Weekly Fishing Report for Central South Island and North Canterbury for 23 March 2023

CENTRAL SOUTH ISLAND REPORT

Forty-Six Waitaki River Anglers Get a Visit from Our Rangers. 

Last weekend we teamed up with North Canterbury Fish & Game utilising their jet boat to check on anglers fishing the Waitaki River.

Forty-six anglers in total were checked on; most of those anglers used jet boats to access the river for trout or salmon angling.

It was great to see the vast majority of anglers carried their sports fishing licence – the two that didn’t now have 7 days to produce their valid licence at the time of check.

Five anglers had an offence notice issued for breach of sea-run salmon regulations.

Of those anglers, four anglers had to cease salmon fishing as they could not produce their season bag limit card to the rangers as they are required to do.

One of those anglers had kept a salmon but failed to immediately record the details of his fish on his season bag card as he was required to do. In this case the angler dispatched the salmon and returned to fishing without filling in the card – therefore, he did not immediately fill in the card as required.

As for the fishing, the rainbow trout fishing was outstanding while only one sea-run salmon was seen to be caught.

The flows were less than ideal regarding clarity in the lower river, around 370 cumecs, while on Sunday at around 400 cumecs.

The river from about Duntroon up had good clarity for fishing both days.

Upper part of the Waitaki River closed to sea-run salmon fishing as of 31 March

The yellow highlight marks the powerlines at Stonewall - Bortons Pond - salmon fishing is closed above these powerlines in April.

The so-called ‘upper part’ of the Waitaki River is defined in the regulations as “from the Waitaki Dam downstream to a line running beneath the powerlines across the river at the Stonewall or any tributary of that part of the river…”.

If you are not sure where Stonewall is, it is on the north side of the river. The powerlines run across the river here to Bortons Pond at Black Point on the south side of the river – see the above image.

In our Waitaki River access guide – Stonewall is access point 10 and Bortons Pond is access point 28.

An open season remains for sea-run salmon during April in the approximately 29km of Waitaki River downstream from these Stonewall/Bortons powerlines to the sea.

Please remember if you have kept your season bag limit of two (2) sea-run salmon across the combined waters of Central South Island and North Canterbury Regions you cannot continue to fish for sea-run salmon in these regions for the remainder of the 2022/23 sports fishing season.

If you need clarification on any regulation, please contact us directly, phone 03 615 8400 or email csi@fishandgame.org.nz

Central South Island Fish & Game Council Welcomes New Chief Executive

Steve McKnight has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the Central South Island Fish & Game Council. Credit: CSIFG.

We welcome Steve McKnight to the CSI Fish & Game team as our new Chief Executive.

Steve comes to us most recently from Timaru District Council and before that from 27 years in Food Manufacturing with McCain foods and Fonterra, both in NZ and Overseas.

Steve grew up in the Nelson/Marlborough region where he developed a keen interest in all types of hunting, fishing and outdoor activities and he now enjoys the abundance of outdoor opportunities available in the Central South Island.

We look forward to working together with Steve to manage, maintain and enhance our region's sports fish and game bird resources sustainably in the interests of anglers and hunters.

Outlook for the Weekend

A cold Southery blast with region-wide rain harassed us this week.  

Other than a reminder to now carry extra layers of winter clothing – the biggest outcome was that the Rangitata and other Southern Alps draining rivers flooded.

I had a look on the Outdoor Access live stream this morning and can say the Rangitata is a glacial grey colour at 150 cumecs and with another 30-40mm of rain forecast for Saturday the general outlook for Rangitata anglers is to fish elsewhere for the near future.

Our central and eastern catchments did receive notable increases in flow but are receding away nicely for the weekend.

There are periods of beautiful autumn fishing conditions forecast for the weekend and some rain. The Main Divide will receive a notable rain event but elsewhere it may be more like a short sharp blast.

Best for you to check the weather forecasts and ECan river flow information firsthand. 

If you’re heading to the flood-free canals of the Mackenzie Basin this weekend, then the Tekapo Canal might be your best bet if you’re main target is salmon.

Outlook for the Weekend

A cold Southery blast with region-wide rain harassed us this week.  

Other than a reminder to now carry extra layers of winter clothing – the biggest outcome was that the Rangitata and other Southern Alps draining rivers flooded.

I had a look on the Outdoor Access live stream this morning and can say the Rangitata is a glacial grey colour at 150 cumecs and with another 30-40mm of rain forecast for Saturday the general outlook for Rangitata anglers is to fish elsewhere for the near future.

Our central and eastern catchments did receive notable increases in flow but are receding away nicely for the weekend.

There are periods of beautiful autumn fishing conditions forecast for the weekend and some rain. The Main Divide will receive a notable rain event but elsewhere it may be more like a short sharp blast.

Best for you to check the weather forecasts and ECan river flow information firsthand. 

If you’re heading to the flood-free canals of the Mackenzie Basin this weekend, then the Tekapo Canal might be your best bet if you’re main target is salmon.

Tight Lines, 

Rhys Adams, Central South Island Fish & Game Officer

 

NORTH CANTERBURY REPORT

Whilst rainy and foul weather in Christchurch, it was all sun at Lake Coleridge yesterday.

It’s a weekend for trout anglers and lowland streams, all of which will have had a nice wee top up from the rain this week. 

There are Nor-westerlies developing for the weekend with Saturday definitely looking fairly dodgy weatherwise. 

The value of websites like Outdoor Access was proven yesterday, when it was absolute rubbish weather in the city but the webcams showed Lake Coleridge to be calm, clear and sunny. 

Outdoor Access is a great resource for prospective anglers looking for fishing spots when the weather is looking a bit sketchy. 

As the military say, time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted, and having a good look around both online and out on the ground will certainly help your fishing exploits. 

FishSoc 

I spent last Saturday afternoon with around 40 of our next generation of anglers. 

Most people will never have heard of FishSoc, but it is the University of Canterbury's Student's Association's Fish Society. 

FishSoc members spotting trout on their learn to fish day

FishSoc has 115 paid-up members, it is a group of young, keen anglers who will be the next generation of our sport. 

They were holding a "Learn To Fish" day on the Otukaikino Creek, due to its close proximity to the University and had the space for people to spread out and cast. 

It was awesome to see these young men and women being supported by their peers and learning about fishing.

Many of the society’s members are just embarking on their freshwater fishing journey,  having had some exposure to freshwater angling when younger before their interest was peaked at the University’s clubs and societies day. 

It was great to be able to offer them support and advice, you’ll be seeing more reports of FishSoc on the pages in the coming months. 

So if you have family studying at the University, who are interested or keen anglers, let them know about FishSoc so we can grow the next generation of anglers.

Annual Rangers Fishing Competition  

Just a reminder that the annual Fish & Game Rangers fishing competition will be held on Friday, April 21 at Kairaki beach at the Waimakariri River Mouth. 

The competition is held to celebrate the end of the summer fishing season with anglers and is quite a social event, with a spot prize draw, a free sausage sizzle and a touch of fishing thrown in for good measure.  

We have over $2000 in fantastic spot prizes, with more still to arrive from our generous sponsors: Hunting & Fishing Tower Junction & North Canterbury, Kilwell, Desolve Supply Co, Hunters Element, Stoney Creek, Amazing Baits. 

There is a trophy for the heaviest salmon caught on the day; click here for more details.

If you have any recent photos of your fishing exploits or events you want to publicise, send them to northcanterbury@fishandgame.org.nz ; even if they aren’t from our region, I’ll pass them on.   

Tight Lines, 

Richie Cosgrove, North Canterbury Fish & Game Officer.