Reel Life October 2025 - Nelson Marlborough

Season off to a decent start

The new trout fishing season is off to a decent start after the June & July floods that raised a few questions about the state of some of our regional fisheries. Reports have been coming highlighting fishing has been 'better than expected', with trout in pretty good condition despite months of high flows and dirty water.  

Fishing conditions have been challenging of late with repeated rain events keeping rivers high, and plenty of wind to make fishing more difficult.  Most of the attention has been on smaller rivers and tributaries of larger rivers which clear quickly, although spin/soft bait anglers should enjoy the conditions more than their fly fishing counterparts.

There are some great fishing opportunities ahead as the rivers hopefully drop and the water becomes more accessible.  As it currently stands, many parts of our larger rivers haven't really been fished yet due to the high flows, so there are some exciting prospects ahead throughout November as these rivers drop in volume are explored by anglers, hopefully encountering trout that haven’t had a line cast over them for 6 months.

Image above: Weesang Paaka. Caption: Despite the huge floods in June and July, the fishing has been surprisingly good. Photo: Jacob Lucas

Fish release update

Fish releases were completed in mid-October at Lake Argyle and Waimea Park with the new batch of fish coming through.  We will be liberating fish each month at both locations, and will be releasing rainbows by vehicle into the Leatham and Branch in mid-November.

A release of rainbows will take place into the Branch & Leatham Rivers in November.  Pictured is Lawson Davey releasing a fish into the Leatham in 2023. Photo: Jacob Lucas

Softbait workshops coming up

We have dates for our upcoming soft bait workshops, held in Marlborough and Tasman.  Josh Ponder from Henderson's in Blenheim will be delivering the workshops, alongside Fish & Game.  Josh is a wealth of knowledge on soft bait fishing for trout and is one of the regions most successful exponents of this form of fishing, which, when done well, is a deadly way to catch trout.

• Wairau River - Wednesday 19 November (6-8pm)
• Lake Argyle - Sunday 23 November (10am-1pm)
• Waimea Park - Saturday 13 December (5-8 pm)
• Motueka River - Sunday 14 December (10am-1pm)

Registrations are needed so we can send you details of where to meet, and in the event weather or flows impact on the day.

Please register for the events here.

Josh Ponder delivering a soft bait session at McLeans Reserve in early 2025.

Branch Ranch River access update

Good news for anglers wishing to fish the Branch River: mid-week restrictions to access the Branch River are no longer in place from now and for the duration of the season as logging crews have been diverted to Golden Downs to support windthrow recovery efforts after the July storm.  However, anglers take note: caution is advised when crossing the bridge across the lower Leatham to access the Branch Road.  As logging activity has been put on hold for the time being, we are not sure if the bridge will be maintained over the duration of the season, so check the condition of the bridge before you cross.

Annual fisheries report out now

Our Annual Fisheries Report for the 2024-25 season is out now.  The report features results from all the monitoring work we do, including annual dift dives, and has plenty of other information so you can read what keeps us busy.

You can read a copy here.

Online fishing access map

There's no better resource to help you plan your fishing missions this season than our new online interactive access maps.

Click the map above to start planning your weekend angling outing!

Retirement village fish Waimea Park

Local outdoor guru and all-round top guy, Joe Cross, recently took members of the Arvida Waimea Plains retirement village down to Waimea Park to experience some fishing.  Nine ladies and one gentleman piled into the van, along with Joe and his energetic son, Harlee.  After Harlee and Joe gave them some initial pointers, the group hit the water and promptly landed three fish, which were all kept and smoked up by Joe and given to the group to try. The residents all commented that it was a great experience as many of them had never been fishing before, adding they thought the Waimea Park facility was a fantastic destination.  As Joe said, “they absolutely loved it”.

Fantastic work by Joe and Harlee.  If you live in one of our many regional Tasman retirement villages and want to organise a day trip to Waimea park to experience some fishing, contact Jacob Lucas here.

Success at the Arvida Retirement Village trip to Waimea Park. Photo: Joe Cross.

Reading the water - Must watch video for new anglers

Unlock the secrets of reading a trout river with 'The Invisible Map'. In this video, you'll learn how to recognise and understand the hidden structure of a river so you can improve your fly fishing results.

Whether you’re new to fly fishing or an experienced angler, learning to see the 'invisible map' that trout follow will change the way you approach every cast. 

https://youtu.be/vr18AuAN5Zc?si=0RJY-RBdnj6Tu0KO

Anglers pitch in to help farmers 

The June and July floods were significant events in this region's history.  In the weeks and months that followed, the community responded to help out those affected, with many groups, organisations and individuals pitching in to help get peoples lives and businesses back on track.

Fish and Game and the Nelson Trout Fishing Club also answered the call, working on 12 properties and undertaking over 600 hours of volunteer work on a range of properties from hobby farms to primary producers.  It was a fantastic effort from the group, some who joined to help on one or two days, others who were there on every clean-up day that was held. Mostly this work was clearing and reinstating fences and picking up rubbish brought down from the flood, however it was obvious the work of volunteer groups such as this helped ease the burden many farmers were facing.

Nelson Trout fishing Club President, Don Clementson, says his members wanted to help out local farmers, many who generously provide access to rivers for fishing.  

"The Motueka River is the Club's favourite trout fishery; some of us have been fishing the river for around 60 years and have long-standing relationships with farmers who live there".

Don adds that there is a social element to the flood clean-up events which was enjoyed by everyone.

"Besides the usual banter and lies, it was a good chance to genuinely get to know other members of the Club who you may not usually mix with"

"For some of the group, the clean-up days have been the catalyst to form new angling friendships"

The group also made use of the opportunities to scope out the river and speculate on how the trout fishing would be after the floods. 

"Some of us even went fishing afterwards, and surprisingly we managed to catch a few fish",

Anglers have a strong interest in conservation, having a natural inclination towards freshwater environments and the fauna that lives within.   The Club, alongside Fish & Game, have been involved in a host of conservation initiatives in the Motueka catchment over the years such as river clean-up days, old man's beard weeding events and predator trapping projects.

"Whatever we can do to help make this place better, we'll be there", Don says

While the flood clean-up is still ongoing, great progress has been made by landowners, contractors and the community.  

This work done by anglers goes a long way to strengthen the goodwill that already exits in this region between farmers and fishers.

Members of the Nelson Trout Club and Fish & Game staff pitching in to help farmers. Photo: Gebhard Krewitt.