Lake Selfe - Trout Fly Fishing, Spinning, Harling and Trolling from a rowed boat - Drift Fishing

Lake Selfe - Canterbury

R-Strain Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout

Looking west along Lake Selfe on Opening Day 2009. Selfe is perhaps the prettiest lake in the Coleridge group but the wind can be trying. Dust clouds to the left of the picture have been whipped up by vehicles on the shingle road.

Lake Selfe, together with near by Lake Georgina, have been stocked by the North Canterbury Fish & Game Council with rainbow trout from the Ngongataha hatchery, in Rotorua in the North Island. Fishing other waters of the Lake Coleridge group.

These R-Strain rainbows grow faster and spawn at an older age than normal rainbows.

Fish released in 1995 were averaging 1.5kg at age two and a half years. If these growth rates continue it is hoped that anglers will be able to catch fish up to 2 to 2.5kg this coming season. Should this in turn be successful there could be some big four year old fish in these lakes by next year.



Metal Road - Harper River

At either end of lakes Selfe and Georgina there are green boxes attached to sign posts which hold question forms that anglers are encouraged to fill out and return when fishing the lakes, whether or not you catch any fish.

The R-Strain rainbows have been fitted with a tiny plastic disc tag held on by a loop of stainless steel wire just behind the dorsal fin. Anglers are asked to record the numbers from the tag of any fish they catch and release. Please leave the tag in place when you return the fish to the water.

If you decide to kill the fish, cut the tag off and return it, with the completed form from the box, to North Canterbury Fish & Game, 3 Horatio Street, Christchurch.

There is a 2 fish limit on lakes Georgina and Selfe. Both lakes are fly and spin waters.

Lake Selfe can be calm and tranquil one minute but can suddenly cut up rough when the norwester decides to blow down the lake. You can motor up the lake but trolling is only permitted either drifting or rowing.

I found the tags very small and difficult to read, though in late August the water in Lake Selfe is not much above freezing and the old legs get very cold when you stand waist deep for any length of time, even in heavy Neoprene waders. This cold tends to dull the senses a bit! It is quite possible to fish the shoreline of Lake Coleridge and Lake Selfe without the need to get your feet wet at all. This is particularly true if spin fishing where you don't have to worry so much about where your back-cast is going.



A fine brace of rainbows taken on spinning gear from the shoreline of Lake Selfe. The large jack rainbow is in spawning colours, and beneath it the silvery coloured hen

Boat fishing on Lake Selfe can be a lot of fun. This water is only a little more sheltered than trolling on Lake Coleridge.

If you are going to practice catch and release I suggest a magnifying glass would be a big help for reading the tags.

We used Cobra spinning lures to good effect. The best colours seemed to be yellow and orange fished on 4 to 6 lb line.

On opening the rainbows they were found to have eaten nothing other than quite large green cicadas, so perhaps a small green Cobra might also have been effective, as would a similar imitation on the fly rod.

Lake Selfe has thick bush and Matagouri around much of its shoreline. This can be avoided by carefully wading a few metres out into the lake. Be warned, you can go out only a couple of metres before it gets too deep!



Spin fishing is permitted on Lake Selfe and is a leisurely way to while away the hours. Vegetation to the water's edge can make the fly rod difficult to use in some places. There is nothing worse than having your back cast swallowed by dense matagouri bush!

Lake Selfe is situated approximately 90 minutes drive west of Christchurch. Recommended tackle: 7 weight fly rod, floating line and beetle imitations after Christmas. Cicadas in February. Hammils Killer and Mrs Simpson are always effective bully patterns on Lake Selfe. Rainbows especially will take a variety of spinners, notably green Tillin's Cobra.

I have also had recent success with green and gold Tassie Devils. You will find that the rainbows almost aways jump when hooked. This often leads to them throwing the hook. The best counter is to remove the through-wires from your Cobras and Tassie Devils. Run your line down through the lure and tie it to a small split-ring, on to which your treble hook is attached. Then when a rainbow trout jumps the lure will slide down out of the way preventing the fish using it as a lever!

Regulations

The bag limit for Lake Selfe is 2 trout. There are no salmon in this lake. The main season is from the first Saturday in November to the 30th of April. The winter season is from 1 June to 30 September. Both spin and fly fishing are permitted. You are not allowed to fish from a motorized boat. Harling (rowing with oars) is permitted and usually successful.


A youngster catches a rainbow from Lake Selfe on spinning tackle.

You might also me interested in fishing other waters in the Lake Coleridge group. The nearby Lake Georgina is about 10 km back along the same road. You have to drive past it to get to the head of Lake Coleridge. Also see trout fishing near Christchurch.

You could also be interested in fishing at Lake Brunner which is futher through the mountains. Panoramic photograph of Lake Brunner from above the boat ramp at Moana. Most trout are caught Harling and Trolling on Lake Brunner; flyfishing is the norm in the feeder streams and Arnold River outlet. Lake Brunner brown trout caught fishing with guide Brent Beadle, huge brown trout, Lake Brunner map, a new Lake Brunner holiday home, sometimes the lake can rise over the Moana jetty following heavy rain, and floods the lake margins, yachts on Lake Brunner, there are some very good rainbow trout as well, another butter coloured brown trout, one last brown trout from Lake Brunner. Lake Brunner is a great place for fishing and family boating beach picnics to inaccessible places. A brace of dark coloured brown trout from taken trolling on Lake Brunner. A Fish and Game officer measures and weighs each fish entered in the local Lake Brunner fishing contest. A fantastic view across Lake Brunner from the motels at Moana. You can see trout rising here in the early morning stillness for miles across the lake.

Lake Selfe Fishing Access Map

Lake Coleridge group of lakes map includes Lake Selfe

Bluey Walker landed this 3.020kg brown trout from Lake Selfe to win the prize for the heaviest fish caught and weighed during the Fish & Game Opening Weekend Competition 2009. There are some big fish in this lake but they can be sneaky and difficulty to catch!