Sitting near the top of Porters Pass this really is a high country lake in the truest sense. State Highway 73 passes the northern eastern tip of Lake Lyndon between Springfield and Castle Hill Village . It rests some 90 minutes drive from Christchurch - the last part of the journey being up the steep Porters Pass section of SH73.
The best fishing for rainbow trout is usually late in the winter season as this lake tends to heat up quite a bit during summer. During the winter season lake conditions are also more likely to be calm and free of the strong wind associated with the summer months.
I have only ever caught smallish rainbow trout in Lake Lyndon up to and 1.5 kg at best. The angler is more likely to be successful fishing a fly rod and dry flies. I have on several occasions been successful here fishing into the night with various small sized luminous Doll Flies when nothing else has worked for me.
Spinning can be good at times especially when there is a bit of chop to hide the splash of your lure. Mepps work well in smaller sizes which are difficult to cast any distance from shore and so are better cast from a drifting boat. Try a small black and gold Toby with a spot of lumo paint near the head of the lure. Any sort of glow-in-the-dark flies or lures will usually excite the rainbows into a strike.
Parts of this lake can freeze over during winter which is great fun for skimming stones across the frozen surface. Some winters are colder than others and snow can at times cover the barren hill sides all the way down to the water's edge.
Access is excellent with the Lyndon to Coleridge road skirting the south eastern shoreline. There are plenty of places for boat launching. |
