The whole of the Taieri is in great order, low, with a tinge of peat and warm enough to wade wet.
The Mataura is still a little high but dropping, and well worth fishing — especially in the lower reaches.
Most small streams are looking good — not too low and not much weed yet.
Now is the time to fish the Maniototo dams before they get too weedy.
I had a look at Rutherford’s Dam a couple of days ago and some filamentous algae were floating around, no doubt due to the recent warm weather but not enough to interfere with fishing.
While in the Maniototo, I fished the Taieri which was in great order. It was the sort of day you imagine when dreaming of fishing: sunny, warm and calm.
The only thing missing was masses of rising fish. There were, however, enough rises to keep it interesting.
By mid-morning there were damsel flies on the water and the odd fish jumped to take them in the air.
I was fishing a diving beetle blind which had produced a couple of fish, and the damsel feeders took it when it was close to them after they had jumped.
By early afternoon there was a sparse hatch of mayfly duns and fish rose to those, but there were not enough of them to keep them focused. They also took the diving beetle.
About 3pm, the wind came up from the south and the temperature dropped, and insect and fish activity petered out.
On Sunday, I was taking a casting lesson at Outram bridge when the raft race began. Chaos reigned for awhile as safety boats dashed about and people splashed around.
When all had passed and tranquillity was restored, it was not long before a couple of trout began rising in front of us — so much for trout being cunning and intelligent.
While on the Maniototo I spotted some trout in a tiny tributary. I waded slowly up and one swam down towards me until it nosed gently into my boot and remained there for a few seconds before continuing on its way.
I was unable to cast due to the tangle of branches around me. I wonder if trout are familiar with the concept of frustration?
The 139th Waipahi Gold medal was held last Saturday. Hard day; cold, wet and windy, and the river was high and discoloured.
Nevertheless, 16 fish were caught averaging 1.1kg. More than half the beats produced no fish and only two limit bags of three were weighed in.
First was Matt Petterson with three fish for 4.12kg, second was Tim Gibson with three fish for 3.7kg, and third was Shane Hanson with two fish for 1.87kg.
The biggest fish was caught by Bruce Quirey at 1.54kg. A hard day but I am sure most will be back again next year.
