The weekends weather is looking mint; get out there and do it! There will be some great fishing to be had throughout the region this weekend, although some of our small lowland waterways are still heavy in algae and low in flow.

It seems the heat of summer has passed so expect crisp mornings and afternoon highs around 20°C only, some would say ideal fishing conditions.

The rain last Sunday made a bump in flows for mid Canterbury waterways but further south it hardly registered. Any increase in flow is a bonus during these low flow spells and the cold weather and snow has helped cool water temperatures.

A reminder for upper Rangitata River anglers, as of Friday the 1st of March the Rangitata River and its tributaries upstream of Turn Again Point are closed for salmon fishing. You can still target trout until the end of March in that section of river.

Additionally, fishing for sockeye salmon in any stream or river is prohibited in March.

Sockeye will start turning up in good number in many Waitaki lakes tributary streams in the next week or two.

They can make trout fishing frustrating as they will spook through the pools and disturb the trout.

If you want to target sockeye, try trolling around the mouths of Lake Benmore tributaries with small lures.

In the north of the region the recent weather was timely, with the Upper Selwyn, Waipara and Ashley getting a needed fresh.

The Ashley is now continuously running to the sea but will probably go subsurface again next week.

They have all dropped again very quickly and will be running low and clear again by the weekend.

The good thing is the temperature of these rivers is now nice and cool, the temperature of the Waimakariri this morning was 16oC which is perfect conditions.

Salmon are being caught in the Rakaia and the thinking is with the cooler temperatures that the salmon will not be far away from coming into the Waimakariri.

High country lakes are fishing well lately.

Some nice rainbows being caught at Coleridge recently.

A lot of fish are cruising lake edges on all the lakes as the water has cooled down compared to the hot February days.

With the lack of wind this weekend the lakes would be an excellent choice.

There should be lots of surface activity at this time of year, so all of the back-country rivers will be clear and fishable this weekend.

Rivers will be at ideal flows for spotting trout, so you fly anglers will enjoy some calm days in the back country.

Spin anglers should target the middle reaches of the larger rivers such as the Waimakariri, Hurunui or Waiau.

These areas often have greater numbers of smaller fish that are easier to fool than the upriver cousins.

Covering lots of water fishing blind can produce good results. The main thing is to keep moving and explore lots of water. Also, think about making the most of the low flows and move through the gorges.