Fly Fishing with Chris Dore

Well so far this southern freshwater fishing season has been one out of the bag!

Blue skies and clear water on opening day was a shock to say the least, as we crept up the small, early season stream we could have easily been led to believe mid summer was here.

With little rain over the latter part of winter, and into the spring aquafiers and river levels have been on the low side. Great for those out there doing it, but a little worrying as to what summer may bring.

The saving grace is that we still have a lot of snow on the tops and back into the hills, and as temperatures rise, this will run off into the streams, just when we need it I feel. Air temperatures are a little lower this year compared to others, and this is predicted to last through until Christmas. Consequentially, water temps are still reasonable, and this is resulting in more fish remaining in our smaller, rain fed tributaries.

 With stable river levels and water temperatures in the growth zone for much of September and October, fish are in great condition. Healthy looking browns and dazzling rainbows as the photos below will attest. Isolated population explosions of mice too have been attributed to the overall condition of some of our backcountry fish, and just today a friend phoned to brag about a lake wakatipu fish he caught with 1 large rat and 3 smaller mice in its stomach.

The brown beetle have finally made an appearance on our southern streams turning the fish towards the surface. From here on in blowflies, caddis, mayfly and beetle, both brown and green will feature on the menu, and from December onwards many are looking forward to the willow grub on the Mataura and tribs.

So what are we looking at for the remainder of the season? Its NZ - nobody can tell. If you dont like the weather in NZ wait 5 minutes as the saying goes.

NIWA are predicting a strong El Nino summer bringing drought to the east coast and rain to the west, with strong winds and warmer than average temperatures throughout. However, as I write we were supposed to be in the midst of a 5 day long storm bringing heavy rain and winds to Queenstown - sunshine and high temperatures for the past few days have said otherwsie. Must do something about my sunburnt toes though I feel...

There are plenty of rivers in the south which will turn on the fishing no matter what summer brings, so get out there and do it! Tune up your casting before the big trip, practising low trajectory casts and double hauling for those windier days, or for turning over longer leaders and large dry flies. Be prepared and capitalise on the conditions: I see a very interesting summer approaching fish wise and it sure looks like fun!

I will finish now with a few random images of our southern season thus far. I hope to fish with you soon!

Have fun and fish hard! I know I am!

Chris