The roads to the Wairau Bar and Diversion after the Kaikoura earthquake

I heard that there had been some damage to the road to the Wairau Bar after the Kaikoura earthquake, so a few days after the quake I rode down on the motorbike to take a look.

You could still get to the Bar easily enough dispite part of the road looking like it'd been plowed. The road splits before that point so you could avoid that part.

The end of the Wairau Diversion road was closed due to similar destruction but without an alternative route.

I walked down to the mouth and all appeared normal down there.

You know your lure is realistic when...

Overcast and still - it felt like perfect conditions at the river mouth, but nobody was catching any fish.

I was about to pack up when a guy hooked a decent-sized kahawai that leapt out of the water a few times. He had it on the line for a minute or so (I find 'time' takes on a different quality when a fish is hooked and have trouble judging how long playing a fish takes - more so when I'm the one playing the fish), but he ended up losing it.

It renewed my urge to fish, so I started casting again.

I've had this lure for a while now, but seldom use it. I love the paddle-tail action of these types of lure, but this one always feels a bit big for some reason (it's only just over 8 cm long, so it's not really that big).

Soon there was a tug on the lure, and before long a shag instead of a fish broke the surface.

I pulled the lure out of his beak and was able to wind it in quickly before he got hooked (shag grabbing it once more and chasing it underwater to the shore).

One more cast in case the shag had learnt his lesson; he hadn't. I was able to wind in again and change lures.

I've never had a bird grab my lure before - they normally seem quite aware that they're imitations. Must be a good indication of future success (with fish!), surely...

Serenity (or the lack of it)

Despite the road to the south of the Wairau Diversion being open during the whitebaiting season, I only went down there once. There's just too many people around during that time for it to be enjoyable for me now. Possibly getting grumpier with age.

I popped down to the mouth a couple of times about a week ago to see how things were looking. The whitebaiting season was over, so I figured it should be reasonably quiet during the day while most people would still be at work.

The first day I caught (and released) four young kahawai. Nothing great, but a bit of fun - better than hooking nothing. I saw someone had a decent-sized kahawai, so they must've been around.

Next ride down there, there were only a few older guys around. A couple of them were leaving not long after I got there. I asked whether they'd had any luck. One of them called back, he'd caught four medium-sized kahawai, destined for his 'jars'. Preserving them, I assume.

I overheard them discussing arthritis pills and home-brew whisky while I started to fish.

~ The Irish whisky is a nice change, easy to drink. Too easy to drink! It sneaks up on you!

Eventually everyone left and I had the mouth to fish on my own. It's a good feeling to have a nice spot like that to yourself. Normally the fact that nobody else is around means there's also probably not many fish to be caught, but there's always the chance.

There wasn't much happening, but I cast lures and changed them a couple of times in case it made a difference (I pretty much always use the Blue Fox jigging lure in such situations these days).

Before too long a car pulled up on the other side of the mouth. A couple got out with their young child. They cranked up the car stereo and started fishing.

I left.

Don't forget what you know

There were kahawai around, and they were curious, but I couldn't get one to grab my lure.

I was using the lure I normally use when targeting kahawai these days - a Blue Fox jigging lure. I like the look of them, the way the move in the water, and the fact that most people seem to use the tried-and-true hex lures for kahawai, so I assume that using something different will often give me the edge (one can always live in hope).

After fishing in the river mouth for a while, I shifted slightly more up-river, inside the mouth where it's a bit deeper, and was almost ready to call it a day when I remembered how I usually fish these lures (I tend to hibernate over winter and haven't been fishing much at all).

Back when I first discovered the lures, I found a jerky retrieve of three or so turns of the reel handle followed by a brief pause to let the lure drop seemed to yield the best results, with the kahawai often grabbing it during that pause.

Soon after changing my technique I hooked and landed a nice kahawai that ended up smoked and in a fish pie the next day.

The far side of the mouth

As I write, the dry westerly is blowing outside. It's now December and the local whitebaiting season has ended.

