The Taieri remains very low throughout its length and would be a good option. For those that head to Central Otago for Easter weekend the upper Clutha is at a good level for fishing. An evening session should give a chance of catching fish on a sedge and a spinner fall can be expected when it is calm regardless of the time of day although morning and evening are the most likely times.
For those fishing the Southern Lakes the drop in water temperatures will attract fish to the mouths of tributaries.
Both brown and rainbow trout can be caught, the browns preparing to run and spawn and rainbows to follow and feast on the brown trout eggs. Feathered lures are a good option for catching these stream mouth fish. Patterns such as fuzzy wuzzy and red setter work well.
As the water cools it pays to fish deeper so medium to fast sinking lines are the best option. Using a shooting head version of these lines allows longer casts to be made so covering more water and gets the flies down deep more quickly.
If you do not have a shooting head casting out with your conventional fly line and paying out slack line so that the current from the stream carries it further out from the mouth also works but takes longer to get the fly out there.
I had the afternoon on the water last Friday. The water was flat calm and clear but it was overcast and dull and spotting fish was not a great option. I started by fishing blind through a ripple and caught one fish and spooked another.
On the flat above I covered the water blind with a nymph casting beneath the trees on the far bank although the far bank was not very far due to the lowness of the river. Eventually I saw a fish rise and it took the nymph on my second cast, leapt into the air then dashed through a branch that was in the water and snapped the tippet. ‘‘Oh dear’’ I thought.
Further up the flat I spotted another fish rise which I was unable to tempt. Not long before calling it a day I saw a fish slowly cruising against a steep bank. I had a size twelve nymph on and dropped it front of the fish, the trout dashed at it then turned away. This was repeated several times so I put on a smaller nymph and the fish nailed it first cast. That seemed the ideal time to head home.
Murray and I fished the Mataura on Sunday. The water was at an ideal level and clear there were no rises and no flies to rise to. We picked up fish on the nymph but the day was well below the norm for the Mataura.
