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FISH SPECIES
BROWN
TROUT
Enjoy the spectacular mountain
views as we 4WD to Back Country spring creeks, freestone streams,
magnificent lakes and snow fed rivers, 'fish for the famous South
Island brown trout'.
Experience the thrill as you sight fish and stalk the wily brown
trout, test your skill presenting a dry fly, nymph or streamer.
The New Zealand brown trout is world renowned for their huge
size. These lively resident well conditioned fish are 3-4 lbs- 2
kg on average and is not uncommon for trophy fish of double
figures to be caught. This is the lure for all anglers, the
challenge of catching a New Zealand South Island brown trout.
Brown trout were first introduced in 1867 from Tasmania, are the
predominate species and are widely distributed throughout the
South Island of New Zealand. Sea-run browns tend to be silvery in
colour, river fish yellowish-green with dark brown and reddish
spots, while lake fish have a creamish-yellow body and a speckled
appearance. There colours differ from stream to river & even
within the same stretch of water to blend in with the
environment. You will be sure to walk past more than you see, as
they camoflauge incredibly well. Most streams and rivers are not
stocked with trout. These are all wild fish, there are not high
numbers hence they grow to incredible size as there is limited
competition for their food. With this makes them very spooky, so
stealth is vey important. Once spooked you need to cover the
water to find your next fish, so be prepared to walk to get onto
the brown trout.
Distinguishing features include
- Square or slightly forked
tail.
- Blue halo around spots,
especially on gill covers.
- Mouth not black inside.
- Relatively short and deep
anal fin.
- Tail not densely spotted.
RAINBOW
TROUT
As the sheer fight in these feisty
fish strip the line from your reel is enough to bring you back
for more. Home to the Rainbow trout is the cold glacial fed
lakes, rivers and spring streams. Rainbow trout is given its name
because of its coloration. Light in colour they camouflage well
making stalking these fish exciting as they try to outwit the
cunning angler. For the fly fisher we have some extremely huge
rainbows in small creeks, you'll enjoy the challenge! There are
areas that hold only rainbows, with areas that have both resident
rainbow and brown trout. The rainbow trout has more aggressive
feeding habits than the brown and are more likely to try and
engulf your lure time and time again. An exciting fish to have on
a light rod in a small stream.
Rainbow Trout were introduced from Somona Creek, San Francisco,
in 1877. There are no sea-run species. Lake dwelling fish tend to
be more silvery in colour.
Rainbow trout features include:
- Square or slightly forked
tail.
- Pinkish-rose tinge on the
gill covers and along the lateral line, but no spots on
the gill covers.
- Mouth not black inside.
- Short-based anal fin with
8-12 rays.
- Dense black spots on tail,
head, back, sides, dorsal and adipose fins.
KING
SALMON
The King Salmon "Quinnat" feed out in the Pacific Ocean and return to
the East Coast rivers of the South Island for there upstream
journey to spawn. Salmon enter the rivers in our Summer, December
through April.
Quinnat, King or Chinook Salmon
Were introduced from the West Coast of North America in 1901 and
liberated into the Waitaki River on the east coast of the South
Island. They are present as land-locked fish in Lake Coleridge,
40 mins from Mt Hutt- Methven, as well as the southern lakes.
Lake fish are much smaller than the ocean feeding salmon and have
an average weight of 1kg - 2-3lb.
Distinguishing features of Salmon include:
- Prominently forked tail
- Mouth black inside between
the teeth.
- Long-based low anal fin
- Hooked snoot
The sea-run salmon are present in
many South Island rivers with the largest runs of salmon coming
up the Rakaia river, 10 mins from our Sportsmens Lodge. Sea-run
salmon spend 1-3 years of their life in the ocean before heading
up the east coast rivers of the South Island. The weight of the
salmon varies from season to season with salmon weighing 4kg-10lb
and can grow to 16kg-35lb.
As the salmon leave the salt water, they will acclimatise to the
change of the fresh water and move up through the glacier fed
waters. This occurs from November - April, with the best fishing
late Dec - April. As the salmon enter the fresh water of the
rivers they have a very bright silvery sheen as they have had
stored up their reserves with their last feeding in the ocean. On
the upstream journey they tend to lose their silvery sheen as
they migrate up rivers to spawn. This is a long journey with well
over 100 kilometers of fighting the strong currents of the
freestone rivers. The Salmon will usually head up the rivers
sometimes in small schools or in breeding pairs. It is often that
an angler can catch a salmon, continue fishing and catch the
other salmon of the pair. The salmon has a very hard mouth, our
lures have trebble hooks and the slightest hesitation in your
lure should get you lifting the tip of your fishing rod to set
the hook, hold on as the battle between you and the mighty
powerful salmon has begun. If the salmon gets into the swift
water of the main rivers current, they will strip yards of line
from your reel. You will have to run along the river banks edge
to keep up with them. Every situation can be different and
sometimes we get into the jetboat to follow the salmon downstream
as they try to set themselves free from your lure, this is
breathtaking andrenalin packed action!
Equipment - The salmon are not known to feed on there upstream
quest for breeding. It is the flash of the metal lures that
attracts the fish to bite out of aggression. The most common lure
is a z-spinner, with many other New Zealand lures that can work
just as well. The use of 7-9ft graphite bait casting rods/poles
for river fishing with open faced or egg beater type reels
holding upto 200 yds of 8kg - 20lb test nylon. With the different
types of water we fish and the clour of the water depends on the
weight and pattern of lures to use, as these will be changed
frequently throughout the day.
The most productive way of fishing for our salmon is by the use
of jetboats. This enables the covering of miles of water in
search of the ideal pool for the salmon to rest up in. If there
is a quite spell then we are back into the jetboat and try our
luck in another likely spot. The most productive times of the day
is first light in the morning as the salmon will rest up in a
pool for the night before heading back out into the swift current
to continue upstream, or the evening as this is when the salmon
can come into a pool for their evenings rest.
Jet boat fishing on the famous Rakaia River - New Zealand Four
Seasons Safaris are specialists in river fishing in our custom
built Dart Craft/Hamilton Jet boats. Enjoy this enthralling jet
boat ride over braided streams and through scenic gorges in lure
of the Chinook Salmon, brown and rainbow trout. The Rakaia river
has the largest runs of King Salmon in New Zealand with its
tributaries holding some great trout and salmon fishing. Also
operating commercial Jet boats from the Rakaia River mouth, this
is where the salmon acclimatise from the salt to fresh water
before coming into the river on their up stream journey to the
headwaters of the Southern Alps to their spawning grounds. We can
take up to 6 anglers in the boat
HELI
FISHING
Experience wilderness fishing ,
you want big fish and plenty of them, view those trophy trout
from the air and enjoy the majestic scenery that unfolds around
you. Heli fishing throughout the South Island - Spectacular
remote wilderness fishing experience where the only footprints
are yours and the wildlife! Treat yourself to the time of your
life fishing untouched waters and enjoy the fresh mountain
scenery that surrounds you. The helicopter is yours for the whole
day enabling you to fish the many different waters that await
you. For lunch we ll fly up to a glacier at the heights of the
Southern Alps then head for a secluded west coast stream, before
flying backover the Southern Alps for some quality fishing in a
freestone and spring creek. The helicopter is at our disposal,
lets fly into.....the sky has no limit! This is an experience in
itself, not to mention the size of those big old Brown trout .We
are able to take up to 3 anglers in the Helicopter, a video
camera is a must. You deserve it, treat yourself !! We also
helicopter in, fish all day with helicopter pickup in the
afternoon. Larger helicopter is available for up to 6 anglers.
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