Reel Life September 2025 - Central South Island

October Offers Opportunities

October is a great month to fish as trout are at their most naïve as they have not been fished at for a few months, which is the perfect opportunity to catch larger trout that become spooky come late season.

Image above: Mum and her boys out there doing it, Opening Day 2024. (Credit Blake Harper)

A relatively mild and flood-free winter has set up our local rivers for some good early season fishing, although some rain is welcomed to maintain healthy river flows and lake levels.

Spring often brings periods of heavy rainfall and snow melt, rising and dropping waters offer the perfect opportunity for spin and bait fishing methods.

Discoloured water offers a good chance to fish with worms and lures – the fish have less time to decide whether to bite due to the coloration of the water.

The new fishing season opening coincides with the school holidays so we encourage experienced anglers to make the time to teach a young person how to fish.

October is a great month to fish waterways, like the Ōpihi River, while water levels remain elevated with spring rainfall and snowmelt.

Many high-country waterways remain closed until the first Saturday in November to protect rainbow trout spawning and other sensitive fisheries – refer to your regulation guide.

Get your licence here if you haven’t already and we look forward to seeing see you out there!

New Angler Access to the Rangitata River

Jase on the tools cutting back scrub, and whacking weeds to form an access track from the farm down to the river. (credit B Harper)

We are pleased to announce that a stretch of over 7km on the Rakitata/Rangitata River is now publicly accessible to anglers!

The Cumberland Dairy access point is now officially open thanks to a collaborative effort from Herenga-ā-nuku, Overseas Investment Office, the new owners of Cumberland Dairy and some hard mahi from Jase.

We encourage adventurous anglers to check out this fresh spot.

You’ll find several promising stretches of water where brown and rainbow trout will hold and, at the right time of year, sea-run salmon. 

Thank you again to Cumberland Diary Farms for their ongoing co-operation.

Getting there:
From Ealing Montalto Road, turn left on Klondyke Terrace Road for about 1.7km.

Just over the bridge, there’s parking on the left near the angler access sign and style. 

From here from here you’ve got a well-marked 1.1km walk through the farm (don’t forget your net) and then down a terrace cutting which tracks along the side of a wetland.

When you’re standing on the rivers edge, you’re there.

See our angler access online maps, here to view the Cumberland Diary access – number 27.

We are Guests Here, Act Accordingly

Angler fishes Meridian structure, putting access at risk.

We’re incredibly fortunate to have the resources the canals offer in our region. When fishing around hydro-electric schemes (which are privately owned and operated), we must remember that access is a privilege, not a right.

To keep our visits safe, and ensure that the opportunity to fish around the hydro-electric schemes, is maintained for future generations of anglers, please Adhere to signage and do not climb fences or barriers.

Signage and fencing are erected around structures and hazardous areas to notify you of hazards and to keep you out of dangerous places. This is in place to protect individuals as well as the owners of the structures.

See the canal brochure for more helpful angler information.

New Regulations for the 2025/26 Season

Anglers are reminded to familiarise themselves with the new 2025/2026 regulation guide before fishing. The one linked above is valid from 1 October 2025, CSI on page 48.

There are several new regulations introduced in Central South Island for the new season, including:

• Scented soft bait lures that imitate active bait fish may now be used in all waters where spin fishing is permitted – adding a new lure option at 46 waterways.
• A portion of fish may be used as bait where bait fishing is permitted, excluding a portion of salmon. trout, or any fish eggs.
• The season bag limit for sea-run salmon has been reduced to one salmon in response to the severely low salmon spawning populations observed in 2025.
• All waterways of the Ahuriri River Catchment now open on the same day being the first Saturday in November.

Read the full anglers notice here.

South Canterbury Anglers Club member Alan Gillespie caught and kept this brown on his winter fishing trip to the Opihi

Consider Joining a Club

I caught up with club members Grant Weston and Garry Parker of the South Canterbury Anglers club last month after their annual "Frosty Jacks" club trip to Benmore.

Grant reported that the club enjoyed calm, sunny conditions in the morning but the trout were playing hard to hook — “they would charge up to the fly and then swim away. After lunch, a breeze picked up and so did the fishing”.

Garry remarked that it might have had more to do with Grant's fly choice than the wind.

Ten club members, one from as far afield as Mt Summers, landed 28 fish between them, about 90% of them being released back into the lakes. The rainbows were generally in better condition than the browns.

Of those that were kept, Garry's was heaviest by 5 grams. He joked that his last fish was still wet when weighed and that's what got him across the line.

Join the club to be a part of the next season's trips and events! All skill levels welcome, learners encouraged.

Contact: scacfishing@gmail.com or call Grant on 0273387594

For those further north, see Mid Canterbury anglers club: midcanterburyanglersclub@gmail.com

Rainbow release from one of the South Canterbury Anglers Club trips to Mackenzie last season, (Photo credit SCAC)

Catch and Release With Care

Taking a fish home for dinner is a fundamental part of sports fishing; however, there will be times, either by choice or by legal requirement, when you will release fish.

Please follow our ‘Quick 5’ tips for handling fish with care: 

1. Cool your hands and landing net by wetting them before touching the fish.
2. Keep the fish in the water while removing the hook.
3. Do not squeeze the fish, and never touch the gills.
4. Photograph the fish in or over the water and make it quick - the fish should not be out of the water for more than 5 seconds.
5. Revive the fish facing into the current long enough for it to regain its swimming strength.

In the unfortunate instance that a fish you intended to release does end up bleeding from the gills, so long as you can legally take that fish, you should keep it as part of your bag limit and utilise it. 

This short video demonstrates good fish handling skills, click here to view.

Sea Run Salmon Populations Plummet

Spawning numbers are now placed in the “severe” population band in relation to harvest management and as a result, the season bag limit has been reduced to one sea-run salmon for the 2025-26 season in CSI and North Canterbury.

In response to the risk of further population decline, Fish and Game are working urgently to evaluate salmon management options that inform immediate and future strategies.

Remember that while fishing for sea-run salmon, in accordance with the regulations, you must obtain and carry your bag limit card and a pen so that you can immediately fill it in when you have kept a salmon.

Save The Dates

High Country Opening – Saturday 1st of November. Many of our waterways remain closed until our traditional high-country opening – the first weekend in November.

Kids Salmon Fishing Day – The 2025 Kids Salmon Fishing Day at Loch Cameron near Twizel will be held on Saturday the 1st of November made possible by Mt Cook Alpine Salmon.

Marama and Paul Eddy at 2024 Kid’s Salmon Fishing Day.

 

Tight Lines,

Nikki Dellaway, CSI Fish & Game