Fishing at the mouth of Canterbury's Rakaia River it is possible to catch kahawai, salmon and large searun brown trout all on the same tackle.

I don't mind which! That's one of the best things about fishing at the months of the Hurunui, Waimakariri, Rakaia, Rangitata, and Waitaki Rivers on the South Island 's East Coast over summer. You never know what you might catch. It could be a salmon, a searun brown trout, or a kahawai - so it pays to be prepared!

The Lure Rod

The deep, fast flowing, channels near the river mouth, are more easily, and effectively, fished with the lure rod. This unique Canterbury innovation involves a medium to soft action rod of 10-12 feet, a large single action fly reel usually with a non-reverse drag,

and the reel spooled with heavy 40 lb mono rather than flyline.

Many anglers carry several rods in order to fish the surf, gut, or use the Canterbury lure rod. The choice depends on river and sea conditions as well as which fish are biting!

Most anglers remove one of the two handle knobs in order to reduce the prospect of injury once a good fish takes the lure. It is amazing just how well the whole setup works until you get a fish on. In my experience this is almost always the very moment that I decide to step on the loose coils of mono when I haven't done so previously all evening.

This time the catch is a large searun brown trout taken on a feathered lure fished with spinning gear..An "egg-beater" reel is the safest option to avoid tangles and spool over-runs.

A lead weight is used to take the fly down deep in the fast water. Casting is more a case of swinging the weight in a wide arc and letting go the loose line that has been stripped from the reel. Hence a reasonable amount of space is required between lure rod anglers if a "short back and sides" is to be avoided from neighbours.

Casts are quiet short - perhaps ten meters or so. The purpose of this outfit being to rapidly gain depth for the feathered lure rather than distance. The lure is cast upstream and allowed to swing around as it sinks down.

Depending on the swiftness of the current sinkers weighing 1-2 ounces are the norm. It is better to have a chain of for or five lighter sinkers adding up to this weight instead of a single large sinker which tends to get snagged more often on wood and large stones.

This set-up can be used with both a lure rod and spinning gear.

I use l5 lb line on a one meter trace to attach the lure. Once it has sunk down the line is stripped in by hand as you would a fly line and allowed to fall at your feet.

After a little practice the rhythm of casting and stripping back the line becomes almost a reflex action. Mussel memory takes over and you find yourself pointing the rod tip down the line without thinking about it.

The lure rod at first seems a bit on the heavy side for trout. However it must be able to handle quite heavy weights when casting, as well as contend with some very large searuns in fast water. A 15 lb searun brown trout was taken this season in the Rakaia River . I have also heard more recently of a huge 18 lb searun being caught.

Of course there is always the hoped for possibility that a salmon will take the lure. When a 25 lb salmon is tearing down the gut, and back out to sea, the same lure rod seems woefully inadequate for the task set it!

Brown trout, unlike rainbows, will go to sea and return to the river. For this reason browns have been able to colonize many of the smaller rivers in remote places such as the West Coast and Fiordland. It is always worth having a few casts for a searun.

Sometimes darker fish that have been in the river for some time are also caught at river mouths. Whereas you can always tell a fresh searun brown trout because it is almost uniform brilliant silver all over, perhaps being a little darker on top of it's back.

The best time for searuns is early season when they are chasing whitebait and silveries.

Some years they are around in good numbers from Opening Day 1 October, but some years they are much later arriving. In the Waimakariri River , near Christchurch , we seem to get a new run of searuns following a good fresh through the river. Perhaps the new resident fish in the lower Waimakariri River become fished out after a month or so, and the long stream of dirty freshwater jutting out into the sea alerts more searuns to home in on it's source!

Kahawai schools on occasion come right inside the lagoon. Most days at least a few are caught in the surf.

In the shallower, slower water of the Waimakariri a fly rod and fast sinking line such as an 850 Deep Water Express works fine for searuns. In fact if you're waist deep and the water is moving a bit too slowly the 850 Deep Water Express can sink a bit too quickly and you can feel it dragging along the bottom.

However, in the Hurunui, Rakaia, Rangitata, and Waitaki the Canterbury lure rod outfit is a more efficient option. Hence the reason many of the blokes who fish these rivers have no less than three rods on their quad bikes as they head down to the river mouth.

A quinnat salmon is the big prize and the hardest to catch.

One is a lure rod: for fishing a lure (fly) in the fast water channels and gut.

The Long Salmon Surf Rod

The second is a long surf rod (usually 12-13 foot in length): in case the salmon are sitting well out in the surf. Interestingly the long rod for fishing the surf is a relatively new development. Advances in rod manufacture have produced light weight surf rods that are at the same time very powerful, allowing the angler to consistently achieve distances of 100 meters or more. It is also worth noting that in certain river conditions it is possible to cast into the river and have the powerful current carry your ticer 200 meters out to sea. I remember one particular day a couple of years back when this technique was used to good effect at the mouth of the Waitaki River.

