In fishing terms things are looking very good for this weekend: most waters are fishable and the weather forecast is good.
The only flaw I can see is the lower Taieri is a little discoloured, but it can only get better.
The smaller rain-fed waters are in perfect order and the bigger waters, the Clutha and the Mataura, are almost perfect.
Over the 32 seasons I have fished in New Zealand, on average the month of April is by far the best fishing month, going by the number of fish caught. This is partly because I tend to fish the Mataura a lot in April but also due to the more settled weather common in autumn. So it would not be hard to guess where I would fish this weekend.
I will not be on the Mataura on Sunday, just dreaming of it on my long-haul flight heading towards the northern hemisphere.
Since last week's column I have had two outings. On the Mataura last Saturday it was a coming-back-down-to-earth experience.
The Mataura did not live up to its reputation for good autumn fishing this time. It was a fine, calm morning and although on the high side, at just under 1000mm on the Wyndham gauge, the water was clear and eminently fishable.
I saw a couple of rise soon after starting, then nothing for quite a while. I fished a nymph blind through water that has produced a good number of fish for me so far this season. Nothing, not even a tug at the fly over the next hour or so. It was perfect for a spinner fall but only a few appeared.
Then I saw a couple rise close to a cut bank.
The first one took the fly but I completely missed it. The second fish was on for a few seconds before it wallowed into weed and dropped off.
Things picked up when a nice fish came to the nymph and did end up in the net.
It was another three hours before the next fish, caught in the same manner, came to the net. In the last half hour of fishing I caught another two fish, both on the nymph. I saw very few fish for the day and very little fly life.
When I reported in to Murray Smart on returning home he said the barometer had been falling all day, which would have explained the below average fishing.
The other day on the water was on the Tokomairiro with my son Chris. Again the weather was perfect and this time we saw plenty of fish and actually landed one or two but hooked a huge number of trees, brambles and thistles.
The one fish that I kept had some shield-shaped green beetles in it; it took a hare's ear nymph. Such is fishing.
