Dam good place for trout while rivers high

Fly fishing in the pristine waters of South Mavora Lake.
Fly fishing in the pristine waters of South Mavora Lake.
Last weekend my predictions were thwarted by thunder showers that raised the level of most rivers and streams. Luckily there is no thunder on the horizon this weekend and most rivers have dropped to fishable levels.

The pick of the rivers would be the Mataura and Pomahaka but the Taieri on the Maniototo is still very high for this time of year, almost to the top of its banks. The whole of the Taieri is high and quite discoloured in the lower reaches.

With days getting shorter river temperatures are dropping and we can now expect daytime hatches of mayflies which can produce some of the best fishing of the season and on fine, calm days a fall of spinners can occur as well, which extends the period for surface fishing.

Despite these opportunities to fish for rising, fish the nymph is still the best option for catching trout as any time there are no rises they'll be feeding on nymphs. Fly fishers often feel discouraged when there are no rises, as there is no visible clue as to where the trout are stationed and what they are feeding from. If they are not feeding on the surface they are feeding below the surface and if they are feeding below the surface they are feeding on nymphs - problem solved. Where exactly they are stationed is solved by looking at the surface features of the water to see where trout can lie in slack water near a current to bring them food.

Trout often feed in very shallow water as this concentrates any food in the drift, so always approach shallow water carefully so trout are not spooked before they see your fly.

Due to high waters last weekend, I fished the dams on the Maniototo in just about perfect weather warm, sunny and light breezes but atmospheric pressure was dropping which is not ideal.

Only odd fish rose on Rutherfords Dam, some in quite shallow water. I managed to hook one of them but after a couple of runs it dropped off. One tactic that helps is to spot where a fish is rising, even just two or three times in 20 minutes or so, then cover that area for a while until a fish takes or you spot a better area.

The first fish for the day was landed doing this and was a nice rainbow of 1.5kg. But fish can be feeding below the surface and not be seen and one such place is along the dam wall on Rutherfords, where there are many small bullies that can dash between the rocky rubble of the dam to escape marauding trout. It pays to fish parallel to the dam rather than casting straight out. The trout cruise along close to the dam wall where the most bullies are. I use a damsel fly nymph as an imitation, as it is similar in size, shape and colour to the bullies. It worked on Sunday.

- Mike Weddell

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