Motueka River

The Motueka runs about 110 km north from the Red Hills to Tasman Bay at Motueka town, and it is the main brown trout river of the Nelson region. The river splits into two fisheries at the Wangapeka confluence. Above it, through Tapawera to Kohatu, there are fewer fish, but they average 1.4 to 2.3 kg (3 to 5 lb) and a few are much bigger. Below it, the middle and lower river holds large numbers of browns of about 1 to 1.4 kg (2 to 3 lb), and the lower river also gets sea-run trout. Since 2004 a Water Conservation Order has protected the brown trout fishery from the Wangapeka confluence down to the Shaggery River, with no damming and a high share of natural flow.

This is clear water over a bouldery, stony bed, with long riffles, long glides, rapids and deep pools. It clears quickly after a fresh. The middle and upper reaches are easy to wade at summer flows, and the lower river is harder going. Sunny days suit sight fishing. Nymph with a weighted Pheasant Tail or Hare and Copper in size 14 and smaller. For dries, carry a Parachute Adams, a Dad's Favourite and a Coch-y-Bondhu, beetles in early summer and cicadas in late summer. The evening rise brings caddis and mayflies to the surface, and a Twilight Beauty or another small wet fly works then. Late in the season the fish get fussy, so go down to size 16 or 18 on 5x tippet and a long leader. Spin anglers do best from October to December and after a fresh, while the water still has a green tinge. The upper river past Tapawera is wide, open and unshaded, and council monitoring has recorded it over 22 °C on summer afternoons, which stresses trout. Fish it early in the day in January and February.

Three gauges read the river. The Gorge gauge reads only the small upper river above Kohatu. The Woodstock gauge sits just below the Wangapeka and Baton confluences and reads the middle river, so watch it for most trips. The Woodmans Bend gauge, above Motueka town, reads the lower river. No gauge reads the Tapawera reach on its own. Roads run along both banks for most of the river, and Fish & Game access points are signposted. Motueka Valley Highway (State Highway 61) follows the east bank, and Tapawera-Baton Road and West Bank Road reach the west bank. The rules change at Baton Bridge at Woodstock: above it, the season runs 1 October to 30 April with fly and spinner only, and below it the river is open all year and bait is allowed. The water below the Wangapeka gets more anglers than anywhere else in the Nelson Marlborough region, and the fish near the bridges are hard to catch, so walk to the stretches in between. Didymo was found in the Pearse River, a Motueka tributary, in 2010, so check, clean and dry your gear before and after. If the main river is busy, the Wangapeka and the Baton are close by.