Rivers looking great as end of season nears

AS the end of the season approaches just about everywhere is looking good for the weekend.

Rivers are clear and temperatures good for the time of year and are perfect for hatches of mayflies.

The Pomahaka is in good order except it is rather cold if the gauge is recording the correct temperature.

The Mataura is about perfect and the Taieri is looking better than it has for a few weeks.

Most of the smaller rainfed waters are worth fishing, too. Stillwaters have been fishing well and I have explored several over the last week, yet I have only seen a couple of other anglers on the water.

My daughter, Fiona, and her friend, Nat, have been walking the Central Otago Rail Trail raising awareness about bowel cancer and raising money for research and I have been support crew, driving, massaging and offering encouragement.

After dropping them at the start of each day’s section to be walked I had to find something to fill in time and I thought fishing would be good way to do it.

Of course, it was not flatout fishing like the normal Sunday outing but it was great to explore new waters and to visit the tried and tested.

The trail starts at Clyde and as the Clutha was high and rather discoloured, I had a look at Butchers Dam. Despite giving it a good thrashing I did not see a single rise and had no takes except for a couple of tiny perch trying to eat an oversize damsel fly nymph.

The next option was Conroy’s Dam on what was a lovely autumn day for fishing. It was marginally better than Butcher’s with one rise and one fish.

The following day I gave the Ida Burn Dam a try.

I had often driven past it but never stopped to fish. It was very windy and overcast for most of the afternoon and I did see a couple of rises, but the fish were on the feed taking waterboatmen. I landed several nice brown trout. The dam was full to the top and the Ida Burn was high.

Returning the next morning I caught a fish straight away then had a look at the burn just above where it runs into the dam.

There were two main channels and I hooked a fish in each, but landed only one of them.

I then went for a drive to the West Ewe Burn Dam, a water I had not even seen before.

It was full to the top but quite clear. In the short time I was there I saw four rises, all well out of range.

It looks rather barren but there is great view up the Maniototo plain.

I spent the last couple of days on the old favourite Rutherford’s Dam which was also full to the top.

I saw one rise the first day a

2kg maiden rainbow and another rise the second day, this time just under 3kg — a great way to finish the trip.