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Reel Life Nelson Jan 2012
Lake Fishing tips for first timers
One of our local rangers, Terry Duke, has the following advice for would-be first-time lake anglers fishing Lakes Argyle, Rotoiti, Rotoroa, Daniels, or Bowscale Tarn and Lake Tennyson:
Get the light behind you and very slowly walk the lake edge spotting for fish or rises. Using a trace of close to 5m, tapering to a 4-5lb point, attach a size 14 pheasant tail or hare & copper. Once you spot your fish among the weed beds, figure out the direction it’s travelling (it will usually be swimming a repetitive beat) and then lay down your trace and nymph well behind the fish, preferably in a gap in the weed beds. Wait patiently till the fish returns on its beat (up to ten minutes or more), and when it’s within visual range of your nymph (1-5m), twitch the line to activate the nymph from the bottom where it’s resting. Providing the fish sees the movement, it should attack with gusto. Obviously, if you can get well in front of the travelling fish without spooking it, you can also lay the line down in front of it and achieve the same result without the waiting.
Because lakes hold so many fish, they are often more catchable than their river resident cousins, as they’ve often had a lot fewer flies thrown to them over the course of the fishing season. This mode of fishing can be a great way for anglers who have just graduated from spin to fly fishing, to succeed. Anglers should also note that this method can also be very successfully used in fishing from the front of a quietly moving boat along areas of lake edge that are unsuitable for shore-based angling – just make sure you are wearing a life jacket in case you overbalance during the excitement of a strong take!
Fisheries still producing despite flooding
While some of our smaller fisheries such as the Wakapuaka and Maitai got thrashed by the flooding prior to Christmas, most of our bigger river systems got off lightly due to the coastal concentration of the deluge.
Favourable fishing reports have been coming in from the Upper Clarence, Wairau, and lower Pelorus, to name but a few. Recent drift dive results from the Rai/Pelorus have partly validated these reports, with the highest trout biomass on record noted for the Opouri and Lower Rai sites – the lower Rai below Bulford bridge has a phenomenal number of medium and large browns and well-conditioned rainbows at present, and it’s an ideal location for taking the kids for some spin fishing action.
There are also plenty of large rainbows present higher up in the Opouri at present, probably due to higher than normal summer flows, for those who like sight-stalking trout with a fly.
A nicely conditioned 5lb rainbow caught by a happy angler in the lower Pelorus that tasted ‘sensational’ in the hot smoker.
Fish & Game staff concern over Tasman river management
Staff have two outstanding issues with Tasman District Council river services staff which are hard to find any common ground on – that of willow removal, and gravel ‘relocation.’
Council River engineers tell us their goal is to remove up to 15km of Crack willow from rivers each year. In a large river like the Motueka, this could be very destructive on the fishery, and in our experience very expensive for the ratepayers, as once willows are removed, rock protection is often required at huge cost.
The engineers also want to get more gravel moving down rivers through destabilising islands, and it would appear they have even considered going back to the ‘bad old days’ of cross-blading to achieve this. We remain very concerned about both these issues and we will continue to sink staff time into this issue until a more common sense approach is adopted, hopefully without the last resort of litigation to uphold the protections provided by the existing Motueka water conservation order.
