Bulky Canterbury Lures for Searun Brown Trout - Barred Rock, Brunton No.1, Wooster's Silvery and Red Shadow

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Canterbury Lures

Canterbury has its angling traditions in a similar way to the Taupo region of the North Island. Going back as much as 100 years ago anglers were fishing the lower reaches of the Selwyn, Rakaia, and Rangitata Rivers for trout with big flies that were tied in a bulky manner to imitate the silveries, bullies, and whitebait.
Better known as lures, they were often tied with soft hen hackles to give a shorter fatter appearance. These lures are particularly effective for Searun Trout Fishing. These lures work equally well for catching Searun Trout, Salmon and Kahawai.



Smelt or silvery. The big searun brown trout caught in the lower reaches of Canterbury's east coast rivers are often packed full of silveries. Retropinna retropinna and Stokellia anisodon. These little fish have a distinctive cucumber smell.

To this end the bodies of the early Canterbury lures, or streamer flies, such as Hopes, Bruntons and Woosters Silveries, were often tied with fat torpedo-like bodies to match the naturals found in the lower reaches of the Rakaia and Rangitata Rivers. The Hope's Silvery pattern in particular is looks very real when viewed next to the real thing!

These lures are used for, and work equally as well when fishing for: Searun Trout, Salmon and Kahawai. In fact there is always a good chance of catching any of these species at river mouths over the summer mouths on the South Island's east coast between the Waiau River to the north down to the Waitaki River in the south.

These lures work as well today as they did for Dave Hope so many years ago. They are also great fun to tie. I've made up a few of the lesser known lures for you to try:

Wooster's Silvery (ginger hackle, white or red body, grey mallard topping)

Bob Bragg's Red Shadow (white chenille body, two red hackles over two black hackles). Tying the Red Shadow with John Hey.

Brunton No.1. (white chenille, brown hackles, paradise duck breast feathers for topping).
All are tied with oval silver ribbing, and for a modern touch a few strands of Flashabou. We use either Kamasan or Black Magic lure hooks in size 2. Some of the searuns in the lower Rakaia River are approaching double figures, and there is always the possibility of a salmon to consider! Tying the Brunton No.1

The Barred Rock is another excellent lure for searuns, particularly with the yellow chenille body. Try to get a cape with the big wide hackles. When tied in a slim manner this fly is called a Dorothy.
These lures, are to my knowledge, not available in the sports stores nowadays, but the materials can usually be found.



A big searun brown trout taken on a feathered lure near the mouth of the Rakaia River, Canterbury.

Rabbits The rabbit variants shown here, are not strictly speaking Canterbury lures, but are included for their effectiveness, and ease of tying. many of these old Canterbury trout streamer fly patterns can be tied using simialr coloured rabbit pelt in place of the hackle. I can knock out a dozen or two of these rabbit lures in double quick time. Rabbit skins are also much cheaper than capes! Variations include bodies of: flat silver tinsel, Flashabou, Estaz, Diamond braid, and yellow, red, and lime green chenille. Different coloured tags such as yellow, red, orange and silver help the lure to stand out, as does peacock sword topping. The Yellow Rabbit is a very popular lure in Canterbury for searun brown trout.

Give these old Canterbury lures and the rabbits a try this summer. If you are new to fly tying you'll find the rabbits a breeze to create. The basic tying method for rabbit lures is here on my YouTube video for the Yellow Lady rabbit lure. All these lures shown here are excellent fish takers. As a rule the darker the light, or dirtier the water, the darker the lure you fish with, hence use black lures at night.

Robert (Bob) Bragg, creator of the Red Shadow lure, wrote New Zealand Fishing Flies published in 1996. He worked in the tackle trade in Christchruch for the 36 years. Over this time he conducted considerable research and recorded much information about trout and salmon angling, especially fly tying and the study of the trout's food. Bob's book if beautifully illustrated with photographs of framed sample selections of various fly patterns. Many of these are dated enabling the keen fly tyer to reproduce early New Zealand patterns.

An interesting, but perhaps more obscure Canterbury Lure in the Orange Witch.

An interesting and attractive, but perhaps more obscure, Canterbury Lure is the Orange Witch

The trout fly patterns are typically fished using the Canterbury lure rod and can also be fished on the same spinning gear used for salmon fishing. here is the searun trout double rig used to fish these steamers.

You might also be interested in these New Zealand trout lure patterns: Hope's Silvery, Mrs Simpson and Hamills Killer, the Yellow Rabbit Lure, Silicon Rubber Trout Flies, Beetle Trout Flies, Luminous Trout Flies, Muddler Minnow. These lures will catch other fish as well as trout. You can read about it here: Searun Trout, Salmon and Kahawai. Fishing with the Canterbury Lure Rod.