Monthly Highlights

Below are photos and a story from the recent month's guided fly fishing trips in New Zealand's Central South Island.

April 2016

Another month and still virtually no rain.

The low flows and very warm temperatures back in January/February contributed, I believe, to a reduction in mayfly activity this autumn. Hatches (if you could descibe them as such!) were by and large very spasmodic or absent altogether in the "regular" rivers such as the Tekapo and Ahuriri. Luckily elsewhere it was business as usual.

I had the pleasure of hosting Rauno from Finland again. My diary informs me that it's been 4 years since his last stint with me and then Franck, my usual autumn regular, absent last year, was back to finish off the 2015/2016 season.

With Rauno on the Tekapo, we had to deviate from the usual approach to fly fishing having worked out the visible trout were not necessarily the ones to target.

Changing your approach, although perhaps less "exciting" is sometimes necessary to achieve results. It's the old proverbe - you need to adapt to the conditions!

Franck, having the advantage of 10 days angling, was able to cover a wider variety of waters so it was a mix of classic sight fishing through to "covering the water".

Rainbow time on the Tekapo for Franck!

"Targeting a fish"

There is no doubt that targeting a fish you can see is usually the best option but it depends on it's position.

The very easy ones to spot, especially in shallow water, are the ones everyone else has had a go at so that first presentation is crucial!

 

 

There has been some good rainfall since the end of the angling season so fingers crossed for a wet winter to enable some good spawning runs before the rivers open for the new season on November 5.

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