Hi,
There's a spring creek I like to fish when I get the chance (the Waihou, on the road to Rototura). It contains some good sized fish, but most are small. There are so many small fish that there is no limit on fish under 30 cm (12 inches), with only 2 allowed to be taken over this size. Apparently since introducing this the average size has increased from 18 cm to 22 cm (I was told this by one of the members of the fishing club, who is one of our top anglers. However, I don't know where the fish size numbers come from; his own observations or from a fisheries study).

Anyway, the fish are extremely easy to spot as they flee from you! It is a real challange in some sections, where the surface is smooth as glass and the water as clear as gin. I've found that small spiders fished through a riffle over a pool works really well. There are a couple of pools beside the carpark that I'll fish, and I often get a couple little ones on Pritt's spider patterns on my 3 weight. It's great fun, and the last time my wife and I were there I was showing her how I would fish one of the pools and we both saw this fish shoot up from the bottom to take a size 14 water cricket!

Clear water fishing is very tricky, and the fish get really spooky. But, the scenery they offer, and the challange, and just the overall wonder they present makes these fisheries so important to protect.

- Jeff