Seven foot River Rod with Free Spool Reel

Next a seven foot river rod with free spool reel. This spinning outfit is used mainly for casting zed spinners when conditions are "right" in the river. That is when the flow is low, or you are wanting to cover a bit more distance. In the lower Waimakariri River this is almost the only tackle used for salmon fishing. Here, in it's tidal reaches, the river tends to be wider and slower moving. Something like a Berkley 7' Gorilla Stick and Shimano Calcutta 400, would be a typical rig. You can use this outfit for fishing the gut and up river at any of the main salmon rivers. If you didn't want long distance casting in the surf at river mouths then a seven foot rod and freespool reel such as the Abu 6500 is all you will ever need. The Abu 6500C has been the biggest saler over the past two decades. There is a very good reason why that is so. It is fairly inexpensive, parts are easy to get, it lasts forever, and most importantly will go on catching fish and won't let you down. Take a look at this huge Waimakariri River Salmon taken on an Abu 6500C.

Most salmon anglers you talk to have a tendancy to "collect" rods over the years. The old solid glass salmon rods were quite heavy and used those old hopeless stainless steel wire guides. I say hopeless because the wire wasn't as hard as you might think and groves would soon appear where the line passed over them. The problem was worse on the quides closer to the tip.

Eggbeater Spinning Rod and Reel

Though not often targeted yellow-eyed mullet are usually present and will readily take a small fly.

More recently I have included a fixed spool outfit on the bike as well. This gear - 8 foot rod and eggbeater - can be used to cast zed spinners for salmon, as well as cast a "D" lead and fly for searuns, salmon, and kahawai.

The eggbeater is much better for this task because you don't get the spool over-runs and tangles that to you do with a free spool reel. This is particularly so if the wind is up.

So my old 9 foot Kilwell Quinnat 90 salmon rod has found a new lease on life after having spent many years gathering dust. I don't think Kilwell make these any more. They are an excellent general purpose salmon, kahawai and searun trout rod. If you can find one second hand, take my advice and buy it. I match this rod up with a Daiwa Regal-Z 5000. This reel holds 190 yds of 20 lb mono, though I much prefer to spool it up with thinner diameter 15 lb mono, which affords much greater casting distance.

My word, that's a lot of rods. However, when it comes to fishing you can't beat having just the right fishing tackle for a given fishing situation.

Fishing a "D" lead and lures on a rig like the Kilwell Quinnat 90 and Daiwa eggbeater affords considerable versatility. You can short cast into the river and allow your gear to swing around into the surf. This is particularly effective on searuns and kahawai at the Rakaia River mouth. You can also cast your feathered lures into distant water that would otherwise be unfishable. Even when casting into a gail you won't get a "birdsnest" on the eggbeater.

Some of the searun brown trout caught at the mouth of Canterbury's Rakaia River are as big as salmon!

So how do you decide which rod to fish with? Well the answer is partly by "being a sheep" and copying everyone else. I've been at the Rakaia River mouth casting in to the surf while everyone else is fishing the gut with their lure rods. Suddenly I hook a kahawai and with nothing doing in the river, half the blokes down their lure rods and join me in the surf with their twelve footers after a kahawai as well!

But seriously though which gear to use depends on a number of factors: sea conditions, river conditions, and which method has been proving the most effective.

The first thing most guys do when arriving at the river mouth on their farmbikes is to ask "Whats been happening?" Now say the bloke of whom you have asked the question replies with, "two good searuns were taken in the gut ten minutes ago on lure rods!" Then you would probably start fishing with your lure rod as well.

The Canterbury lure rod can also be used to fish in the surf both for searuns and kahawai. You can't get a great deal of distance, but often you don't need to. The lure rod really does encourage you to fish your feet first.

I note that some salmon anglers love fishing with the long rod in the surf. No matter that the salmon are all being taken in the lagoon or gut, they will instead doggedly continue casting with the long rod out over the surf. I admit to being one of these fools. However I draw the line when the surf is rough, dirty and otherwise unfishable.

Actually river mouth fishing for salmon is a somewhat hit and miss affair at the best of times. You are much more likely to land a salmon fishing in a good hole somewhere well up stream. During the Waitaki Salmon Fishing Contest most of the salmon are caught from boats anchored on the edges of the main river flow. When the river is running high shore anglers at the mouth aren't getting anywhere near the fish, either in the gut or casting over the surf. But every now and again the surf really fires. It's part of the anglers greed to long remember good fishing days - but quickly forget the not so good days!

You might also be interested in these New Zealand searun trout lure patterns: Hope's Silvery, the Yellow Rabbit Lure, and more Canterbury Searun Trout Lures. Also Fishing with the Canterbury Lure Rod. Salmon taken on a Shimano Calcutta CT-700 baitcaster reel.

Salmon Fishing in New Zealand