Oamaru Fish/Hunt

Needed to escape Auckland and was planning a Kaimanawa tops mission when youngest son said he would come if he could go Trout fishing. Change of plan so we headed into the Oamaru Hut which looked like it would cover both options. I packed the little Kimber and fishing rods and we headed South. Only one vehicle in the public carpark so we lightened the packs by removing the sleeping mats and started the hot walk over Poronui poled route. We saw a few Sika on the way in (all private land) and its a crazy place Poronui with massive lodge, cleared forestry and clearly animals everywhere. Hitting the river we saw the first trout which promptly spooked from the fly and this was the theme for the next few days. We met one Hunter - a nice guy who was happy to discuss options and set up in the awersome hut. That evening I hunted up the Kaipo (second side creek true right) and it was pretty tough going with no clearings or good feed areas. Didn’t spook anything and more sign on the flats around the hut. My son went fishing without luck. That evening another 6 different trampers arrived and a few hunters headed up the Oamaru towards Boyd.
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Next morning I was up before dark and stalked the Oamaru Flats up to where they end. It was a cold misty morning and wet from heavy rain but again I didn’t encounter anything. I did see some monster trout so boosted back to the hut and passed my son fishing on the way. I grabbed my polorid glasses and some lunch and caught back up with him. We fished hard and saw plenty but everything must get hammered in here as they were very spooky. It wasn’t until hours upstream he hooked and released a nice brown which was well earned. The closed I came was a big resident brown nosing my dry fly but just wouldn’t take it. Back to the hut for a rest and two more sets of hunters arrived. I discussed an evening hunt and headed off about 4pm for a decent mission. This location was better and I bumped a few deer making too much noise and then looked into a gully later evening and after seeing nothing sat down...and two deer that I didn’t see ran off. They were darker than I was expecting. An hour later I almost stood on a fawn which jumped from its hiding place and scared me. It was little, pale coloured and spotty and after I recovered my senses I decided not to shoot it. I must say the Kimber Montana bush pig is a dream for bush hunting. I just wasn’t good enough and my stiff Makalu Alpine boots didn’t help with quiet stalking. Back to the hut and my son had caught another trout after a decent walk. Not huge but he was happy
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They had been watching heaps of deer over on Poronui from the hut deck using binos and I’d say most deer probably know where the nice sweet grass is rather then living on windfall.
The next morning we packed up and passed another 6 hunters heading in. I must say this place is just too busy for my liking. It’s a hot walk in the open and a relief when we made the truck. Now the Helisika carpark and public carpark were both pretty full and this photo was from yesterday
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I’m sure once you know the area and find some slips and feed areas success would improve. We had a fun trip, met lots of good people (and none were negative on hunters) but this area clearly gets a lot of pressure on the fishing and hunting. For a family trip it would be a great location. Anyway it was another good reminder that we live in a beautiful country full of good people and it’s nice to get out and about. Thanks

Good mission. Agree with you about the foot traffic, she’s busy in there, but at least you got a couple of fish for your trouble!”.

Sure looks busy but it's a neat spot , been there a few times but many moons ago.

Good trip report. Good on you for getting out there. Flycamping an hour or so away from the hut might get you onto a few more animals.

I usually fly camp at jap creek from the oamaru.

Yeah I love fly camping but I had a teenage son off fishing so wanted a easy spot for him to find each evening. We actually fished into Jap Creek and there are some pretty substantial camps set up. I can see on satellite view I didn’t pick a good area in the Kaipo to hunt with way more grassy slips further up. Next trip we might head for the Ruahines to find some trout and reds