Reel Life March 2024 - Wellington

Stellar Run of Fishing Continues

Above: Fox Carnachan with his personal best brown from the Ruamahanga River (Credit Hamish Carnachan)

The stellar run of fishing and sublime weather continues for the Wellington Fish & Game region.

Recent drift dives also confirm what anglers are encountering – fish in absolutely exceptional condition.

Although the weather has been very hot over summer, frequent freshes in the ranges have kept river flows healthy and the trout have clearly benefited.

Moving into autumn anglers will encounter different fish behaviour.

They will start to move around and school up ahead of running into the headwaters for spawning.

Confluences are well worth a look and there may even be some early run fish in the spawning streams so there’s an opportunity to target these before they close at the end of April.

The trout will also start to get quite aggressive too.

As we expect more rain heading into April that means it’s an ideal time for spinning and fishing large wet flies as they will often incite an aggressive take.

The dry flies are still there though they’re waning, but autumn is still a super exciting time to be on the water with angry talks from fish in prime condition – make the most of this excellent season!

Tight Lines

Hamish Carnachan, Wellington Fish & Game