Kokatahi River Trout Fishing

The Kokatahi River is a medium sized river offering good fishing in the upper reaches for reasonable sized trout in clear water.

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Fish type	Brown trout
Situation	20kms from Hokitika
Setting	The Kokatahi River rises in the hills to the east of Hokitika and flows west to join the Hokitika River approximately 12kms from where it enters the Tasman Sea.
Maps	Access map Access map with topography LINZ topographic map: (260 Map Series, 1:50,000) J33 Kaniere for the middle and lower reaches K33 Otira for the remoter upper reaches.
F&G pamphlet	West Coast Sports Fisheries access pamphlet >>>
Description	The Kokatahi has good water that runs through bush-lined valleys over a stable shingle bed in the upper reaches. In the lower reaches before it joins the Hokitika River however it tends to run over unstable shingle beds that are flood prone and provide poor trout habitat. The lower sections can be dirty after rain but the upper reaches tend to remain clear.
Fish numbers and size	In the lower reaches fish numbers are low. There is a good population in the upper reaches and some of the tributaries with fish being mostly in the 2-4lb range.
Ease of fishing	A reasonable river to fish in the middle areaches and more challenging in the remoter upper reaches.
Access	Access to most of the river is via the small side roads that lead of the Upper Kokatahi road that follows the river upstream for about 10kms. See the Kokatahi River access map.
Recommended lures	Nymphs: Small unweighted nymphs such as Pheasant Tail variants and Hares Ear, Hare and Copper in the upper reaches and larger sizes of the same flies in the middle and lower reaches. Dry flies: Cicada patterns are very effective from late summer and beetle patterns work well in early summer. Otherwise use small flies of the Greenwell's Glory, Royal Wulff or March Brown type flies. Wet flies: Small wets like Greenwell's Glory, March Brown and emerger Sedge patterns work well when fished sub-surface. These flies work well when fishing the evening rise which can be particularly good on warm windless evenings. Spinners: Small bladed spinners (Mepps or Veltic) fished into the faster water or through the deep pools or into the faster rapids are best for this river.
Tributaries	The Kokatahi has several tributaries all of which offer good and varied fishing. These are the Styx, the Toaroha and Duck Creek. There are also a number of other tributaries such as Harris Creek, Arthur Creek and Murray Creek that are worth exploring especially when the maion river is dirty as they tend to remain clear most of the year and despite their sizes contain good trout populations..
Regulations (1)
Applicable to	Kokatahi River upstream of Styx confluence
Region	West Coast >>>
Season	1 Oct-30 Apr
Methods	Artifical fly, spinner, bait
Bag limit	Brown trout: 4 Rainbow trout: 2 Salmon: 2
Size limit (cm)	No limit
Regulations (2)
Applicable to	Kokatahi River downstream of Styx confluence
Region	West Coast >>>
Season	Trout: All year Salmon: 1 Oct-30 Apr
Methods	Artificial fly, spinner, bait
Bag limit	Brown trout: 4 Rainbow trout: 2 Salmon: 2
Size limit (cm)	No limit

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