Taieri River

Below the Paerau weir the river runs through a gorge past two small hydro stations, then meanders across the Maniototo past Patearoa to Waipiata, where it turns back on itself around the Rock and Pillar Range and picks up the Kye Burn, a naturally turbid stream. Fish & Game says the plain suits a spin angler working downstream, and the water from Waipiata to Kokonga is accessible fly water. Below Kokonga the river enters a rough gorge to Hyde that is better suited to spinning. Brown trout throughout, with a bag of four from Styx Weir Bridge down. The Waipiata gauge reads this reach, and Waipiata Domain has camping by the river.

Best for: Spinning downstream across the plain and fly fishing for brown trout from Waipiata to Kokonga.

From Hyde the river runs south down the broad Strath Taieri past Middlemarch to Sutton, shingle runs and pools lined with willows, with State Highway 87 and farm roads close by. It is a regionally important brown trout fishery, easy to walk and wade when it is low in summer. Swing a nymph or small streamer off the drop into the head of each pool, fish weighted Hare's Ear and Pheasant Tail nymphs, and watch for browns taking willow grubs under the trees in late summer. Below Sutton the river drops into the steep Taieri Gorge on its way to Outram. The Sutton gauge reads this reach. Open 1 October to 30 April, four trout a day.

Best for: Wading willow-lined runs for brown trout with nymphs, small streamers and summer dries.

The upper Taieri scroll plain: the river loops back on itself across Canadian Flat and Serpentine Flat in the Styx basin, leaving oxbows, backwaters and cut-off bends, down to the Paerau weir. The water is deep, slow and peat-stained over gravel, with big holes and weed beds, so brown trout are hard to spot but plentiful and often large. They spawn in the Styx and Serpentine creeks and the Logan Burn. Above Styx Weir Bridge the bag is two trout, cut from four for 2026–27. Road bridges on Linnburn Runs Road and Paerau Road reach the river, and the Canadian Flats and Serpentine wildlife reserves are conservation land, but most of the plain is farmland.

Best for: Short casts along weed edges and the evening rise for big brown trout, with small spinners, nymphs or dries such as a Coch-y-Bondhu or hopper.

Below the State Highway 87 bridge at Outram the river leaves the gorge and winds across the Taieri Plains to Henley, with easy access from Outram and the river roads. This is the busiest water on the Taieri, and a large share of its brown trout are sea-run fish that come in from winter into spring, when silver and gold spinners such as a Banana Toby work well. Weighted Hare's Ear and Pheasant Tail nymphs in sizes 10 to 14 take resident fish, with a Deer Hair Sedge, Coch-y-Bondhu or Humpy for the evening rise, and perch live in the slow water. It is open all year, the bag is four trout and one salmon, and you may fish from a boat, though a motor boat must keep 100 m from shore anglers. Below Henley the river runs deep and slow to Taieri Mouth, water best fished from a boat. Access at Outram is the track on the right just before the bridge, or Outram Glen, first right after it, which is above the bridge and on seasonal rules.

Best for: Spinning and fly fishing for sea-run brown trout in winter and spring, resident brown trout year-round, and perch.