Fly Girl’s Blog -
Many people are aware of the chinook salmon that run up New Zealand’s braided south island rivers each summer. They have a relative which is far less known, one that was thought lost to us for half a century or more, but the sockeye has been seen in much better numbers in recent years.
Spawning has been observed in the Tekapo and Twizel rivers, and thousands of sockeye have been seen getting ready for their autumn spawning run in the lower Ohau River.
Fish & Game New Zealand - who kindly provided this image – have been doing habitat work to help them, and this appears to be showing dividends. Maybe their fortunes are on the rise, or maybe they will crash again. The truth is that nobody really knows.
They’re plankton feeders so quite tricky to catch, but will take streamers or lures. No need for subtlety when they’re running — the fish are not feeding so the more annoying the gear the better.
For my own part I don’t need to catch them, but get a strange comfort from knowing they’re still there.
Fly Girl
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