Fly Fishing with Chris Dore

Opening day and Anglers throughout New Zealand finally get to unleash months of non fishing frustrations, but early season is never the easiest time to get onto fish. Spring run-off lifts river levels and often taints the normally gin clear flows, and snow from the hills seeps into the streams, ensuring that the early season angler is well aware that winter has only just receded.

I recently got back from 8 days in the south, putting in the yards daily in a variety of conditions and coming up with some cracking fish. An extended early season trip allows the angler to refamiliarise onself with his streams, and unravel some of the mysteries surrounding our fishery and I thought I would share a couple of  observations; some new, some remembered from seasons past, which I find increases ones success on our October waters.

A small, rain fed stream. A good early season choice.

Trout are very responsive to water temperture, and you should focus your efforts in accordance to this.

Below 10 degrees C trout will remain pretty dormant, feeding close to home in the softer waters in the depths, and at the base of the riffles. Not much insect activity occurs at 7 or 8 degrees celcius, but cased caddis and the like will still wash off instream stones, and fishing a suitable pattern slow and deep will sometimes produce the goods first up.

Around 10 degrees C mayfly become more active, as do the trout. You will notice fish moving into the riffles and softer seams as the morning warms up, and by lunch time nymphing these locations becomes productive.

Mid afternoon duns may be seen lifting off of the riffles and trout are at their most active at this most plesant time of the day, before water temperatures again drop late afternoon and the fishing often seems to just stop. Knowledge of backwaters and similar locations can allow the angler to continue on into the evening, but once the sun dissappears early season, everything chills down.

A 'mid morning brown' which took a Hotspot Hares Ear at the edge of the riffle in the background.

The above model applies largely to early season rain fed tributaries, these smaller waters warming a little quicker than their larger, parent rivers. Many of these in the South may begin their day at around 7 or 8 degree celcius, warming as much as 3 or 4 degrees C over the course of the morning.

Our larger, main-stem rivers, reaching farther into the hills carry a larger volume of water, which understandably takes more time to warm than their smaller tribs. It is rare for our headwater streams to budge much on the old mercury over the course of an October day, and so the window of opportunity for the angler may be limited to but a few hours in the afternoon. Even then, trout will often be found deep, or pushed out towards the softer edges where water temps may be a little more conducive to feeding activity. One river in particular we fished began the day at a chilly 7 degrees celcius and didnt budge throughout. Snow covered the landscape and what trout we found searching through the blizzard were holding station with very little movement.

My approach to these bigger waters is to "Launch the Woolly Buggar", as I find a larger food item such as a big streamer will provide these fish more incentive to move and strike.

Double Bunnies, Circus Peanuts, large, cone head Woolly Buggars and the like fished deep, and close to the fish will often illicit a strike.  I fish these on a floating line, to better facilitate mends, and employ an Airflo polyleader if a little more depth is required.  A large streamer can either present the fish with a huge mouthful for its energy expenditure (its all about feeding efficiency), or if they are not truly on the feed, may incite a reaction more out of agression, or territorial protection, as a large streamer is stripped through the pool.

We dont leet the weather stop us - However, prepare for fish sitting deep and dormant.

So bare in mind that in temperatures below 10 degrees celcius trout will feed more out of necessity than opportunity, and you will have to fish slower and deeper to locate them. Trout will become most active during the most plesant time of the day (early to mid afternoon) as temperatures get them, and their food supply more active. Look for waters which may warm a little better throughout the day; This means backwaters, lake edges, smaller, or shallower, rain fed streams. Plan your early season escapades acccording for better success.

At the opposite end of the scale, once water temps exceed 16 degrees celcius the trout will then again seek the solace of deeper, more oxygenated flows. However, this is a summertime occurance, but looking at the above photo, and remembering the icy chill of the water, its an experience a peice of me cannot wait to occur!

Chris with  STONKING early season brown. Snow, low water temp, and a large, articulated streamer!

Tight Lines

Chris