranger when it comes to catching large fish.

Above Right: Ray Simm of Queenstown with a whopper brown trout caught recently from Lake Wakatipu.

He has previously landed a 6.8kg and a 7.7kg fish and a 10.5kg brown trout caught at Lake Waituna in 1993 which is displayed in the Southland Fish & Game Office.

On February 11, 225 entrants competed for prizes at the annual Lake Hawea Family Fishing Classic Competition.

The day started off fine and calm then the wind arrived around lunch-time. Plenty of fish were weighed in with the biggest around 2.4kgs.

The lake is alive with small salmon which will grow as the season progresses, providing lots of assurance there will be plenty to catch next season.

Take a kid fishing

The annual event run by the Alexandra District Club at Earnscleugh on February 12 supported by Fish & Game and the community was again a great success.

one hundred and fifteen children accompanied by parents and guardians caught a total of 35 fish. While the kids would like to have caught more, ice blocks, prizes, and the barbecue at the end of the day made it all worthwhile.

The organisers said that without support "from people and organisations like you we would not be able to run these types of events, which involve families and kids in a great day out, with a barbecue at the end of the day. Thanks for stocking the pond.”

Rosy outlook

The outlook for the next month or two looks very promising; lakes, reservoirs, rivers and fish are in great condition.

Left: Otago Fish & Game administration officer Sharon Milne with a healthy rainbow.

Grab the opportunity to do some fishing when you can even if it's for a short time after work, while there are plenty of daylight hours.

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