One of the main things I miss about the whitebaiting season is the opening of the road that runs down the southern side of the Wairau Diversion to the mouth - it gets opened for the season, then goes back to being a private farm road.

I try to fish there instead of the usual north side whenever it's open. It makes a nice change - normally less people, an undulating road that's more fun to ride the motorbike on, and the ability to fish spots you can't quite reach from the other side.

November had a lot of wind; too much wind. The grass in my yard that hadn't managed to catch some water from the garden sprinkler turned brown. It'd been too windy to jump on the motorbike and go for fish. I did manage to get out for a ride and fish near the end of the month, though.

***

It was late afternoon, I was out in the yard and noticed how still it was. I checked the tide forecast; incoming, just after low. I grabbed my fishing bag, jumped on the bike and rode down to the Diversion's southern side, rode through the gateway (open/close gate - always leave a gate how you found it) and down to the mouth.

At the mouth, a few people were whitebaiting. Nobody was fishing on my side, but some were casting lures on the other side. I set my rod up and wandered down, casting once I reached the water. Nobody seemed to be catching anything. I walked down toward the surf, having the odd cast, then carried on around into the surf to see if any fish happened to be coming in.

Nothing seemed to be happening fish-wise and I sat on a log, wondering whether to pack up and see if anything was happening at the Wairau Bar. I find sometimes sitting back and watching for a while is helpful - you either have a nice quiet moment and/or discover something that might help the fishing.

Shags were swimming, diving, chasing small fish. Some fish that seemed quite big for a shag to swallow were being guzzled down.

I started casting into a spot where the current pushes into the surf and the birds were active in the water. I soon hooked a fish that felt quite big. I land a kahawai that wasn't as big as I originally thought. Hooking any fish is better than no fish. I stayed and fished more.

The birds were still chasing and catching. I also caught some more - some bigger, and lost some at the water's edge, in the surf. With the last few that I caught, I started running up the beach when I reeled them into the surf - I might've looked slightly crazier, but the fish didn't get away.

There still wasn't anyone fishing on my side, and nobody that was fishing on the other side seemed to be catching anything. It's a strangely nice feeling; possibly because if anything, the shoe is normally on the other foot.

***

I've had fun fishing at the Diversion mouth with my new rod/reel setup and feel strangely hesitant about heading up the river to my usual spots looking for trout. I'm not sure where I'll be fishing next, but I think exploring will be high on the priority list... although the northern side of the Diversion mouth will now go back to being more pleasant without all the whitebaiters around, so we'll see... the kahawai may stick around, and there's always the possibility of a sea-run trout or even a salmon before long.

If only the wind would abate.

A Good Sign

I felt I needed a stronger rod for the current and surf at river mouths (mainly Wairau and Wairau Diversion), so ordered myself a Shakespeare 7 foot, 4 piece 'Slingshot' and a new reel to go with it - a Penn Pursuit 4000.

Today was my first day of testing the setup out, and also of trying my new plan to ride down to the Diversion mouth as often as possible to see what (if anything) was going on, fish-wise. It's just a 5-minute ride, so silly not to.

I went mid-morning around high tide, and the spot was busy with whitebaiters and some people casting lures, but I didn't see any fish getting caught. I got to cast my new setup for the first time.

Riding back down to the mouth late afternoon, I sat on the bike looking to see whether anything was happening before bothering to set up my rod. Nothing much seemed to be going on, but then I noticed a couple of guys walking back from the mouth with some kahawai.

I set up.

Casting into the current, I hit the end of the kahawai run and managed to land one. Most of the other fishers had a few. I stayed fishing while everyone else left.

I was happy with my one kahawai and the positive start to fishing with the new setup.

September in Photos

Lake Rotoiti. 

Wairau River. 

Wairau Diversion.

Release the worms

A couple of weeks ago, on a still sunny day; a nice-sized brown in the water below.

The bank was steep and there was no decent place to jump down to land a fish so I didn't bother casting. I ended up scaring the trout off by slowly getting more out in the open trying to photograph it. In the end the reflection on the water that was getting cut out by my glasses was still showing up in the photos, so didn't end up with much more than some pictures of water.

