The town of Te Anau is the gateway to Fiordland. It’s about a 90 minute drive North West from our home in Gore, Southland. Most years we try to fish this area at the start and end of the season, which for most of the rivers near Te Anau, runs from 1st of November to the end of May.
At this time of year a large number of browns and rainbows are still in the smaller rivers and streams after spawning, and most will gradually move back downstream to Lake Te Anau as the water warms and flows decrease.
On November 10th my wife Diane and I spent a day on the Upukerora River. This small river is one of my favourites, which is a big call when you consider that the Mataura River is right on our doorstep [ two minutes’ drive ] , along with the likes of the Oreti , Pomahaka and Waikaia Rivers to just mention a few of the better known close waters.
We drove through Te Anau Township, heading two kilometres out on the road to Milford Sound, crossed the Upukerora River and immediately turned hard right. Just above the bridge is a pool that usually holds a fish or two and is always a good starting point. Well not this time!! I put on my top nymph, a #14 Flashback Pheasant Tail, ran it through the pool a dozen or so times without so much as a touch. I was left thinking maybe this was going to one of those days when the fish just don’t co-operate.
Moved upstream about a hundred metres looking for some likely holding water, crossing over a couple of braids to a deep hole under some willow trees. Just as we got close a fish rose on the edge. This called for a change of tactics. I added a metre of 5x to the leader and a #16 Adams which I ran along the edge a number of times without attracting any interest. Then switched to a likely looking spot behind some overhanging branches. This got the attention of a nice rainbow that tried to hit the fly at speed, leaping clear of the water in the process, but not sticking on the hook. I decided to switch back to the nymph, which brought almost immediate success and in the following 45 minutes coaxed two rainbows and three lovely browns out from under the branches.
By this time it was midday, so we drove upstream to the Fish and Game access at Ladies Mile Road about 14 kilometres from town. Considering the time we arrived it was surprising there were no other fishermen there. After just a short walk from the car park we came to a pool that just had to hold a fish or two. As we stood back from the edge watching for any sign of life a very nice sized rainbow came cruising downstream, turned and sat behind a log. I couldn’t cast across to him because of a dead tree so had to drop into the water directly behind, sometimes a tricky prospect to cast over a fish without lining it. This one must have been extra hungry as he took the nymph first cast, almost as soon as it hit the water, and after a short tussle had him in the net.
We fished our way slowly upstream for the rest of the afternoon, covering about a mile or so, finding fish sitting under drop-offs ,in the ripples and even hooking up alternate rainbows and browns in some pools along with spooking some browns sitting in a few inches of water at the edges.
The Upukerora River changes from year to year depending on the number and size of any floods during the winter months. This makes it one of the more interesting rivers to fish and explore with new pools on every visit. It hasn’t disappointed yet, and it really was a red letter day.
Barry and his wife Diane run Wentworth Heights that offers top quality B & B along with Barrys Guiding Service