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Tuesday 21 February 2012

Monday Fish 5 and 6, The Wairau Bar

There was quite a swell coming in Monday last week down at the Wairau Bar. I didn’t land any fish, but saw a net being pulled in as I was leaving and it contained five or six fat kahawai and a flounder.

The fishing doesn’t seem to be too good at the Bar when there’s a swell coming in.


This Monday was overcast; no other people were fishing at the Bar, just my fellow-fisher Jim, and I – almost unheard of lately from what I’ve seen. The fish seemed a bit slower to start hitting the lures – possibly something to do with the approaching new moon, which may be the reason there were no other people fishing.


I landed a feisty five and a half pound kahawai and a tasty little guy that I cooked up for lunch. Jim landed three kahawai, all at least the size of my bigger fish.

I was using the same fishing setup that I used last time I caught fish there. It’s a surprisingly good inexpensive combo for saltwater spin fishing. The recently purchased EXORI 2 piece 6 foot 6 inch Spin Rod goes well with the Jarvis Walker Mirage EN350 Reel. It’s a lot lighter than many setups I see used at the river-mouth, but is able to take the punishment from what I’ve seen so far. (I'll update this post if anything breaks on me...)

Saturday 11 February 2012

Area Report: Marlborough, Branch River, Leatham River, Argyle Pond

A drift-dive during the week by Fish & Game has revealed the Branch and Leatham fisheries down somewhat on previous years, but Fish & Game Officer Rhys Barrier tells us it's "encouraging to see juvenile rainbows from last 2 seasons in there – presumably both lots were spawned from the 200 adults that were released 2-3 years ago up there – suspect rainbows will be elevated for the next few years before trickling back down to low levels, as browns once again predominate."

Also, "good numbers of medium sized brown trout in the bottom half of canal and head of Lake Argyle – in fact our highest count ever numbers wise but skewed down towards 1-2 pound size range – head of Lake Argyle where canal flows in is the spot to be."

Thursday 9 February 2012

Area Report: Canterbury, Rakaia River and Hurunui River

Peter Langlands reports in the February NZ Fishing News magazine that the Hurunui river-mouth should be a good option for salmon at the moment, and 'some guts on the lower Rakaia, just above the lagoon' have been fishing well.

Apparently the best catches have been made in the morning, 'often before 10am, as the salmon often take lures more readily in cooler temperatures'.

Monday 6 February 2012

Monday Fish 4, The Wairau Bar

Kahawai caught at the Wairau Bar, Marlborough, New Zealand.

Last Monday saw Jim and I have some success, at last.

The kahawai were going crazy at the Wairau Bar. A lot of fish were being caught. We both took home two nice-sized fish. I weighed mine when I got home – one was five pounds, the other six.

I was using the new six and a half foot two-piece rod I had recently bought from torpdeo7.co.nz. It was perfect for catching the feisty kahawai in the current of the out-going tide. Most people were using heavier gear, but I found the rod with my Jarvis Walker reel to be a great little combo.

I fished there again on Wednesday, using the same reel, but with my Kilwell four-piece rod. The rod is a little longer than the other one, and has more of a whippy action – better suited for use up the river, after trout. I felt I was punishing it a bit much with the kahawai, but still landed two similar fish.

Jim fished there again on Tuesday and Thursday, landing four and three fish, respectively. 

There’s plenty of fish to be had!

Thursday 2 February 2012

Area Report: Marlborough, Rai Valley, Rai River

Fish and Game Officer Rhys Barrier reports that the lower Rai River has the highest fish count of rainbow and brown trout recorded for over twenty years and would be a great place to hit spin fishing this summer.

Hook into it, people!

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Area Report: Marlborough, Wairau Bar


Nice sized kahawai are being landed at the Wairau Bar at the moment. I've had first-hand experience, landing both a 5 and 6 pound kahawai on two occassions this week so far - Monday 30th January and Wednesday 1st February. Most fish landed seem to be around that size, and are great fun on light gear.