The Pomahaka is at a good level and the Mataura is fishable and still dropping.
The Taieri is still dirty and too high for good fishing, although there should be a chance of catching a sea trout on a lure on the lower river.
If it continues to drop the Taieri on the Maniototo should be fishable next week.
The Waipahi is still at low summer level, having missed most of any recent rain and is worth fishing.
So too, is the Waiwera and there are dams that are worth fishing.
Murray Smart and I fished a dam recently on the day before it closed, Blakely’s Dam, as well as a quick look at Rutherford’s, which is now closed and Mathias’ which is open until the end of the month.
The fishing was less than spectacular as we saw few rises and only had a couple of takes each on Blakely’s, landing one each — the best was 2kg.
By lunchtime the wind got up so we moved to Rutherford’s which was coloured mainly because of wave action stirring up the silt. We only saw one rise.
Mathias’ was not much better — there was only a couple of rises and one fish landed.
Still, we need to make the most of the rest of the season while we still have trout.
There have been articles in the media blaming trout for pushing galaxids to near extinction and a call to eradicate them.
There is also drive to remove protection for trout from the legislation that will replace the Resource Management Act.
This takes a very narrow view focusing on trout being easy to do.
Anyone with even a slight knowledge of environmental issues, knows the chief culprit in declining populations of any species is degradation of habitat in general and loss of wetlands.
The loss of wetlands has long been identified as a problem for rivers and the creatures that live in them, and yet they continue to be lost.
Trout have probably been targeted because they do not have great monetary value compared with other areas of the economy.
Nevertheless, their value is considerable in Otago and Southland where anglers visit and stay in the area.
Other areas such as the Waitaki Valley, Nelson Lakes and Taupo also spring to mind.
There are other exotic species that have a major impact on native species far more than trout — cattle and sheep contribute in a major way to the pollution of waterways.
Abstraction of water for irrigation and stockwater also add to the concentration of pollutants, although some regions seem to have this sorted by removing all the water from their streams.
Of course, the most damaging species is humans.
We have the power to conserve or destroy, but if there is money to be made we know which one is favoured.
Anglers as a whole have contributed towards conservation as much as any group, as we know how important habitat is.
