Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Fishing-Adventures-Destinations » NZ Fishing Adventures
NZ Fishing Adventures
Steven Riding
My mate Michael and I recently found some cheap flights to New Zealand online and decided to head over to try to catch a trout or salmon. The closest either of us had been to one of these fish was when our wives cooked a couple of cutlets from the local supermarket. Hmmm, there was also a time when I had some at restaurant, oh and you can't beat them smoked.
So, with absolutely no idea how to catch one of these fish we loaded up the tackle tray with our favourite bream lures. The selection included a range of crank baits, stick baits and quite a few blades. Among the blades were the Aussie Green & Gold coloured TT Lures Switchblade and Ghostblade. I actually thought I would include these in our gear as it would be pretty cool to catch a New Zealand fish on a lure from an Aussie company in Aussie colours..."suck on that All Blacks!"
We had no itinerary for the trip but we decided not to fish too long in any location as we only had five days and two of them would be completely taken up by the 640km drive between Christchurch and Queenstown.
After flying into Christchurch we drove our campervan to the Tekapo region in the centre of the South Island. This area has several hydroelectricity canals that hold some huge trout.
Our trip coincided with a period of heavy rain, reducing the visibility in the lakes, rivers and canals. Even while we were there the rain continued and in one night the region received a month's rain overnight. Our campervan stayed dry but there was localised flooding!
After having a chat to a few locals, we decided our best chance of getting a fish was in the canals. We started fishing our bream lures but the current in the canals was seriously fast and we couldn't get them to stay in what we believed to be the strike zone. We then changed to some soft plastic minnows, including the ZMan 3" MinnowZ rigged on 1/6oz 2/0 TT jighead. These swam very well in the current and we cast them upstream allowing the current to swing them around in an arc downstream and then we slowly wound them back against the current. I had a couple of hits, solid enough to pull the tail back off the head of the jighead and also had a follow from a cracker of a fish. I reckon I would still take some soft plastics with me on the next trip, along with some HeadlockZ HD jigheads and some stinger hooks.
I started to think that the poor visibility was the reason for the short hits on the softies, so I grabbed a blade and gave it a go using the same technique. When it was swinging around in the current I stayed in contact with it so that I could feel the blade vibrating the entire time. At the end of the arc I slowly jigged and retrieved the Switchy against the current so that it was vibrating aggressively. The first fish I hooked I thought was a snag as it hit the lure and just sat there holding against the current. I put some pressure on the fish and after a spirited fight I slid my first NZ trout up onto a small bank between the rocks of the canal wall. A NZ trout caught on an Aussie Green & Gold lure, I was stoked!
We ended up with a few fish between us before our supply of blades were gone. The canals are popular with fishermen chasing a feed and they seem to feel the need to do this with 40lb line. This meant the bottom was littered with snagged line and our 8lb braid was no competition against that whipper snipper line when we snagged up. I could feel the blade moving against the stretch of the line but no matter what I tried I couldn't get them back.
On my next trip to NZ or any trout water I will definitely be taking some Switchblades with me. If Michael and I could score some trout on them, then they will be deadly with a bit more experience or in the hands of a gun trout angler.