Last weekend most waters were in great order and with the fine weather since then it would be easy to assume things would be much the same this weekend.
However, the sudden rise in air temperature midweek has melted snow at higher levels causing rivers that rise in the higher hills to rise considerably. The rivers directly affected by the snowmelt are the upper Taieri, the Pomahaka and those indirectly affected are the lower Mataura and the lower Clutha.
Of the bigger rivers the Waitaki is the least affected and continues to run at or under 300cumecs, which is ideal for fishing. The small lowland streams such as the Waiwera, Waipahi and Waitahuna are still looking good.
Surprisingly, East Otago waters have risen slightly with the little bit of rain that fell during the week and are well worth a look. Both the Shag and the Waikouaiti rivers hold some good-sized trout. There are not many of them, but they are well worth catching. Although not noted for their mayfly hatches, these rivers can have enough fly from midday on to bring the trout up to rise.
I have had a couple of outings so far this season and I have had one of the better openings of the 31 years that I have lived in New Zealand.
The second of those outings was a trip to the Mataura with Murray Smart last Sunday. It could have been the Pomahaka but the graph on the Otago Regional Council website showed that there was a rise in water level each day indicating snow melt, meaning that although the height of water was not a problem, the water temperature would be a bit on the low side for good fishing.
So the Mataura it was. We fished around Wyndham where we found the water was very clear for the time of year and at a good, fishable height.
The weather was perfect (that is two weeks in a row, it must come to an end soon), sunny and mostly calm.
I started in a slow deep section, figuring that was where the fish should be until the water warmed during the day.
I did not touch a fish until I got up into the ripply water at the head of the flat and caught a couple, in quite fast, shallow water on a bead head nymph.
It was not until I reached a shallow glide at the tail of a flat that I caught a few more.
After lunch I fished the same shallow glide again and picked up some more fish.
Most of the fish were around 1kg and in very good condition.
There was a sparse hatch of mayflies, with a few rising fish that proved hard to catch. I managed to lose one on an emerger and land a couple on a small nymph.
Late in the day I found some fish in a shallow ripple and they were not so choosy. All in all, a great day fishing and I hope to do it all again this weekend.
• By Mike Weddell.
