North Canterbury Fishing Report Thursday 7th March 2019

Weather conditions are looking great for high country anglers this weekend, with light winds forecast both days on the back of a fading nor-west, with a sou-west change tonight.

The Rakaia River is flowing at around 108 cumecs, and the Waimakariri at Otarama is at 43 cumecs.

The main snow-fed rivers may receive some rain in the headwaters before midnight tonight.

About 40 mm of rain is expected which may only be enough to put a little bit of  much needed colour in these rivers.

In general there should be good fishing conditions for all anglers this weekend.

The alpine rain shouldn’t have too much of an effect on the snow-fed main rivers, but keep an eye on the Ecan website for river flow levels just in this case.

March is typically a very low flow month for all our rivers from the lowland streams to the snow-fed rivers.

Please keep an eye on your local stream for signs of disconnected flows, and trout which may be trapped in pools.

Fish & Game staff are anticipating trout salvages this month, so please call the North Canterbury office on 0800 327 426 if you see any strandings.

It is usually members of the public out taking the dog for a walk, or going for a swim, that are the first to witness stranded trout.

Fly of the month 

At this time of the season, trout have been cast at by many anglers with all sorts of gear.

They are wiser now than they were! However there is an abundant food source on the way which peaks in numbers in March  - cicadas.

These noisy chirping little beauties are a favourite for high country trout.

They are clumsy flyers and often crash land on the water after sunning themselves on the river bed stones.

Black or green ones will be present and the best imitations are made of deer hair.

Large patterns size 8# or even 6# are best, when trout are freely slurping cicadas they often seem oblivious to all else around them.

It’s a good time for anglers to take advantage of this.

What’s coming on the fishing calendar

There are a couple of high profile salmon fishing events coming up soon.

Firstly, there is the NZSAA Waimakariri Competition on Saturday the 23^rd March.

Entry forms are available at Hunting and Fishing stores and at the Kairaki Beach camping ground.

This salmon fishing social event is eagerly anticipated by many anglers so good luck to all involved.

The Annual Rangers Salmon Fishing Competition is also on the way, to be held  on Monday, 8^th April from 7am.

It is  held at Kairaki Beach and this event is confined to this area only.

Anglers may register on the day at the Fish & Game marquee, entry is free.

A barbecue will be going all morning for the anglers, and typically this social angling event attracts a large number of dedicated salmon anglers. 

Compliance issues

If you see any illegal activities please Call Fish & Game on 0800 327426, or Dirk Barr, on 021 221 8378 ; Steve Terry 021-221 8327; Tony Hawker 021-221 8325.

We will try and get a ranger there asap. 

Volunteer help needed

Attention anglers! Fin Clipping Weekend at Montrose Club Fund Raising Event on Saturday, 6th and Sunday, 7th April 2019

The second part of the annual chinook salmon smolt fin clipping program will begin at the Montrose hatchery at 8.30am Saturday, 6th and Sunday 7th of April.

It will probably involve two partial days clipping finishing around 2pm with a good team on both days.

This important task of marking chinook salmon for the purpose of identification is one of the most essential fisheries management tools we have. 

North Canterbury Fish & Game is inviting members of the New Zealand Salmon Anglers Association and the Canterbury Lure Fishing Association, and members of the public to assist with the task of adipose fin clipping about 140,000 salmon smolt at the site.

These smolt stocks are destined for release into the Waimak, Rakaia, Coleridge, and Kaikoura rivers, and the West Coast in July.

An estimated 40 volunteers are needed on each day of the weekend.

Members of the public are also very welcome, so invite your friends and their families to enjoy the comraderie of anglers on this social and educational event.

Fish & Game rangers and Council members are also invited to take part over the weekend.

The car pool meeting point will be at the Yaldhurst Hotel car park, at 7.30am both days.

Volunteers who haven't been to the Montrose hatchery before, and are making their own way up, should head for Blackford Road which is the first road on the right after crossing the Rakaia Gorge bridge, it is on the south side of the river.

The entrance to the property is six kilometres up the road from the turn off and it will be marked by an angler access sign.

If the road turns to shingle, you have gone past the entrance by a couple of kilometres!

Fish & Game will be providing a barbecue lunch on the day.

Warm clothes and wet weather gear is advised. Gumboots or waders are also recommended.

An indication of numbers from the clubs, or members of the public prior to the weekend would be appreciated. Please contact below. 

Tell all your friends! A good crowd is needed for this one! Looking forward to catching up with you all, for what is not only a valuable part of fisheries enhancement process, but also a great social event for anglers. 

Fin flipped salmon 

A slightly fin-clipped salmon

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for any fin clipped salmon that are being caught in good numbers of late.

If you do happen to catch one, make a note of it and have your information available for the annual phone survey which is carried out at the end of the season.

This information is important for assessing how well the enhancement programme releases have been, and may help us to decide how best results are achieved.

If you are on the lower Waimakariri and catch a fin clipped salmon please let others know around you as there is an independent data collection effort going on down there, where all fish caught are being recorded.

This information collected by five regular anglers is proving very valuable.

Occasionally not all of the adipose fin is removed. In the above case a curve has been cut out as the scissors used are shaped that way.

In other cases a pointy fin is left as a result.

 Ideally, the fin should be completely removed, however new fin clippers often take a few fish to get the hang of holding them the right way for a clean removal of the fin.

Tight Lines All,

Dirk Barr, North Canterbury Fish and Game.