Going for gold on the Waipahi; chasing big ones in the Shag

Ihave already decided where I will be fishing this weekend — the Waipahi. The choice was easy, as the 138th Waipahi Gold Medal FlyFishing Competition is being held on Saturday. Thirty or so anglers will be competing, spread over the length of the river, from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

The Waipahi is not an easy river to fish and most competitors will have had enough by finishing time and be looking forward to the weighin and barbecue, followed by the presentations and spot prizes at Dave Linklater’s shearing shed.

The same anglers turn up year after year. This will be my 38th Gold Medal but there will be others there who were competing before I started. It is almost worth entering just for the stories told at the weighin.

The week leading up to the big day tends to be an anxious one, with regular checks of the river level, but as I type this the river is looking good — fingers crossed.

Over the years, conditions have varied from a blanket of snow to almost tropical heat and thunderstorms, but nothing will put off the regulars. Competitors eagerly await notice of which of the 29 beats they have been allocated, reacting with either a resigned sigh or rubbing of hands according to how anglers rate their drawn section. The draw is perused to see where the opposition will be fishing and at the early morning gathering at Clinton on the day there is much prophesying about who will win or take a place. Usually these predictions are completely wrong, but at the end of the day everyone will claim they were right. I’ll follow up on this topic next week.

Now to real fishing.

The Mataura is far too high to fish and the Taieri is on the high side, too. The Pomahaka is dropping rapidly but perhaps not rapidly enough for the weekend. Strong winds are forecast, which does not help. The Tokomairiro looks fishable, as are the East and North Otago rivers. Other good options available this weekend are the Maniototo dams, including Blakeleys and Rutherfords, which open today, as well as all the others which opened on October 1.

Last weekend, for a change, I went north and fished the Shag River. There was a good flow of very clear water and the riverbed was clean. I turned over stones to check on the insect life and was pleased to see a good population of mayfly nymphs. There were also a few duns hatching throughout the day and a fall of spinners in the morning. The Shag does not hold a big head of fish, but they do tend to be better than average in weight and condition.

I spotted a fish rising in a ripply section, sneaked up and dropped the fly to its right. It swung over and took it solidly. A nice 2kg trout.