| Access to the mouth of the Hurunui River for salmon anglers can be a bit challenging. If you have a quad bike and want to fish the surf with a long rod from the end of the shingle spit the best way of approaching the Hurunui River mouth is to turn off on State Highway One and follow the road to Nape Nape Beach . This shingle road follows the Blythe River Valley Road from the high way to the sea for 17km. When you arrive at the beach leave your car parked at the corner marked with the letter P in a red circle on the map. Then ride your quad off your trailer and along the beach to the river mouth several kilometers to the north east.
If you have a four-wheel-drive Toyota HiLux, or something similar, and are competent at driving along a loose shingle beach, you might wish to save your legs and drive the last couple of kilometers up the beach. The spit can get very loose and narrow at the end so you might be better to walk the last couple of hundred metres or so. Be warned however that this beach takes no prisoners when it comes to eating four-wheel-drives. Some years ago a mate of mine attempted to drive his recently acquired Nissan Safari 4x4 down to the Hurunui River Mouth along this beach. He managed to get some distance down the shingle when his truck started to sink deeper into the loose stones. Unfortunately his mag wheels weren't up to the strain. He had plenty of engine power but his axles kept spinning while his mag wheels remained locked tight in the stones. He had to send an urgent message back to Christchurch for a set of steel rims and tires to be sent up before his truck could be rescued!
You could walk all the way from the road a distance of some 2 kms. I have done this myself in the past. The loose stones are a devil to walk on but so long as you are not is a hurry the walk will take about 40 minutes.
From the North Side
If you are determined to fish the surf from the camping ground you can walk around the northern end of the lagoon. It is also possible to wade a fair way across when the river is low. This is always a bit tricky however incase the river should rise when you are on the far side. The best fishing from the spit is almost always from the southern side where you can also fish the gut – the last bit of the river where the two spits overlap. The walk from the camping ground around the northern end of the lagoon is almost as far as the walk along the beach from the Nape Nape end.
Boat
Another way of getting to the spit is by rowing a dinghy across from the camping ground. This is quite popular with campers for obvious reasons. It goes without saying that if rowing across be sure to wear your life jacket.
Life Jackets
On the subject of life jackets many salmon anglers now wear emergency inflatable life vests. These are worn over the shoulders and tied around the waist. They have a rip cord that is pulled should you be unfortunate enough to fall in. A small Co2 cylinder inflates the vest when you pull the rip cord. Their big advantage is that they provide a high degree of protection without the bulk of a normal life jacket. You can see one of these being worn in this photograph of Keith Chin with a Hurunui River salmon. The camping ground is some 8 km from the State Highway One turn off at Domett on sealed road. The Blythe Road is metal only and harder on your vehicle.
The camping ground is basic with just a toilet and water tap. It can get quite crowded at Christmas time.
Each blue square on the map is 1km across. Sourced from NZTopo50-BV26. Crown Copyright Reserved.
You might also be interested in reading about what salmon eat at sea? History of salmon fishing in the Waitaki River and Line of Salmon Anglers at the Rangitata River. Read about Otago Harbour Salmon Fishing. Learn how to fix that annoying leak in your waders. Much depends on the speed at which you wind in your zed spinners. Take a look at super salmon spinners. Here are all the different Salmon Lures.
Map of the best fishing spots on the lower Waimakariri River
Map showing South Island Salmon Fishing Rivers
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