Angling

Some would say, and I include myself among them, that there is no such thing as a bad day's fishing - it is just that some are better than others.

The rain is steadily falling as I type this but there has not been a dramatic rise in river levels yet, but if it continues for a few hours there will be.

Autumn is here and with it come lower water temperatures. I can tell, as I wade wet.

Amazingly, the heavy rain on the West Coast this week had very little effect on this side of the Alps. The Mataura and the Oreti both rose but within a couple of days they should be right again....

The golden weather continues for us anglers and the only down side is that we will take even more badly to less pleasant conditions when they inevitably arrive.

As I type this column it is raining, and the temperature has dropped 12degC since this morning.

The end of the fishing season is not far away but it does not seem long since it started, so we need to make the most of it.

The dry spell continues with rivers remaining low in some cases and in others continuing to drop to very low levels.

Cool nights, hot days and settled weather has provided good fishing conditions over the past week.

The recent run of warm, dry weather has ensured ideal river conditions for fishing over the last week.

Rivers have been up and down a bit this week, but not enough to spoil the fishing.

As Murray and I drove south at the weekend we said that the weather was typical of spring - cold, showery and windy.

A "monster" world-record 25kg trout is believed to have been caught in a South Island hydro canal - but the lucky fisherman is lying low.

Another week, another weekend with rain raising river levels, but luckily, they have dropped during the week and are now lower than they were a week ago.

The rain last Sunday raised the level of most rivers and streams in the region, but the subsequent warm weather has dropped them to good fishing levels for this weekend.

For the first time this season I can advise that all waters are fishable.

The anglers' Christmas present has finally arrived with all waters at a fishable level and all nicely wrapped in fine weather.

We are on the countdown to the Christmas holidays and for the keen angler that means time on the water.

The week started with high water at best and very high water at worst.