Central South Island Weekly fishing report - 24 October 2024

Aspiring Angler Lands First Ever Freshwater Fish

Eight-year-old Monty Kendall recently caught his first freshwater fish—a 2.5lb brown trout—while fishing at the canals with his family.  

Using cooked prawns as bait, Monty reeled in the trout on his mum, Ataahua’s, rod. He kept his fish for the dinner table and his mum was proud of her son providing kai for the whānau.

This was Monty’s second time fishing the canals, inspired by an older family friend who had made it look easy during their first trip. His catch motivated his older brothers, Leroy and Luca, to grab their rods, determined not to let their younger brother outshine them.

Monty’s success brought some friendly competition to the day, but more importantly, his trout helped feed the family—a simple, memorable day by the water.

Labour Weekend at the Canals

Edward Milliken enjoying the Ohau A Canal.

Although the current long-range forecast is predicting a poor weekend weather wise, it’s still likely you will encounter other passionate anglers in your favourite section of the canals this Labour Weekend, so please be courteous if you wish to share the area with them.

The angler who is there first has the so called ‘right of way’, so be sure to ask them if it is OK for you to fish near them – for example, if your casts are likely to cross over.

If fishing nearby is not acceptable for the angler with ‘right of way’, then please move on and find a new spot. 

The canals are privately owned property, and anglers are effectively the guests of the power scheme’s owners and operators, Meridian, and Genesis.

Check out our canal fishery guide for all the details here, but I’ve selected a few matters Meridian and Genesis want you to take note of.

• Camping is prohibited at the canals – although night fishing is allowed.  If you appear to be camping you may be asked to leave by a power company security guard.
• 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.
• Rubbish – Your rubbish and fish waste are your responsibility.
• Pack-in and pack-out of all waste is required at the canals as there are no rubbish facilities provided.

Kōaro and upland bully await inspection by PhD student Lauren Hitt and CSI Fish & Game Ecologist Blake Harper at Lake Alexandrina. Credit: Nixie Boddy.

CSI recently assisted Canterbury University PhD student, Lauren Hitt, with her research of Lake Alexandrina’s/Takamana ecosystem.

Lauren’s research focuses on examining the structure of food webs in lakes where trout and kōaro (Galaxias brevipinnis) coexist. She aims to understand how different sizes and ages of these species partition resources and adapt their life histories/behaviours in response to each other's presence. 

Invertebrate samples from the North, East, and South lake edges of Lake Alexandrina on the day showed an abundance of cased caddis larvae and snails throughout, plus the odd free-living caddis larvae down the south end – food items to imitate with your fishing flies once the fishing opens there on November 2nd.

Caddis Fishing Success Near Kurow: Insights for Anglers

Local angler Graeme Hughes recently had a successful evening fishing near Kurow.

Arriving at 8:15 pm with the river running at 450 m³/s (cumecs), he found plenty of fish rising to feed on an active caddis hatch.  

He was able to cast to individual feeders managing to hook and lose 3 in half an hour before moon rise halted proceedings.

“It was only 9.00pm but the crescent moon was throwing a distinct shadow, and I planned a last cast to be home for my late evening hot drink. A solid take and a smoking fast runout to the mid river had my complete concentration. After a lengthy duration of frightening runs and several top-class aerobatics, I had this rainbow "rocket" in the net.  It was only a 3lb fish, in excellent condition and well fed on caddis, I wondered how it could cram any more food items into its stomach”.

During gutting, Graeme discovered a mix of caddis flies in the trout's stomach, primarily small net-building species (Aoteapsyche) and larger free-living species (Hydrobiosis).

Graeme has tied various fly patterns to represent both species, highlighting that when caddis are active, trout will take both types.  His experience underscores the importance of matching flies to local food sources, offering valuable insight for anglers looking to improve their catch rates.

Weather Outlook for Labour weekend

For stable, reliable waters head for the canals this long weekend. The outdoor access live camera at Ohau Junction could be of use. Click here to check it out.

Labour day, Monday, currently appears to be the pick of the days in our opinion and could be the time to get up early and head out on our beautiful lakes with the boat. Trout are currently feeding on millions of sockeye smolt so try your luck with a silver lure - more on that in next week's newsletter!

As for rivers, current YR.no forecasts are predicting heavy rain today (Thursday), off and on through until Sunday morning across the CSI region. This will likely see river levels rise, and clarity decrease in the backend of the weekend. Rivers could potentially remain an option for a time so keep an eye on Ecan river flows, here before committing.

Gale north westerly winds are also forecast through until late Friday.  It is predicted to turn to lighter easterlies Saturday and then southerlies on Sunday.

Snow is also forecast to lower to 500m early on Saturday morning which will bring colder temperatures over the weekend, so pack your puffer!

Check the weather for yourself before getting out there.  No matter what the weather there’s still opportunity to make memories fishing in the CSI region this Labour weekend!

Hard Labour at the Canals

The Hard Labour Kayak Course.

The Twizel Hard Labour multisport event is on in Twizel over Labour Weekend.

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 10am.

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

Notice Board

Kids Salmon Fishing Day

Thanks to Mount Cook Alpine Salmon, the Kids Salmon Fishing Day is on for 2024!

The event is being held at Loch Cameron, 5km from Twizel on the morning of Saturday the 2nd of November.  The event is for kids between the ages of 4 and 11 only.

Registration is on the day from 8:30 am, fishing starts at 9 am. 

For more info email Nikki, click here.

High Country Opening Weekend

High Country Opening Weekend for the CSI region is 2 & 3 November, get ready!
Get your 2024/2025 fishing licence here, or from your local licence agent in-store. And please brush up on the CSI Sports Fishing Regulations 2024/25, here.

Sharing your experiences helps make our reports engaging and inspiring for everyone!

Please email your reports to Jase, click here.