It’s been a busy season, not only with clients but with Unprecedented weather conditions during the early days of February. So severe that the South of New Zealand was placed in a State of Emergency. The state of emergency for Southland, including Fiordland, has ended and will be replaced by a Transition Notice. It’s now 2 weeks after the unprecedented event and the realization of the extent of the event is astonishing. Clean up crews are still working hard to help those severely effected. Milford Road is still closed and not likely to open for sometime to come. So, I here you asking - How has the fishing been and how is the fishing now?
January produced some great weather and it looked like we were heading into the usual weather patterns for that time of the year. NW winds, sunny days and clear rivers. This was a relief after the unusually wet start to the season which you can read all about in my previous Blog Post - October Report. It’s like hitting a reset button for a guide as you know the river/s have most likely changed, you have to once again revisit locations to work out how affected they are and where the fish have moved to. December and January revealed little change in where fish were, however their feeding pattern and feeding behavior was a little different to what we would normally experience at that time of the year. You can read about my thoughts on fly choice @ Manic Tackle Project Blog Post - Friday Fly Day - Fiordland Favourites. The lead up to the premier part of the season had a lot of promise with the onset of a predicted Mouse Year. As soon as we were able to get around a bit it was notable that fish had certainly packed on more weight than usual and it was fairly widespread. It was great to see, myself and my clients certainly produced some awesome fish during the January period.
February - Unprecedented Weather
It was not what we were expecting to say the least at this time of the year. An unprecedented weather pattern developed in the Tasman Sea and surged upon the W/SW coast of New Zealand 2-3-4th Feb. Red flag flood warnings popping up on the river level monitoring systems within 24hrs. Over a 100mm + of rain falling within that period in the headwaters and below. Some recordings in the far west of Fiordland received over 200mm of rain in 48hrs. The aftermath of this event was amazing. I was lucky enough not to have too many bookings so spent my days driving around in amazement at the height of the river levels. As the news filtered in over the coming days and a State of Emergency was declared, it was devastating to see the extent of the damage. My hat really goes off to all the emergency respondents during this time of chaos and of course to my fellow Fly Fishing Guides whom had to deal with unprecedented adverse conditions. I encourage everyone to donate where possible or lend a hand in the recovery where possible.
Once again I’ve been out there roving around after these events checking out the conditions. It’s been incredible how long it’s taken for things to settle and it’s not made it easy. The rivers have been ripped to shreds, totally changing the natural course of the riverbeds and the surrounds. Debris and eroded river banks are still cautionary, slips are still occurring in headwaters. Don’t be surprised to drive over a major river and see it coloured up then clear within half a day. The dangers are still out there so be aware and be on alert. I’ve re framed from crossing rivers with clients due to the instability. It is looking more settled as I speak however be aware of extended forecasts and unexpected headwater rains. We have a great resource here in Southland NZ - Environment Data Online Portal . I encourage you to use this daily or even twice daily for the meantime. Great resource for river levels and rainfall.
Having said all that. How’s the fishing? The three or four major systems that feed my region Fiordland and outer regions in Southland have been affected immensely. The fish have been pushed to the extreme to find a place to hold and so once again the rivers are fishing largely different to what they did in January. I’ve personally never know rivers to take so long to get back to there normal flows. Even at relatively normal flows as per Env Data (as mentioned above) they are/were still coloured making for tuff sight fishing conditions. The typical dry fly fishing we normally experience in Feb is almost none existent. Add to that the pressure from anglers of all likes limited to only a few stretches of water and you can imagine the Chaos. Finally we are seeing some mild weather conditions in the forecast and as things settle the fishing is more than likely to come on strong. I’ve had some great success lately with clients and hoping that continues. Thanks to all my mates for keeping in touch, all the guides working together in challenging conditions and looking forward to our fisheries bouncing back. Looking forward to it. All the best out there.
