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| An excellent quinnat salmon weighing around 7kg caught during the 2010 Rakaia River Salmon Fishing Competition. |
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| Shane Muckle of Ashburton caught this big 30lb salmon from the Rakaia River a couple of years back. Some how the salmon seem smaller today! |
| The Mighty Rakaia |
The Rakaia is the best salmon river in New Zealand. The peak of the salmon season being the months of February and March.
It is very wide and highly braided over almost its entire 125 km length. Though access is good from either bank all the way back in to the Southern Alps most angling pressure is concentrated in the 22 kms between the SH 1 bridge and the river mouth.
Twenty years ago it was unknown for anglers to fish for salmon above the gorge but this is now more common. The dry and dusty shingle riverbed often spans over a kilometre in width interrupted with slow flowing braids ranging from just a few inches to fast water several metres deep.
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| You might like Rakaia Rivermouth Searun Brown Trout |
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Anglers must always keep a constant lookout for any rise in the river level which could see their 4wd stranded in the middle of the river. Vehicles being swept away is not uncommon following sudden heavy rain in the mountains. Watch out for sudden water discoloration that can also herald a sudden flood. It is an awesome sight to see dirty brown water flowing from bank to bank across the entire length of the 1.6 km long SH1 bridge.
There are also very good numbers of brown and rainbow trout in the Rakaia River. Down at the mouth where angling pressure is greatest there are searun brown trout, salmon, mullet and during summer schools of kahawai in the surf. |
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