Even sedge fishing, which is a predominantly late evening activity and is best on a warm evening, should not be spoilt.
I have caught fish on the sedge when it has been so cold the fly line was freezing the rod rings, which necessitated dipping the rod into the water to unfreeze it. But hopefully it will be warmer than that.
Otherwise most waters look in good order, lowish and clear. We are rapidly approaching the end of the season, so get out now before it is too late.
On the subject of temperatures, I fished the Mataura midweek and it was very cold when I started and there was a downstream breeze thrown in for bad measure.
The water was at a good level and clear and the river was in shadow, but the fact the sky was clear indicated things would warm up when the sun peeped over the hill.
Being made of stern stuff, I fished on even if I did have to keep looking at my fingers to check they were still there.
I fished up a favourite ripple and was not bothered by a fish until right into the shallow water at the top of the pool, I landed a couple.
I then covered out into the deeper water, getting the fly right down, and hooked several fish, one of which was white on the belly and had only black spots and had grey fins - a sea trout.
Fishing on up the river I caught fish in very shallow water. I was using two flies, a weighted hare’s ear on the point and an unweighted version about 70cm above it on the dropper.
Most were on the weighted but enough took the unweighted to make it worth keeping it on.
Part of the river I fished in the afternoon had been badly affected by the windstorm that hit the South some weeks ago and a whole line of mature gum trees had blown down and blocked the path along the top of the bank.
Luckily, it was possible to shuffle along close to the water - not that the effort paid off as I hooked several fish but landed only one.
It was the best of the day, so it was probably worth it.
Last Sunday I attended the On The Fly event on the Mataura above the Gore bridge and chatted to like-minded people, i.e. anglers.
Some of them were very experienced on the Mataura and they were concerned with the state of the river, with obvious bank erosion accompanied by the river getting shallower as pools fill with gravel, resulting in degraded habitat for trout.
The gravel being deposited is coming from the eroded banks upstream.
I once counted 54 trout from Gore bridge but they are far fewer today.