The dog and I continued down this side-pool of the Wairau, closer to where it connects with the main river. Two more nice browns were calmly pointing into the slight current just behind a small tree that had tipped into the river due to erosion.

A white dog really doesn't help when fishing in such a prominent spot - I had a trout follow a fly with curiosity at one point, but they disappeared when the dog got overly curious, peering over the bank.

***

I've been digging in the garden, getting prepared for spring. Many worms have been uncovered, and I decided to go back and try my luck fishing with a worm and no dog.

I normally stick to artificial lures rather than 'bait' (i.e. an animal in some form), due to it not being as messy and not wanting to kill an animal if I don't have to. There is possibly the factor of  'fooling' a fish with something man-made as well, which I assume will grow when I get around to putting all of the fly-tying books I have accumulated to use.

At the moment, though, I have enjoyed getting back into using bait, but I've never fished with a worm. Geoff Wilson's Complete Book of Fishing Knots & Rigs has a diagram for using worms as bait.

Riding back to the same spot twice on the motorbike armed with worms hasn't been successful - I haven't seen any trout at all. The last time I also went down to the Wairau Diversion mouth after looking for the trout, and ended up losing a couple of lures.

The great thing about fishing on the motorbike is that you always tend to end up in a good mood from having a ride, even if the fishing isn't successful.

No worms were harmed in the making of this... unfortunately. They were all released back into the garden. I can't vouch for the two hens that are normally scratching around in the garden at the moment.

Wairau River - High and muddy

Photos taken today.

Wairau Diversion

Wairau River

 

A peek at the Wairau before the new season starts

Yesterday I had a look for trout in a few spots in the Wairau River and Wairau Diversion.

A track through the trees below the Diversion Bridge.

I only managed to spot one trout near one of the areas photographed. I felt rather good about having seen one – it's better than none.

Looking upstream to the Diversion Bridge.

The mid/lower Wairau River's fishing season is year-round, so I had a few casts yesterday, and went back again today to the spot I saw the one trout. No luck, and nothing spotted today.

Standing below the Ferry Bridge, near the Spring Creek township.

I'm looking forward to getting back up the river again now that the weather's warming up.

Above Tuamarina.

A spot of fishing at the Diversion and the Bar

A week or so ago, a neighbour dropped off a couple of kahawai. He'd been fishing at the Wairau Diversion river-mouth and caught a few.

Yesterday I tried my luck in the same spot. There was one other chap fishing when I arrived. After fishing in the surf and moving towards the river, I passed him and asked how his luck was going. He'd caught nothing, but mentioned the last two or three weeks have been quite good. He said a seal that he'd spotted out in the surf might be keeping the fish away.

I had a fish again today, but went to the Wairau Bar this time. There was nobody there when I arrived - quite rare for such a popular spot. I find solitude is often a big part of my enjoyment when fishing - one of the reasons I haven't been to the Bar for a while.

As soon as I walked near the water I spotted a fish near the edge, and another soon after. I spotted many kahawai in the water while I was fishing, but they seemed quite hesitant to strike overall. I did manage to hook and land one nice-sized kahawai.

Wairau Diversion Mouth

Wairau Diversion mouth, today.

Photo Report: Wairau River and Diversion

The Wairau River is quite green, but starting to clear now after getting flooded and muddy recently. The conditions deteriorated since my photos eleven days ago before they improved.

All of the following photos were taken today.

Wairau Diversion:

 
 Wairau River (looking downstream from the Ferry Bridge, near the Spring Creek township):

A woman swims in the Wairau River as a rower passes.

Photo Report: Wairau River and Diversion

The Wairau River is still high and muddy.

All of the following photos were taken today.

Wairau Diversion:

Wairau River:

Photo Report: Wairau River and Diversion

The Wairau River is high and brown from recent rain. All photos taken today.

Some rowers were out, despite the cold wind and high river.

Wairau River:

 

Wairau Diversion: