Weekly Fishing Report - Central South Island -23-12-2021

The summer holidays are here, you beauty!

There will be time to go fishing - especially for the kids on their school holidays.

Feature image: What better time to teach a young person to fish than during the summer school holidays - Credit Richie Cosgrove

If you’re looking for a last-minute stocking filler then why not buy someone some fishing gear and a licence.

All the type of licences on offer can be considered and purchased on the Fish & Game NZ Website  here.

If you need some help on what gear to buy to get started in trout fishing then check out this video.

Teaching kids to fish can be a rewarding experience but it can also be a bit testing on the nerves.  

I’m lucky enough to be a dad and an uncle and have learnt a few tricks to make fishing trips more enjoyable and successful.

Here’s my tips for taking kids on fishing trips.

The recent rain has given many of our rivers a spring-like reset and flows are high but receding nicely towards the Christmas and New year’s period – that’s great news.

The Opihi River at SH1 looking perfect for spin fishing on Thursday 23 of December

A prime example of a river to target over the holiday period is the Opihi and its tributaries.

This morning the river at State Highway 1 was dropping in flow and clearing up nicely at about 20 cumecs.

It was what I’d consider perfect spin fishing conditions, still good for worm fishing and just do-able for sight fishing the shallow margins.

We are now in the thick of the sea run salmon fishing season.

High flows and discoloured water have limited the number of fishing days but the keen anglers have been on the water and at least for the Rangitata we are hearing stories of anglers seeing encouraging numbers of salmon “porpoising”, meaning breaking the water surface.

Unfortunately, the headwaters of the Rangitata River received another dose of rain earlier in the week so river flows could remain high and discoloured for a few more days.

Rangitata River flows can be viewed here on the ECan website.

Outdoor Access, a paid service, now has a live-stream webcam installed near the Rangitata Mouth that can be used to check the conditions.

Be sure to familiarise yourself with the 2021/22 sea run salmon regulations for the Central South Island and North Canterbury Fish & Game Regions.

For sea run salmon waters, it’s not just a case of grabbing your licence and rod and heading down to the river anymore.

The poor current state of our sea run salmon fishery has led to the introduction of a season bag limit, a sea run salmon endorsement and season bag limit card; there are several new rules you need to adhere to.

Carry your season bag limit card while fishing sea run salmon waters if you have any intention to catch a sea run salmon or keep one incidentally caught while trout fishing.

You are required to produce your bag limit card to a ranger on request and if you keep a salmon you must write down your catch details immediately.

All the information you need to know can be found at our website here including how to obtain your sea run salmon endorsement and season bag limit card, free of charge.

The list of sea run salmon waters can be found in the first question of our FAQ’s for sea run salmon anglers.

If you need any clarification of the new regulations, please contact our Temuka Office: phone 03 6158400, email csi@fishandgame.org.nz

Merry Christmas

From Rhys and the team at CSI Fish & Game

Notice Board

Tekapo River spill flow advisory

Genesis Energy are currently spilling water to the Tekapo River via the Lake George Scott Weir.

Spilling is likely to occur over the holiday season.

Tekapo River flows may rise rapidly during spilling and all river users are urged to take extreme caution to avoid rising river flows.   

Spill flows can be viewed at the Genesis website here.

Tekapo River flows in the lower river, downstream of the Mary Burn confluence, can be view on the ECan website here.”

Anglers should expect Lake Benmore to be discoloured in the Haldon Arm in the area of the Tekapo River delta. 

Illegal river mouth set-netting

Complaints of illegal set-netting activities should be made to the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

MPI Dunedin advise that Timaru MPI Officer Kevin Reynolds (03 7430171) is first contact for illegal set-net complaints south of the Rakaia River.

If he is not contactable then call the 0800 4 POACHER hotline (0800 476 224).

Regarding sports fish (trout and salmon), an offence occurs in freshwater when any sports fish caught set-netting, is taken, and not returned to the water.

Message from Meridian

Summer is nearly here and there are a few things to remember when you’re out and about near our canals and hydro assets.

• Remember to park safely, well clear of the roadway and in designated parking areas.

• The rocks on the edge of the canal are super slippery and the canals quickly reach a 10M depth. Please be careful.

• Don’t climb fences around our structures – the fences are there to keep you safe.  

• Take it easy when walking down the side of the canals - it’s easy to slip, fall and break something.

• Our hydro station’s water intake and discharge areas have fast flowing aerated water, undercurrents and unpredictable water releases. Please follow the safety information on our safety signs.

Enjoy the canals and hydro assets safely over the summer!

Happy fishing!

The Meridian team