Otago Weekly Fishing Report - 27 February 2025

Hungry trout cruising lake edges

Last week’s rain hasn’t slowed down the cicada action across the Central Otago lakes, with plenty of cruising brown trout still looking up and feeding aggressively.

The warm, low water conditions have pushed fish back into the lakes, meaning there’s a solid number of hungry trout cruising the edges to smash a well-presented cicada.

Walking the edges of Lake Wakatipu, Tim, from Central Otago Hunting & Fishing, picked up a few solid fish sitting right on the shelf line. If you’re new to dry fly fishing, now’s the perfect time to get amongst it — trout are locked in on cicadas, making for some exciting top-water takes. A 6-8lb tippet paired with a size 8-12 cicada pattern should do the trick.

Cicada patterns are still doing the business. Tim Johnson with a chunky brown from one of Wakatipu tributaries. Credit: Tim Johnson.

For those fishing the rivers, the trout were a bit more selective. They wouldn’t move far for a fly, so precise casting was key — dropping the fly right on their nose and directly in their feeding lane was the only way to get an eat. 

Wānaka ramp upgrades completed

Queenstown Lakes District Council boat ramp

Queenstown Lakes District Council says work is complete on the two new full boat ramps and improvements to the existing ramps at Roys Bay near Wānaka Marina.

A big thank you to all the boaties and ramp users for their patience over the last few weeks while crews have been working in the area — these upgrades will help to safeguard the continued use of this community asset in the future.

Don’t forget the dams

Lovely conditioned brown trout caught on a soft bait worked slowly around the weed edges at Hore’s Control Pond. Credit: Hadlee Edmunds.

Hadlee, from Dunedin Hunting & Fishing, encourages anglers looking for alternative fishing locations to explore the dams and reservoirs scattered throughout Otago.

Otago offers a variety of stillwater fishing options, particularly in the Maniototo area, where anglers can find both naturally supported brown trout fisheries and stocked hatchery rainbow trout fisheries.

Some notable locations include:

• Coalpit Dam
• Blakelys Dam
• Rutherfords Dam
• Mathias Dam
• Hore’s Control Pond
• And many more...

These fisheries are often more sheltered from environmental conditions that impact exposed rivers, such as floods or low flows. With many also being protected from the wind, they offer an excellent alternative when conditions are unfavourable elsewhere. Hadlee says that fishing these locations early in the morning or late in the evening, when temperatures are cooler, tends to produce the best results.

For more information on the Waters of the Maniototo, click here or to explore the Fish & Game access map, click here.

Upper Taieri

The Upper Taieri River downstream from the Creamery Road Bridge. Credit: Jamie Ward.

After attending the Upper Taieri Catchment Action Plan workshop on Wednesday, Otago Fish & Game operations manager Jamie stopped off to check the river conditions on the Upper Taieri.

Jamie reported that the river was low and clear. He also observed fish at multiple locations rising steadily to emergers.

For the Upper Taieri River, Parachute Adams, CDC Emergers, and Royal Wulff are popular and effective dry flies, while Pheasant Tail Nymphs, Hare’s Ear Nymphs, and Copper Johns work well subsurface. Spin anglers should try Black & Gold Toby lures, Silver or Gold Tassie Devils, and natural coloured softbaits. Early mornings and evenings are the most productive times.

The flows rates for the Upper Taieri River can be checked here.

Carpet layers going under

Divers will install around 4.5 hectares of hessian mats in Lake Wānaka. Credit: NIWA.

Over the next two months, Linz will have divers in Lake Wānaka working to control lagarosiphon in the lake. The work kicks off this week, and involves laying around 4.5 hectares of hessian mats in the Roys Bay area.

That’s equivalent to around four rugby fields! Before installing the hessian mats, divers will check the weed-free parts of the lake and hand weed any isolated plants.

Linz hopes these efforts will build on progress they’ve made over the past 20 years and enable them to move the containment line further towards the township.

They advise it’s essential to control lagarosiphon as it can take over and choke waterways, smother native plants and impact how we use our lakes.

If you’re out on the water, please be aware of the dive flags and avoid the area, if possible.

To find out more about this work, visit Work to clear lakeweed from Lake Wānaka to kick off | Toitū Te Whenua - Land Information New Zealand

South of the border: On the Fly

Kids displayed some impressive casting skills at On the Fly in Gore last Sunday. Credit: Bruce Quirey.

It was great meeting so many people at the Mataura River at On the Fly in Gore last Sunday. Otago Fish & Game was pleased to support our Southland colleagues at the event hosted by Gore District Council.

There was a steady flow of people at the Fish & Game tent talking about fishing, guessing the number of live trout in the tank, and practising their casting.

The juvenile rainbows that were on display from Macraes Hatchery in Otago have now been liberated into Southland’s Lake Thomas as a “put-and-take” fishery. You can view more photos on our Facebook page.

Chef’s catch of the day

Angelo Georgalli, author of The Fish + Game Cookbook, recently caught this brown trout while fly fishing along the edge of Lake Wakatipu at Kingston.

Angelo says he was stripping a bead-head olive damselfly nymph pattern around the weed beds when he hooked this lovely fish.

Here’s one of our favourite trout recipes by Angelo in The Fish + Game Cookbook. You can discover more at angeloswildkitchen.com.

Clyde Dam live webcam

A screengrab of the Clyde Dam webcam taken at the time of writing.

Want to know conditions at Clyde Dam? Check this live webcam sponsored by Contact Energy updated every 15 minutes.

Lake Wānaka live webcam

A screengrab of the Lake Wānaka webcam taken at the time of writing.

Want to know conditions at Lake Wānaka? Check this live webcam from the Wānaka water sports facility.

Here’s the weekend outlook:

Dunedin

Light winds and warm air temperatures should create favourable fishing conditions around Dunedin this weekend. While there's a chance of a shower on Saturday morning and some cloudy periods, the light winds should make for pleasant conditions. Anglers may find better success in the lakes, as warm conditions could raise water temperatures in smaller rivers. However, relief is on the way, with rain and cooler southerlies forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

The Taieri River at Outram was flowing at 4.15 cumecs at the time of writing. The water temperature was 17 degrees C.

Click here for live weather updates.

Wānaka

A mixed weather forecast is expected for Wānaka this week, with northerlies and showers arriving on Saturday afternoon through to Monday, when rain is set to become heavy and winds will shift to the south. Last week's rain provided a much-needed refresh to many waterways, but a week of warm temperatures and sun has returned them to their previous state. To maximise success, target cooler waters where fish are more active.

Click here for live weather updates.

Alexandra

Excellent fishing conditions are expected on Friday and Saturday, with light winds, clear skies, and warm temperatures likely triggering cicada hatches. As northerlies develop on Saturday afternoon, they may help blow cicadas onto the water, creating great fishing opportunities. Showers and north-westerlies are forecast to develop on Sunday, with heavy rain arriving on Monday.

Click here for live weather updates. 

Clutha Regional Forecast

Saturday morning looks to be the best window for anglers targeting trout and perch around the Lower Clutha region, with showers developing later in the evening. Sunday remains favourable, with isolated showers and light winds, while air temperatures in the low 20s should keep conditions comfortable for fishing. Expect the river to rise mid next week with southerlies and heavy rain forecast.

The Pomahaka River was flowing at 4.7 cumecs.

The lower Clutha River at Balclutha was flowing at 291 cumecs.

Click here for live weather updates

For more ORC water monitoring and alerts information click here.

Grab your licence online and let the angling adventures begin.

Got any Otago fishing news?

Send your fishing news and photos (with anglers’ names) to otago@fishandgame.org.nz for consideration in the weekly report.