Central South Island Weekly fishing report - 17 October 2024

Matthew Hall is deeply connected to the Rangitata river.

Matthew Hall, former CSI Fish & Game Councillor, has recently featured in the Ko te Whakahaumanu o te Rakitata Awa – the Rakitata River revival programme.

Matthew, a Rangitata hut owner, has recreated on the river for almost 80 years and is deeply connected to the river and is dedicated to protecting its health.

Today, as the secretary of the South Rangitata Hut Holders Association, he leads efforts to combat coastal erosion, improve water quality, and restore fish populations – working closely with local groups, iwi, and government agencies. Despite the challenges, he remains optimistic about the future of the river.

Matthew has spent his life fishing and learning the river’s rhythms and a standout moment in his fishing career was landing a massive 36 lb salmon on a 9 lb line at the river mouth.

An engaging short film was shot about Matthew’s life and his involvement with the Rangitata/ Rakitata, click here to view.  Read the full newsletter, here and visit Rakitata River revival programme page, here.

Transient Sea-Run Trout

Pink soft bait success on sea-run brown trout.

Last weekend, Cohen visited the Wainakarua River mouth and had a productive encounter with a sea-run brown trout.

On the first day, during low tide, he observed twelve sea-run trout feeding in the lagoon, though they were hesitant to bite.  He manged to successfully land one prime example weighing around 4.5-5lb.

On a return visit the following day, no fish were caught or sighted, highlighting what Cohen believes represents the transient nature of these sea runners.

Cohen suggests anglers consider using lightly weighted soft baits or streamers to get results at the mouth.

Please email Jase, here with your fishing experiences this season. Please don’t be shy, every story helps inspire and engage the CSI angler community that you are a part of by subscribing to this newsletter.

Sonar Trials Underway

An XL sized trout detected by the Garmin LiveScope sonar on the Tekapo Canal during fish count trials.

It’s our goal as fisheries managers to be able to count fish populations in the canals.

By counting fish and knowing the status of the population fisheries managers can confidently set the regulations to maximise your opportunity to catch fish.

We took a step towards our goal recently with the help from Garmin and Genesis. Garmin staffer Harry Curley showed us the ropes of using the Garmin Panoptix LiveScope sonar on the Tekapo Canal – Genesis gave us permission to operate on the water. 

The LiveScope sonar is impressive; we can clearly see and count adult-size fish actively swimming in the depths or diving down the bank slope after being spooked from the shallows. This technology would be a game changer for lake fishing!

Slowly drifting or paddling along drop off areas and casting to fish spotted on the LiveScope would be great fun in Lake Benmore etc and is already popular overseas.

We are yet to fully process the data collected during the trials or find workarounds to the variable canal flows, windy days etc to decide if we can use the technology repeatably year-on-year in a scientifically robust way.

Our goal, for starters, is to be able to reliably detect annual changes in the number of fish present in the upper half of the Tekapo Canal during spawning season.

Weather and Water Outlook

Conditions are looking prime for all types of fishing across CSI fisheries this weekend!

Current long range weather forecasts are showing a calm clear weekend ahead however there is a slight possibility of a touch of light rain on Saturday night but nothing to be concerned about. Light westerly winds across the region are forecast.

ECan river flow rates are now typical for this time of year with good reliable flow and clarity improving greatly over the past week.

Keep in mind that the Waitaki River flow is mainly controlled through the Waitaki Dam and the river flow level is practically unpredictable as it is dependent on electricity demand and catchment level water management – we recommend checking ECan’s Waitaki  flow website here before you go and during your trip to the Waitaki River. 

Be sure to check forecasts on the YR.no forecast website and or Metvuw.com for yourself before committing to heading out.

Be Prepared - Exciting Times Ahead - Get your Licence now!

It’s an exciting time for anglers with two big fishing weekends fast approaching– Labour Weekend and High Country Opening Weekend.

Before going out fishing remember to purchase your 2024/2025 fishing licence online through the Fish & Game NZ website, here, or from your local licence agent in-store.

You can familiarise yourself on the CSI Sports Fishing Regulations 2024/25, here.

Labour Weekend is just 8 days away and is a classic weekend for fishing the canals, Lake Benmore and targeting a sea-run brown trout down near the river mouths. 

High Country Opening Weekend for the CSI region is 2 & 3 November. This opens a world of fishing options, especially in the Ashburton Lakes and the Mackenzie Basin.

Check out our Angler Access Website here for some fishing spot inspiration.  

Notice Board

Hard Labour at the Canals

On Saturday the 26^th of October the Twizel Hard Labour multisport event is on in Twizel over Labour Weekend.  Kayakers will be active from around 8:30am till 11am and will be racing from Lake Ruataniwha, down through the Ōhau B and Ōhau C Canals and out into Lake Benmore via the Ōhau C Tailrace.  Lake Ruataniwha is closed to all powered craft from 7am until 9am.

Please do not fish while kayakers are passing by particularly at the SH8 bridge above Ōhau B canal. This annual event has Meridian approval.