Top weather forecast; conditions to match
THE weather forecast is about as good as it gets this weekend — fine and mild with light winds. There are river conditions to match — fishable levels and the water is warm.
What more could a keen fisher wish for? So far this season I have fished four rivers and four dams and have been lucky enough to catch fish in all of them. So the decision where to go this weekend will be a difficult one.
As usual it will be a compromise: do I want to spot fish and cast to them or fish blind or catch lots of smaller fish or fewer big ones? Of course, this is hypothetical as I may catch none at all. Then the choice will be not catching fish blind or not catching big fish but anglers are ever optimistic.
I think it will end up being a choice between the Taieri and the Mataura although both the Pomahaka and the Waipahi look pretty good too. The ultimate decision will be made by Murray and me as we drive off at 6am on Sunday.
And so it was last Sunday we decided to head to the Maniototo but not sure whether to fish dams or the Taieri.
On arriving on the Maniototo we chose to turn right over the Waipiata Bridge and take a look at Rutherfords Dam. The dam was calm in the middle and the southwest wind sneaked around the ends of the tree belt and ruffled the water at the extremities.
There were already fish rising, not a lot but regularly enough to get our hopes up. Of course, we started with damsel fly nymphs, even though there were a lot of midges in the air, the logic being trout prefer bigger items of food. And so it turned out.
I gradually homed in on what appeared to be a reasonablesized trout on a beat just off a weed bed. Eventually, the positions of the fly and trout coincided and the former was grabbed by the latter and all hell let loose. The fish dashed around, going through as much weed as possible and jumping every few seconds. Eventually, it calmed down and came to the net — a 1kg rainbow in perfect condition.
Very soon after its identical twin did the same thing with an identical result.
Good things do not last forever and just to prove it the next fish got off in the weed and the one after that smashed the tippet on the take.
On the plus side there were still a few rises and after a while a fish took the nymph. It stayed out of the weed and did not break off but took longer to land and was bigger than the first two.
I kept this one and in the interest of science examined its stomach contents. It was full of midge pupae and water boatmen. However, the damsel nymph accounted for a couple more fish for us both around the corner.