The Star: January 20, 2022
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>January</strong> <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong>22<br />
16<br />
NEWS<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Best salmon season in a decade<br />
• By Susan Sandys<br />
RAKAIA RIVER salmon anglers<br />
are revelling in a season they say<br />
is the best in a decade.<br />
“It’s one out of the box so far,”<br />
Simon McMillan of Leeston said.<br />
He is leading the Southbridge<br />
Hotel salmon fishing<br />
competition, having weighed in a<br />
8.95kg fish on <strong>January</strong> 6.<br />
Hotel owner/operator Harry<br />
Singh said it was the biggest fish<br />
entered in the competition since<br />
1997. <strong>The</strong> smallest so far this<br />
season was 5.65kg, which would<br />
have been considered a goodsized<br />
fish in previous seasons.<br />
“We have a lot of big fish,<br />
which is really impressive,” Singh<br />
said.<br />
About 30 people were<br />
registered for the competition,<br />
which would run until April<br />
30. Just one entry per person is<br />
permitted, and only about five<br />
people have so far weighed in<br />
their catches, with the peak of the<br />
season not until next month.<br />
McMillan agreed it was<br />
fantastic to see plenty of big<br />
salmon around.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> last eight to 10 years<br />
of salmon fishing has been<br />
very, very tough in the Rakaia<br />
River, but to see the number<br />
of fish we have seen and the<br />
size of them has been good,”<br />
RAPT: Simon McMillan caught an 8.95kg fish on the Rakaia River, his biggest salmon<br />
since <strong>20</strong>13.<br />
McMillan said.<br />
He had been “absolutely<br />
rapt” to catch the biggest fish<br />
he had landed since <strong>20</strong>13,<br />
which was hooked on a cold,<br />
overcast and windy afternoon.<br />
He was holidaying at the north<br />
Rakaia huts with wife Vicki<br />
and his two daughters when he<br />
decided to pop out and take the<br />
family pet labrador Ferg<br />
fishing with him.<br />
After jetboating upstream he<br />
cast his rod from the riverbank.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> fight and the thrill of<br />
getting the biggest fish I have<br />
caught in a number of years<br />
was well worth the cold hands,”<br />
McMillan said.<br />
He was not confident of<br />
winning the Southbridge Hotel<br />
competition.<br />
“I’m not thinking it’s a done<br />
deal, because there’s plenty of the<br />
season to go.”<br />
Meanwhile, Fish and Game said<br />
it was too early to confirm anecdotal<br />
reports from anglers of the best<br />
start to the season in 10 years.<br />
North Canterbury Fish and<br />
Game Council spokesman Richie<br />
Cosgrove said the Rakaia had<br />
enjoyed good river conditions<br />
so far this season, and salmon<br />
generally ran there earlier than<br />
the Waimakariri River.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re’s certainly a lot of activity<br />
down there at the moment,”<br />
Cosgrove said, referring to<br />
anglers converging on the river’s<br />
two mouths and lagoon area.<br />
Set against a backdrop of a<br />
declining fishery, there is a new<br />
bag limit on sea-run salmon<br />
season in force this season.<br />
Anglers are restricted to just<br />
two for the whole season,<br />
compared to one salmon each<br />
day last season.<br />
Up to<br />
50 % Off<br />
*Call for Terms<br />
& Conditions<br />
Off<br />
*