Doubt about trout after wet winter

Freshwater anglers are set for the new season starting today, but face uncertainty about trout numbers after one of the wettest winters in the top of the south.

Nelson-Marlborough Fish and Game officer Jacob Lucas said the impact of the August flooding and slips would not be known until anglers got their lines wet and the organisation did some of its own monitoring.

‘‘The big flood would have had a bit of an impact on the Rai and Pelorus. However, the Wairau River catchment might not be as bad,’’ Lucas said.

With a lot of young trout hatching over winter, a big flood at the wrong time of year could cut numbers and affect the population in the next few years, he said. The amount of debris coming down the rivers during a flood also affected the adult fish.

‘‘But like I always say, trout do surprise you sometimes how resilient they are,’’ Lucas said.

‘‘Usually, they can be affected quite a lot by flood events. However, we got very surprised in the Motueka catchment last year, which had a huge flood, and the fishing was still pretty good afterwards.’’

Lucas said the Wairau catchment had had a rough ride over the past few years, with a series of high water and low water events. It meant the fishery was in a rebuilding phase, and the likes of the once -stable Goulter River were expected to have lower numbers of fish than usual. Reports from the Goulter had been very poor over the last two seasons.

The Motueka catchment was probably the pick of the region in terms of lowland waterways, he said.

Asked about secret fishing spots in the region, Lucas said it was challenging to name them.

‘‘There is so much water around to fish. We have more than 100 separate fisheries in this region.’’

More experienced anglers sought out remote rivers in the Nelson Lakes and Murchison districts, he said.

Fish and Game will release a tanker load of fish this week at Lake Argyle, where it runs the hatchery facility on behalf of Manawa Energy (formerly Trustpower).

‘‘There will be quite a few really large fish going into Lake Argyle, with trout of two to three kilos. That will be a hot spot as well,’’ Lucas said.

‘‘It’s been a while since we had a Saturday opening day, so there will probably be a lot more anglers out and about than normal.

‘‘Anglers, if you do see someone in your fishing spot, just have a friendly chat with them and come up with a plan, so you can all get a bit of fishing.’’

About 5000 fishing licences are sold each year in the Nelson-Marlborough region, including one-day licences.