There are still places to fish in May, but effectively Monday, April 30, was the last day of the season.
If you are keen, places worth fishing are the Clutha and the lower Mataura Rivers, the latter being open until the end of May. Central Otago lakes also provide reasonable fishing at this time of year.
On rivers, the window for fishing rapidly reduces to a couple of hours either side of midday as winter deepens and the water temperature drops.
For many anglers, although on-the-water activity draws to a close, there are lots of fishing-related activities that can fill the winter void.
I know I need to sanitise my fishing vest, which is banned from the house. This involves removing all tackle from its many pockets and giving it a solo run in the washing machine. Such an operation often turns up items that have been lost over the season after being returned to the wrong pocket at some stage.
I also write a list of all the flies I need to tie over the winter, and tying them a few at a time each weekend makes the task not quite so daunting.
Tying the good old favourites takes priority, but every now and then there are a few experimental patterns turned out, some of which may even get a trial next season.
Lines of any sort, fly or spinning, need to be checked and, if necessary, replaced as the day before next opening day will be a bit late. Reels need to be cleaned and oiled and put away.
And there are always books to be read. There are vast numbers of books on fishing and an endless flow of magazines. Maybe the closed season needs to be extended to get everything done.
To end on a fishy note, I fished the Mataura last weekend with Simon Chu. I have known Simon for several years but never fished with him before. The great thing about fishing with someone the first time is that you can run out your favourite stories that your regular fishing companions are sick of.
The day started fine and the water was clear. It was, however, only about 10degC, which delayed fish action until mid-morning, when a few fell to the bead head nymph.
The weather turned to the southwest and the temperature plummeted, so we had a cup of tea and lunch.
Shortly after we resumed fishing, a hatch of duns started.
We caught the odd fish on nymph, then more fell to the emerger and even more to the dun.
With it being very dull and the rain heavy at times, it was hard to see the fly on the water.
The rise petered out so it was back to the bead head nymph, which again produced a few fish until, eventually, that action faded out, too.
And so ended the season, but we were already anticipating the next one as we drove home.
