Reel Life October 2023

Opening Day was a Stunner

October 1 dawned a bright sunny day this year, and anglers were out and about in force across the region.

For anglers at the Glenariffe Stream, like those pictured above, you had to be there early because there were three groups of anglers out at first light.

This was replicated at other rivers around the region, which is great to see anglers out enjoying the new fishing season.

though we've had some wind to deal with, even on Saturday night when the wind dropped there were people out and about.

Designated Waters

Fish & Game Officer Emily Craig places a ranger visit card on a car, we'll use these when we undertake patrols in our Designated Waters Fisheries.

With the designated waters system coming into some of our North Canterbury rivers for the first time this season, it has meant now that our Fish and Game rangers will be visiting these areas throughout the season.

We'll be checking that resident and non-resident anglers are carrying their Designated Waters Licence.

If you haven’t fished these waters before, then we highly recommend that you either go online or your local fishing shop and get yourself a Designated Waters Licence for the region.

Then go and explore these crystal-clear waters that provide great sight fishing.

Remember Kiwi anglers get to fish these waters for as many days as they want with their Designated Waters Licence, Non-resident ie overseas anglers are limited to a maximum of five days per season in a region's Designated Waters.

Lowland Fisheries

A beautiful Ellesmere tributaries brown trout.

The lowland fisheries in the North Canterbury region provide great early-season opportunities before some of our high-country lakes and rivers open, enabling you to get out and to scratch that fishing itch.

Although our lowland streams might not hold high numbers of trout, never underestimate their size as some of these streams hold very large trout in the double-figure weight category.

These large fish predominantly feed on baitfish e.g., cockabullies and silveries, so fishing with lures or flies that imitate a baitfish in the evening or early morning would be the prime time to get an opportunity to catch one of these large trout.

Lake Coleridge Competition

Our annual Lake Coleridge Fishing Competition is on again this year on Saturday, November 4. 

Generously supported by the Hunting & Fishing stores in the region -Tower Junction, Ashburton and North Canterbury it’s a great day out for anglers and a great celebration of the opening of the High-country fishery. 

They have provided over $8000 in prizes for the event, there are a heap of spot prizes for Adult and Junior anglers.

This year we will be holding the weigh-in at the Harper Campground, Sign up to our Weekly Fishing Report for more details.

High-Country Opening

The first Saturday in November our the opening of the High country fishery, this year its the 4^th.

Opening Day draws in a lot of anglers into the high country as our lakes and some of our rivers open for fishing for the first time for months in some cases.

For some anglers, it's like Christmas Day.

These lakes offer a great variety of fishing from trolling in your boat to stalking the shoreline for cruising trout.

This year we have changed some of the season dates on a couple of our rivers which traditionally opened in December but now they open on the 1^st Saturday of November these are the: Harper,  Avoca Rivers and the Wilberforce Diversion.

So, these are great opportunities to explore if some of the lakes or rivers are overcrowded.

Take a Mate Fishing

Have you got a mate that wants to get into trout fishing, but doesn’t know how or where to go?

Why not take them out to your favourite lake or river and share the experience of what freshwater fishing is about.

Not only is it good for your mental health and well-being but it also takes you into some amazing landscapes.

It can also be very satisfying when you see a mate catch their first trout or salmon and 9 times out of 10 that generally gets them addicted on fishing.

So you now have gained another fishing mate for trips into the future.

Tight Lines

The Team at North Canterbury Fish & Game.