Wildside- Tail-water fisheries

Opportunity knocks for Lee trout haven

© Zane Mirfin, Wildside Column, Opportunity knocks for Lee trout haven

Looking ahead: Could the Lee River be part of a world-class fishing experience?

Trout streams have always been the love of my life. Big, small, fast, slow, pristine, polluted, local or international, I have loved them all.

Some of my favourite memories of trout streams and trout fishing were the rivers of the American West made
famous by legions of anglers, authors and romantics.

During the mid 1990s I spent many summers fishing and guiding on the rivers of Colorado. Just upstream from
my base in Basalt was the party town of Aspen, home of movie stars and the wealthy, and all around were
magnificent fishing rivers.

The best was the Frying Pan, a classic man-made tailwater fishery about 19km long, that issued from beneath the imposing Ruedi Reservoir, before it emptied into the wild and aptly named Roaring Fork river.

They were halcyon sunny days, with punters lining up to fish, and large numbers of free-rising brown, rainbow,
brook, and cutthroat trout that came willingly to the dry fly.

The Pan was a veritable fish factory, and some days it was standing room only, fly fishing for wild, beautiful, and numerous trout.

Some fish were large, fattened on a rich diet of mysis shrimp, mayfly, stonefly, and caddis insects that thrived
in the clear, cool waters. Some days I fondly recall the famous Green Drake mayfly hatches of the Pan.

What made this fishery special was the man-made character, with a highlymodified flow, environmental
considerations (including hydro-electric generation), and special catch and release management.

The reservoir above stored large amounts of year-round water and was released through valves in the dam wall that allowed temperature, oxygen, and flow to be optimised for trout production.

The trout flourished in huge numbers and the river was a mecca for fly fishermen, who spent up large in the
local community.

In fact, recreational fishing in the landlocked state of Colorado has recently been calculated at being worth US$1 billion per annum to the economy.

Other man-made fisheries around the United States are also highly valued, with Montana’s Bighorn River
generating an estimated US$50 million per annum in fishing revenue.

I fished the Bighorn by McKenzie drift boat below Yellowtail Dam, through American Indian lands, and the fishery was simply awesome.

Among the many other great US tailwater fisheries I experienced were California’s Pitt River, Georgia’s
Chattahoochee, Utah’s Green River and New Mexico’s San Juan.

As an example, the Green River fishery below Utah’s Flaming Gorge Dam has as many as 23,000 fish per mile
in the seven miles (11km) of ‘‘A’’ stretch immediately below the dam.

Many of these dams have created world-class fisheries where none previously existed, in dry, arid, or very
warm areas, where without dams, significant cold-water trout fisheries would not exist.

The Americans have done a lot of things right with their fisheries, despite an insatiable demand for water. In the west, south and east, water demand for energy generation, urban consumption, and agricultural irrigation have always been greater than in this country.

Being a continental climate with cold winters and dry, hot summers, the US demand for water is extremely high, but they have found ways to use water wisely and to create economic wealth without always desecrating the
environment.

A better understanding of trout ecology and technological advances have allowed tailwater fisheries to be
designed almost like golf courses, where water flow is regulated to be constant, regular, cold, oxygenated, providing stable trout habitat free from flooding
and summer drought.

Insect biomass in such rivers is simply incredible with wonderful hatches and a virtually unlimited food supply for the trout.

The proposed Lee Valley Dam has been an interesting local topic in the media lately. Having met many of the key players, I’ve always viewed the proposal with an open mind.

In the Nelson Mail this week, some groups and irrigators cast doubt on the economics of the irrigation potential, while some believe the project is ‘‘a shining star in the Government’s water policy because it involves unprecedented buy-in from Maori and environmental groups’’.

Who is right or wrong is not for me to judge, but I have read the Economic Development Agency report quoted. As with many of the detractors, I was underwhelmed by the largely onedimensional assessment of the economic opportunities.

Environmental considerations can be worth money too, with the Waimea River potentially able to be developed into a significant tailwater fishery with some careful thought and planning.

Having fished as many internationally renowned tailwater fisheries as probably any other New Zealander, I sense the potential.

Just as dairy farmers create grass farms where they grow grass and convert it into milk and profits by using
cows, the Lee-Waimea river could well be an ‘‘insect farm’’ where a prolific catch and release fishery is created to enhance recreational and economic opportunities by optimising the aquatic environment and recycling the trout that would thrive there.

Dreams are free, but I understand the potential of tailwater trout fisheries for local communities in the US.

Alas, trout fishing opportunities close to Nelson are increasingly limited as local fisheries continue to decline, but man-made tailwater fisheries may well offer a prelude to the future of freshwater angling.

We are only limited by our lack of imagination and vision, so while some doors to traditional angling will close, others may be opened by using the resources we have to best advantage for all to enjoy and treasure.