A perfect morning

The weather was still pleasant and calm the morning after my night fish.

I decided to ignore my usual spot and ride up the Wairau looking for new fishing spots and not set up my rod until I saw a fish.

It was windier than I expected in the first spot where I looked for fish. I didn't see any, but the wind ripples weren't helping.

Riding further upstream, I came to a place that looked good. I pulled the bike over and got off for a look between the trees. I saw a trout feeding in the current and made my way down the short bank to the water's edge.

I don't normally use a bubble with my spin setup, but this seemed an ideal situation. There was a nice current coming in close to me with a few natural bubbles on the surface, and my bubble and fly should get taken straight to the feeding fish.

After trying a fly that I'm not sure of the name of, I put on a green beetle. On the third cast, as it was drifting down the current, it disappeared under the water. It took me a second to realise I should do something, but the bubble popped back up again by the time I'd tightened my line. The trout had realised his mistake and spat it out. I'd realised my mistake, too.

I'm used to spin fishing, so forgot to be alert for the bubble indicating a take. When retrieving a lure normally with a spin setup, you probably set the hook half the time without even realising a trout had taken it - the retrieve is already pulling away from the trout.

I turned upstream ready to cast again, and saw a trout just up from me. I aimed my cast above him and get a curious look for my efforts. I change from the bubble/fly setup to a lure I often use, and ended up with that trout and a bigger one following it.

No luck in the end.

Another mission ends up without a trout, but it was a perfect morning - I got to be alone on the river, ride my motorbike, find a new fishing spot, see some trout; and got taught a lesson the hard way. Next time I use a bubble, I'll be watching for that bubble to disappear...

Archive: Looking Back

From Hunting and Fishing in Marlborough – A history of the Marlborough Acclimatisation Society and a guide for present day sportsmen; pages 19, 20. Originally published 1980. Scans of the pages are at the bottom of this article. This article shows the text from the original that relates to fishing.

Looking Back
by Frank Mogridge

Frank Mogridge, 95 years young in 1980 and a life member, recalls...

I can recall the Society’s first hatchery at Springlands where Mr S. Tapp had a wool scouring works. The introduction of trout to our waters was very successful and some fine big trout were taken at the turn of the century. From the Taylor River at a spot not far from the present Criterion Hotel a twenty-six pound trout was taken in 1901. About the same time one of thirty pounds was taken from the Opawa River.

The Springlands trout hatchery was eventually abandoned, due I think to a lack of finance and the Marlborough Society turned to a policy of purchasing fry for liberation. The Fisheries Department endeavoured to establish quinnat salmon in the Wairau River and built a hatchery at Maori Creek near Te Rou on the North Bank. This operated for quite some time but the poor results with salmon forced the eventual closure of the complex.

The failure of salmon to colonise the Wairau in substantial numbers is the result of unfavourable ocean conditions with temperatures being too warm. As a result the colder waters the Clarence, Waiau and Hurunui Rivers further south probably gained more benefit than the Wairau.

One of Marlborough’s best rivers in those early years was the Opawa. It originally formed from a breakthrough of its banks by the Wairau River.  It came down across the plains and formed numerous small streams which joined just below Renwick to form the Opawa River proper.

The Taylor also was a fine trout river and held quite good fish from the High Street bridge to the junction at the Opawa gas works. About 1937 a property owner planted some water lilies in the stream and in a short time the water lilies had filled the whole of the river. All sorts of efforts were made to remove the lilies but without success. Enquiries by the Society were made worldwide in an effort to save the Taylor River and a machine for weed cutting was obtained from America. It cost £l5O, but the Society had just £lO to spare. However, grants were obtained from the Blenheim Borough Council and the River Board and a shipping company, Eckford's, who used the Opawa wharf, and the machine was landed and presented to the River Board. It was a big success and constant cutting eventually completed the destruction of the masses of lilies.

Page 19 of Hunting and Fishing in Marlborough – A history of the Marlborough Acclimatisation Society and a guide for present day sportsmen.

Page 20 of Hunting and Fishing in Marlborough – A history of the Marlborough Acclimatisation Society and a guide for present day sportsmen.