Conditions indicate good prospects
THE good weather leading up to the start of the season persisted through the first week and rivers continued to fall and water temperatures to rise. This week there was some patchy rain which has resulted in a rise of water levels but as the weekend approaches they are fining down again and prospects are good.
During the cooler nights the water temperature has been dropping more than 4 degrees but the days have been warm enough to raise the temperature to a good fishable level. This means action will be slower first thing in the morning but by late morning things should start to happen so do not panic if it takes a while to catch the first fish.
The waters that give a good chance of a fish are the Mataura, Pomahaka, Waipahi and Taieri, as well as other small rain fed streams.
After a warm, fine Saturday, Murray and I were surprised at how cold it was when we arrived on the lower Mataura, and how strong the wind was. Undaunted, we tackled up and picked a sheltered spot each. The water was cold but very clear and at a good height. I fished a bead head nymph on the point and an unweighted nymph on the dropper. I was not expecting much action but I hooked the first fish after about 10 minutes but it dropped off after a couple of runs. Inspired by hooking a fish so early, I fished carefully through the rest of the section but it was over half an hour before I hooked and landed one.
I spooked a couple from shallow water at the tail of the next pool but did not see another fish for a while. Towards the top of the pool I saw some fish cruising in the shallows and managed to catch some of them. The average was a bit under a kilo and they were in very good condition.
Back at the car for lunch, Murray and I compared notes. He had caught twice as many as me and most of them were from one ripple. We drove upstream a few kilometres and again fished a sheltered spot. By this time there were a few duns coming down but there were few rises to them.
Almost immediately I spotted a fish in the shallows and dropped the nymph close to it when a fish I had not seen rushed in and grabbed it. Being a bit more wary, I fished slowly up the flat water spotting the odd fish and catching the odd one blind. As I moved up, the water eventually became too deep to wade so I climbed out on to the bank and as I walked up I saw the rings of a rise. They were right against the bank but I could not see the fish. I had a cast in the general area and a fish swung out from under the bank and took the nymph.
It was a very satisfying day on the water with fish up to 2kg and we are hoping for the same again this weekend.