Although some trout and salmon spawning areas in North Otago have been decimated following floods last month, Fish and Game says anglers may still have something to shout about further down the line.
Heavy rain across North Otago in June resulted in severe flooding in the area's rivers.
Central South Island Fish and Game field officer Graeme Hughes said the floods happened ''right at the wrong time of year'', just when brown trout were spawning.
''They have probably knocked out the early spawners - later ones should be OK - and with the snow melt and coloured waters, it is just difficult to see.
''The Aviemore spawning lake is an important spawning area for the Lake Waitaki trout, but the lakes are so murky we can't see the fish to get an accurate count.''
He said the salmon spawning in the Hakataramea River, which was was the ''most important'' tributary for the Waitaki River, would ''undoubtedly have been completely destroyed''.
''The reeds would have been torn up by the recent floods.''
He said all salmon spawn in the Maerewhenua and Awakino tributaries would also all be ''wasted''.
However, about 80% of the area's salmon spawned in the Waitaki's main stem, and they would be unaffected.
Despite the loss of the spawning fish, there was an upside to the floods.
''One good thing about the floods is that it would have completely cleared out the didymo, albeit temporarily.''
Fewer spawning fish would also mean that the ones that survived would be ''bigger and better'' when they returned to North Otago rivers to spawn, he said.
''Nature has its way of bouncing back.
''We are only missing a year class here.
''It means more food, more habitat. So less mouths to feed, less competition.''
