After a fine week with rivers and streams dropping and a weather forecast that is good, the prospects for fishing this weekend are probably the best so far this season.
There are very few waters that would not be worth fishing. One or two streams have risen mid-week due to what will probably be the last of the snow melt, but not enough to spoil the fishing.
In fact the weather has been so good in the past few days some streams are overheating, with the Pomahaka up to 24 degrees one day late in the afternoon.
The Mataura should be the pick of the waters this weekend but not far ahead of the Waipahi, Pomahaka and Taieri, as well as any of the tussock lakes.
Green should be on the water by now and give an opportunity to catch fish exploring the lakes with a suitable imitation, which for me would again be a coch-y-bondhu.
Fish along the shoreline not too far out, let the fly lie for 30 seconds or so, move a couple of metres and cast again.
Fishing like this covers a lot of water quickly which lifts the chance of bumping into a fish.
If a fish is seen rising in a particular area give it a bit more attention.
The other evening I went to a presentation by the Otago Regional Council on new water quality rules and standards for waterways.
Several waters important for trout fishing are being targeted for improvement: Pomahaka, Waipahi, Taieri, Tokomairiro West Branch and Waitahuna rivers, which gives rise to optimism for the future of our fisheries. The standards come into effect in March and all discharges must be compliant by 2017.
Another factor that will improve rivers is buffer strips along the banks of streams to prevent sediment being carried into waterways.
The deterioration of streams over the past few years has been quite noticeable. Let us hope that the improvement over the next few will be equally noticeable.
The Mataura was nearing a good fishing level last weekend so Murray Smart and I made the trip down on Sunday. The day was perfect weatherwise, warm sunny and calm. The river was a little above ideal level but reasonably clear.
There was very little fly on the water all day and I only saw half a dozen rises, however there were fish feeding subsurface.
I started with a hare's ear nymph along a nice gravelly section covering the water a few metres from the bank.
In the first few minutes I spooked three fish from right against the bank so I slowed up and fished more carefully and immediately picked up a couple of fish lying in just a few centimetres of water.
Interestingly I did not hook a single fish in deeper than about 30cm of water all day.
Although the fishing was slow by Mataura standards it was good enough to maintain my interest through the day, and good enough to make me look forward to the next visit.
• By Mike Weddell.
