Upper Waiau - Te Anau, NZ

[Buzz]

Te Anau is a small community on the shores of Lake Te Anau. Bordering the national park of Fiordland. Lake Te Anau is about 65 km long has a surface area of 344 km and is the second largest in New Zealand.

Fiordland National Park , covering over 1.2 million hectares, is New Zealand's largest National Park.

Chocka block with rivers lakes mountains and(at this time of the year) snow. Its the home of the Milford track, Kepler Run and me!

[img size=150]http://www.tincan-productions.com/fishphotos/TeAnau.jpg

The Upper Waiau river is at the southernmost part of lake Te Anau and flows between Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri.

Those of you who have seen Fellowship of the Ring would have seen parts of the River as the heros took the Elven canoes.

[img size=150]http://www.tincan-productions.com/fishphotos/river.jpg

Lake Manapouri has the Manapouri Power Station on its western side - this Hydro Power Station supplies the electricity required for the running of Tiwai point Aluminium Smelter in Bluff (south of Invercargill) owned By Rio Tinto.

Where the Upper Waiau begings in Lake Te Anau there is a control Structure which manages the amount of water which flows from the Lake through the river to Lake Manapouri. This allows better control of the Lake levels for power generation etc for the Power plant.

The Upper Waiau has two main species of trout - Rainbow Trout and Brown trout - a recent drift dive study of the trout population indicated around 1000 fish per kilometer of river. Thus this river is very well stocked with trout.

There are also other fish species in the river - the long finned eal, native minnows and others.

The majority of the upper river is a natural delimiter between farmland and the Fiordland national park.

Access to the river is as difficult as driving along Gold Course Road to your spot, parking the car and walking to the shore.

Access to most NZ waterways is protected by the "Queen's Chain" and the Waiau falls into this legislation.

A fishing license is required to fish for trout in inland fisheries - the local sports shop or Fish and Game office can supply these. About NZ $96 for a wholes season's license or NZ $19 per day.(Adult)

The area I picked to test my new Kicktails is a very popular spot. A distance of a few hundred meters from the control structure the river makes a hard left and is easily accessible from the parking lot - about 3 minutes walk down to the shore.

[img size=150]http://www.tincan-productions.com/fishphotos/spot.jpg

The control structure is also the beginning of the Kepler Track.

The water quality is excellent, clean drinkable, and flowing well. Visibility into the water is also good.

The river has been subject to an invasion of Didymo - or "Rock Snot" this has had a negative impact on the appearance of the river and water.

Lake Te Anau and thus the upper Waiau were at lower than normal levels when I visited due a the lack of rain (no suprises there!)

As I visited in May - the trout are beginning to spawn - a conversation with a local Fish and Game officer provided some data that this year the trout were about a month later spawning than was usual.

The officer did not think that Didymo was having an effect on the current fish numbers but did voice a concern that the low water levels combined with the Didymo covering the riverbed would be a problem for spawning trout.

The first day was clear blue skies and in the sun a most pleasant- the mountains had a covering of snow but with no wind to speak of the bank was a magic place to be. The water was colder than a mother-in-law's heart and not a place to venture in choice.

I picked a good spot year the bend in the river the far side being deeper and swifter than the shallower side i was on. Trout were easily visible from my vantage point and I set about to catch one - it'd be rude not to!

There are a number of trout in this image - how many do you reckon?

[img size=150]http://www.tincan-productions.com/fishphotos/multiple.jpg

I was home to visit my mother and father and also this was my big chance to try out my KickTails (XL-5's) in my stomping ground. While I'm no expert on trout fishing, nor fishing in general - I have caught a few in the river before. The caveat here is than in all my attempts I had never actually scored a trout in this area I was trying with my Kicktails, nor have I seen anyone actually catch one while spinning (cranking). Its a very popular spot with the fly fishermen (snobby buggers) who do pretty well in this spot during summer. Its also popular with Fish and Game officers who check licenses!

So spin fishing (as we call it at home) or Crank Fishing I believe it's called elsewhere isn't usually successful this far up the river.

I tried out my Kicktails and after a while of getting used to them (this will be the subject of another article with any luck) I nailed my first trout - while not huge at 2.5 pounds it was still a win as far as I'm concerned!

[img size=150]http://www.tincan-productions.com/fishphotos/trout.jpg

The only drawback was that two of the Kicktails broke, one in general casting and one when either the fish hit the lure or in the ensuing drawing in.

[img size=150]http://www.tincan-productions.com/fishphotos/kicktailfish.jpg

Well, thats my first article for Brisbane Fishing - I'm no Zane Grey and I only have a dinky little digital camera - but I hope you enjoyed it and maybe even learnt something!

cheers

Buzz

[Cowfish13]

Awesome report mate:cheer: Great looking spot. I imagine it'd be freezing cold?

Also, I think I can see 2 fish in that 4th picture, is that close? or way off?

[Dec]

Great article was a good read

[Rocket75]

They do great scenery over there, no doubt.

Great looking fish too. Those lures look a bit like a rapala glass shad rap but with joints in it, are you making them locally?

Thanks for the very informative report.

Rocket

[Dinodadog]

Nice place I have started packing

[Buzz]

its a bit hard to see - i've not got a great camera and photographing through moving water isnt the easiest

but there were more than 2

Buzz

[Feral]

Very good Report Buzz - thanks for sharing..

[Mack_attack]

You would have to be the first member to ever give a background report on the fishing location Very good first report mate looking forward to the next.

[Buzz]

They do great scenery over there, no doubt.

Great looking fish too. Those lures look a bit like a rapala glass shad rap but with joints in it, are you making them locally?

Thanks for the very informative report.

Rocket

no they're "Kicktails" http://www.ngcsports.com/?ccode=REVIEWPAGES i bought them from the states -

they are jointed as you say - very impressed with their action but a tad concerned with their toughness

am working on a review of them

Buzz