With only four weeks left of the season there are plenty of good options. The Mataura is looking good and as it continues to drop will get even better, the Taieri came up a little recently but is just about perfect at the moment and the Pomahaka is dropping and is looking good.
The lower Clutha was very low when I passed it this week and is well worth a look. The upper Clutha too is low, allowing access to water that is unfishable at normal level.
The Maniototo dams normally fish well at this time of year but Rutherford’s has an algal bloom and Blakely’s seems devoid of fish. Mathias dam has picked up a bit lately and although lacking rainbows, there are enough browns to catch.
March was not the best month for me as far as fishing was concerned with fewer than normal visits to a river bank, so April is going to be better and it has got off to a good start. Midweek I fished the Pomahaka. Looking at the level on the ORC website it was dropping nicely and it usually produces good fishing at this time of year to trout feeding on mayflies.
It was cold and misty when I arrived at the river but the forecast was for some sunshine and little wind for most of the day. I walked downstream as much to warm up as to getting to a good stretch of water. I did not see any rises as I walked but it was early in the day.
I came to a favourite ripple and fished it through blind with a weighted nymph but did not touch a fish. I was expecting a fall of spinners as there was no wind and as I moved on the flat above the ripple I saw a rise, just rings forming on the water with no part of the fish breaking the surface.
I put on an unweighted nymph and covered the fish which came at the fly straight away but turned away at the last moment. By this time there were two or possibly three fish rising intermittently.
I tied on a CDC emerger and cast I the area of the last rise rings formed on the surface an I tightened in to the first fish of the day. Goodness knows what the fish took it for as I could see nothing on the water.
A few metres upstream one of the other fish rose and the whole action was repeated with a much bigger fish. A great start to the day. Further up I fished the emerger blind by a bush where I have seen fish in the past and another fish was on the line. I kept the emerger on all day and the fish kept taking it.
