Reel Life November 2022

North Canterbury’s hidden secret fisheries are its lake fisheries; most are just a short drive from Christchurch but often overlooked as anglers head to the more famous river fisheries of the Canterbury plains.

Lakes are a great "Plan B option" when the rivers are dirty from rain; as a side note, anglers can check the river flows at the ECan website here.

They can also be a great option when we get hit by frequent nor-west weather systems, as not all of them are in the high country.

Many anglers are surprised at the number of trophy-sized fish that come from our lakes, especially some of the smaller ones.

This was the case at the Lake Coleridge Fishing competition we held over the high country Opening Weekend (the first Saturday in November).

Whilst most of the 90 fish weighed in came from Lake Coleridge, the heaviest fish came from Lake Selfe, followed by the second heaviest fish, which came from Lake Georgina.

Above Right: Glen Pratley with his 2.7kg brown trout from Lake Georgina.

Shore-based anglers need to target the shallow lake edge where trout love to troll.

Lakes cater for all types of angling, both shore-based and boat based, with a high proportion of the fish weighed in at the Coleridge competition being caught by boat anglers.,

In some cases, the Regional or District councils have not allowed boats on lakes, so many anglers use float tubes to get into the lake.

Remember, lakes are large bodies of water, so you will need appropriate lures suitable for the bigger distances involved, but that is tempered with the knowledge that trout like shallow edges and will troll along the lake edge looking for food.

Another prime spot to target on a lake is creek and river mouths, as fish will congregate around the mouth waiting for any food bought into the lake from the creek or river.

Watch this short video for five quick tips on lake fishing for more info.

The Fish & Game YouTube channel has loads of other helpful videos for fishing lakes and rivers.

Harvest Card

As we get closer to the first salmon of the season being caught, anglers fishing for sea run salmon need to have their sea run salmon harvest card and a pen on them when fishing for salmon.

This is to ensure that they can record the details of any fish they keep immediately after landing the fish.

This season the rangers will be targeting the river mouths and gorges and using boats to go upstream to check on all anglers fishing for sea run salmon in between.

New Rakaia Mouth Outdoor Access Camera

Another bit of news for salmon anglers is that Outdoor Access has commissioned a new live stream camera at the Rakaia River mouth.

The New Rakaia camera was put in in October and is on a 20-metre pole so that it can give you a great view of the mouth and back up to the gorge.

These cameras are a boon for anglers and especially worth it for salmon anglers wanting to check the conditions before venturing out.

More than just static webcams, the Livestream cameras zoom in and pan around, giving you a detailed look at what the conditions are like.

Tight Lines

Richie Cosgrove, North Canterbury Fish & Game