Central South Island Fishing Report 3rd February 2012

If you are an angler and you took a weeks leave to go fishing in the region you would agree that the week’s weather has been a shocker! Dominated by norwesters increasing to met’ office warning velocities, the working week has ended with a switch to cool damp southerly conditions. The long weekend is upon us with some promise of sunshine however if you were a betting man you would never put money on it.

Now into February angler optimism increases with probability of salmon entering the river mouths of the region in greater numbers. A small rise in the Rangitata River flow last weekend appears to have induced a run at the mouth with a reported 25 fish taken. The Waitaki River however is lagging behind with the catch rate slow.

The big event for the Waitaki Valley this long weekend is the annual Lake Aviemore fishing competition which begins today with weigh-ins tonight and on Saturday and Sunday. If you wanted quiet time fishing then Lake Aviemore is probably not the place for you. Organisers are expecting a turn out of 200 adults and 100 juniors, that doesn’t include the anglers not entered and the many campers who fish and who are either still in residence or those that return for the last long weekend of the summer.

Lake Aviemore has been a popular camping angling venue since it was filled for hydro storage just over 40 years ago. I can recall my father returning from very successful Waitaki Valley fishing excursions with his angling cobbers. His limit bags of trout, no catch and release back then, processed and their edible remains reduced to unattractive exhibits in rows of “Agee” preserving jars on the top shelf in the laundry. In my opinion jars of preserved fish make very poor angling trophies.

Aviemore, like most man made lakes produced a rapid increase in fish population and an extraordinary growth rate as the lake filled and for a period of time after filling is completed. There comes a time however when the fish population and the food availability level out. Lake Aviemore was no different and eventually the trout numbers and growth rates declined. Despite the “boom and bust” era, today Lake Aviemore retains a reputation as one of the most productive lake fisheries of the region and arguably of the South Island.

In the Central South Island Region Lake Aviemore is second only to Lake Benmore. The National Angler Survey completed every 7 or 8 years by NIWA ( completed in 2007 / 2008) shows that 18, 410 angler days are spent on Lake Aviemore. While this is impressive, it falls well short of the much larger Lake Benmore which boasts 59,760 angler days during the same period, the most fished lake in the South Island. To give a comparison on other popular waters of the Waitaki Catchment, Lake Ohau 9,860 and Lake Tekapo 7,750 angler days.

Predictions for the weekend, who knows, trout fishing should be good all waters are in good flow, exceptional for this time of the year, and as for the salmon. On the Waitaki it’s been rather slow, a run cold happen any time, the Rangitata is dropping again making it less attractive for the salmon angler.

Graeme Hughes, Fish and Game Officer.

(Weather will have an effect on angling results during the long weekend)