Photo Report: Wairau River

Both photos taken today from the Ferry Bridge near the Spring Creek township.

The river is a lot clearer than my photos from here ten days ago, but the river is still quite green and high.

Looking up-stream.

Looking down-stream.

Photo Report: Wairau River Diversion

The water has cleared somewhat since my last photo review, but the Diversion still has some colour in it (the main river also, but only the Diversion shown here). I've tried to keep foreground and surrounding area in the photos to help keep the colour of the water true.

All photos taken today, from the Neal Road bridge and further down-stream.

Standing on the bridge, looking up-stream.

Approx. 200 metres below the bridge.

Looking towards the mouth.

Down near the mouth.

Photo Report: Lower Wairau River and Diversion

A weekend of rain has left the Wairau River brown and high, with some debri still floating down.

All photos taken on the same day as posted.

Wairau Bar/Wairau Rivermouth

Looking out from the jetty near the Wairau Bar boat ramp.

Looking up-river from the jetty near the Wairau Bar boat ramp.

Looking down-river from the map location marked at the bottom of this post.

Looking up-river from the map location marked at the bottom of this post.

Looking down-river from Ferry Bridge, near the Spring Creek township.

Looking further down-river from Ferry Bridge, near the Spring Creek township.

Looking up-river from Ferry Bridge, near the Spring Creek township.

Looking down-river from standing below the Diversion Bridge.

Looking up-river from standing on the Diversion Bridge.

Looking further up-river from standing on the Diversion Bridge.

My new favourite lures

Blue Fox 18 gram 'Trophy' jigging lures.

Fished with small swivel/clip combos as shown above seems to work well. They didn't yield results at first, but I was quite sure they would, so continued using them. I also tried bigger swivel/clips, but they seemed to change the action of the lure too much.

The green and yellow lure was my first purchase, which eventually brought in a nice medium/small kahawai.

Today the other lure landed four kahawai, and I managed to lose at least the same amount after having them hooked for maybe 20 seconds. I have a hard time remembering accurately the length of time a fish takes to bring in.

The fish were lost mainly due to my fault, rather than any fault with the lure - I let one get into the kelp nearby (which I'd learnt when I first started fishing near the kelp to make sure I kept the fish away from), and another I tried to pull up onto the rocks with a flick of the rod, but put a bit much effort into it, and essentially threw him behind me into the water on the other side of the rocks I was standing on, the lure coming free in the process.

I'm always annoyed with myself when I let a fish get away after being hooked. I fish this lure (and most other lures) with the tension on the reel just tight enough to bring in the lure without slipping. That way, when a fish hits it, I don't accidentally pull the lure out of its mouth. Once hooked, I'll tighten the tension a few clicks to allow me to bring it in.

The smaller kahawai would also have a go at the lure. The fish below was landed and released.

The first fish was brought in using a jerky retrieve method, and I continued using that technique until today. After noticing the lure was often taken by fish as soon as it hit the water, or while it was sinking, I started using it in more of a jigging style, with the jerky retrieves in between pauses allowing it to sink.

Being able to use it in a traditional spinning manner or more of a jigging style adds to the appeal for me. The classic hexagonal 'ticer' lures that are so popular with kahawai fishing don't really work so well as jigs in my mind. Although, that may just be because I haven't really tried it.

I have a 13 gram version of the lure that I'm now eager to try.