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Allan Burgess with a landlocked salmon caught trolling in Lake Coleridge, Canterbury high country. They are good fighters and will take almost any lure - though bibbed minnows seem to work the best for trolling. See Trolling for Landlocked Salmon. |
Landlocked salmon are released into various South Island lakes by Fish & Game. Aside from Lake Heron, in the Ashburton group, landlocked salmon fisheries in New Zealand are entirely supported by artificial stocking. These hatchery reared salmon only life for two years or so. They do not spawn successfully before dying. They tend to swim in schools. The food supply for them in Lake Coleridge isn't very plentiful so that don't grow that big. Most reach only a kilo or two at most. Landlocked salmon are voracious feeders and will tend to hit almost any lure that comes near them. They are good fighters and make good eating – though not as good freshly caught searun salmon which must surely rank as one of the best eating fish in the sea!
There are also landlocked quinnat salmon in
Lakes, Benmore, Opuha, Wakatipu, Wanaka and Hawea.
Most land
landlocked salmon usually reach no more than about 1.5 kg in weight but it seems some at least do grow larger. Here is an interesting article about the size of landlocked salmon: Record Size Land-locked Salmon from Lake Hawea |
