Easter is a great time of the year for fishing and there is such a variety to choose from.
Many anglers make for Central Otago or the Waitaki Valley for the long weekend and, family duties allowing, try to get in some fishing.
If you are near a lake, early morning or around dusk are ideal times to fish, especially if it is calm as you can expect a hatch of midge.
Midge-feeding trout come right into the shallowest of water to take midge pupae on their way to the surface to hatch.
Once the sun gets up and the midge hatch peters out, trout will move close to weedbeds and rushes and feed on waterboatmen, snails and damsel fly nymphs.
If approached cautiously the shallows may still hold fish so do not charge up to the water and wade straight in.
Give the shallows a thorough inspection from well away from the water's edge and even if you have not spotted a fish, continue to approach with care and expect to see fish at any time.
In the evening, once it is dark, a feathered lure such as a Mrs Simpson fished around a stream mouth often produces bigger fish than can be caught in full daylight.
On the subject of fishing in the dark, although it never really gets dark at Easter as there is always a full moon around this time, sedge fishing can be very good.
Some of the best sedge fishing I have ever had was on the upper Clutha just after Easter a few years ago.
Then, the river was very low.
It is not so low at the moment but should still fish well.
I am counting on that as I will be there soon.
The evening fishing on the Clutha starts with a fall of spinners if it is calm and as the light fades the sedges come on. The rise to the sedge will last until the moon shines on the water and the odd fish may continue to feed even in the moonlight.
The cream of the autumn fishing in my opinion is to be found on the Mataura.
It is hard to imagine better fishing than casting to trout slurping down duns on a warm, calm, sunny day on the Mataura.
The day starts fishing a nymph through the ripples and if it is mild, a fall of spinners can be expected mid morning.
The spinners can last on and off all day but once the duns appear the trout will switch their attention to them or to the nymphs just below the surface.
To take a punt each way, fish an emerger.
On the best of days in the autumn the rise to duns or spinners will continue until it is almost dark.
Then, as the temperature begins to drop, the action will suddenly cease and it is time to leave.
