Tony Orman has mentioned in the NZ Fishing News magazine over the last two months that "Kahawai are showing up spasmodically", and "... they remain erratic, with some days great and others being inexplicably blank."
My recent experience backs this up. I've only been down there twice recently - the first time yielded nothing, and the second time was as good as I've seen down there. Many nice-sized fish being landed by fishers. The healthy fighters put up a great battle in the current - my line on the reel I used first must need replacing, and after losing the two best lures I had on-hand before upgrading to a bigger reel I had with me that had new and stronger line, my smaller backup lures were then the reason for losing fish, with the hooks getting straightened out. I did land one nice kahawai, though.
The water is getting quite clear now in the Wairau River.
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| Wairau River, looking upstream from the Ferry Bridge, near the Spring Creek township. |