South Island Early Winter: Blue Cod Biting, River Mouths Hot, Short Days Ahead

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your South Island fishing report. We’ve got a settled early‑winter pattern across most of the island today. Light westerlies for many coastal areas, a bit fresher around the southern capes, with cool, clear patches and scattered showers drifting through. Daytime temps are sitting in the single digits to low teens, so layer up and keep the fingers warm. Sunrise came just after seven this morning and sunset will be not long after five, so you’ve really only got those prime bite windows around first light and the last hour of evening. The barometer’s reasonably steady, and that’s helping keep fish on the chew when the wind drops. Tides around the east coast – Canterbury and North Otago – are running mid‑range. Expect a good push over the morning high, then easing into the afternoon. Around Otago Harbour and down to the Catlins, the turn of the tide is the key: snapper are scarce this far south in winter, but you’ll still find pannies and the odd horse in the warmer pockets and shallow reefs. Blue cod and gurnard are the mainstay on the sand fringes, with kahawai working bait schools on the surface when birds start dipping. On the west coast – Fiordland up toward Westport – the swell is modest but still sloppy around exposed headlands. When the sea backs off between fronts, the cod and tarakihi have been thick on the 30–60 metre marks. There’ve been solid hauls of blue cod out of Bluff and Stewart Island, with a few trumpeter mixed in for those willing to push wider on the calmer days. Recent catches have been dominated by: - Blue cod in good numbers, most anglers binning out easily on inshore reefs. - Kahawai schools off river mouths like the Rakaia, Waimakariri, and Waitaki, especially on the incoming tide. - Sea‑run browns nosing around those same river mouths, taking advantage of whitebait and smelt. - In the lakes – Wakatipu, Wanaka, Tekapo, and Coleridge – rainbows and browns are moving shallower, with some chunky fish taken close to the drop‑offs. Best lures and baits right now: Inshore salt: - Soft‑baits in natural baitfish colours – 4–5 inch jerk shads in smoky, anchovy, or pilchard tones. Fish them slowly along the bottom for cod and pannies. - Small metal jigs, 20–40 grams, dropped straight down and yo‑yo’d for kahawai and cod. - Fresh bait is king: squid strips, mussel, and fresh kahawai slabs on ledger rigs are outfishing frozen stuff by a mile. River mouths and surf: - Hex‑wobblers, silver Toby‑style spoons, and small soft‑plastics for kahawai. - For sea‑run browns, try small smelt‑pattern soft‑baits, soft eggs, or a simple blue‑silver spinner worked just on the edge of the dirty water line. - Bait fishers are doing well with pilchard cubes and mussel in the gutters on a simple running rig. Lakes and canals: - Tassie‑style lures in pink, frog, or traffic‑light colours slow‑rolled behind the boat. - Small Rapala‑style minnows in brown trout or smelt patterns for shoreline casting. - In the canals, lightly weighted soft‑baits in natural browns and olives, and for those drifting bait, a well‑presented salmon or shrimp chunk. Couple of hot spots if you’re heading out: - Otago Harbour: Work the channel edges and structure around Quarantine Island and the leading markers. Drift soft‑baits or drop ledger rigs with squid. Good mixed bags of blue cod, gurnard, and the odd snapper still showing. - Rakaia River Mouth: On the incoming tide, watch for birds and surface splashes. Cast metal lures for kahawai and have a second rod set with a small bait for a chance at a sea‑run brownie cruising the colour change. For the adventurous, a weather window on the south coast out of Bluff or Fortrose can produce excellent cod and the odd trumpeter on the reefs about 40–60 metres deep. Just pick your day carefully and keep an eye on that westerly building. That’s the word from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn