I always think of February as one of the better months of the trout-fishing season. Usually the weather is warm and relatively settled and it has been reasonable in the first half of the month.
The rain that fell at the beginning of the week did not affect rivers and streams too much and all except the Clutha are at a reasonably fishable level for the weekend. If you are both a salmon fisher and a trout fisher you will have difficulty deciding where to go at the moment.
The glorious weather of the last week or so has brought all running waters to a good fishable level, except (there is always an exception) for the Clutha, which has dropped a lot but still has a way to go. And just as the rivers settle, the cicadas start on the tussock lakes to add to the surfeit of riches, making the decision of where to fish that much harder.
As I write this, rivers and streams are looking good for the weekend and the weather forecast holds nothing ominous. Mind you, I thought the same last week and it all fell apart at the last moment. We can but hope.
The rain of recent days has mainly affected rivers to the north and east of the region, leaving South Otago and Southland unaffected. However, as the forecast is unsettled, regional council websites should be consulted before setting out to catch a fish.
The dramatic weather of the past few days will affect fishing this weekend. The best advice I can give is fish a still water if you are in the middle of the region. If you are close to the east coast you should find the Shag, Waianakarua, Waikouaiti and Kakanui Rivers fishable. The Taieri is looking reasonable, too, and while the top of the river has been high it takes a while for the water to work its way through the system.
Water temperatures have been high lately and look to continue that way with hot weather forecast for the first weekend of the New Year. One river that is not affected by heat is the Clutha; the sheer volume of water prevents it warming up and cooling down rapidly. Finding a gravel beach to fish from early in the morning or late in the evening, the times when insects are more likely to be on the water, offers a good chance of catching a few trout. The usual mayfly and sedge patterns should work.
During the past week, river conditions have been the most stable so far this season: ideal for holiday fishing.
This is the time of year that most fishers dream about - days on end of being able to go fishing whenever the desire comes over us. Yeah right!
Once again as we approach the weekend everything looks promising from the fishing point of view but as we have seen over the last couple of weeks, conditions can deteriorate rapidly at the last moment.
Despite rising a little last weekend, rivers continue to fall and are approaching summer levels and are looking good for this weekend.
At the time of writing, rivers were at their lowest level since the season began and the big decision will be where to fish when just about anywhere would give opportunities to catch fish.
The relatively mild and breezy weather this week helped dry out saturated ground and consequently rivers and streams have been dropping steadily. Most small streams are in good fishing order but the bigger rivers, the Taieri, Clutha and Mataura, are still a bit on the high side.
I am a bit wary offering advice about where to fish this coming weekend, as my predictions have been a bit wide of the target lately.
For the first weekend in a while, the prospects for fishing are good, with rivers and streams falling to normal levels and the water temperature rising.
Labour Weekend has a bad reputation for weather. I have often heard it said that the weather is always adverse, from the angler's point of view. My fishing diaries do not bear this out.
Spring weather has prevailed over the last couple of weeks - not the dappled sunshine and blossoms nodding in the soft breeze that are conjured up in the mind when such an expression is used but the strong winds and heavy showers of reality.
Rain in the past week or so has affected rivers throughout the region to varying degrees, waters to the south and west being lower than those to the east and north.
Opening day was on a Monday this year, so I felt obliged to deprive myself of going to work and go fishing instead.
Another fishing season is almost upon us. Although there are places we can fish all year round, there is nothing quite like the anticipation of another opening day. Despite what some anglers think, fish are no easier to catch on opening day than at other stages of the season. It is rather that we have not been fishing for so long that makes opening attractive.
