Thread: Oamuru - How busy ATM?

My Plan C if we dont go Waioeka is to head in and fly camp up from the Oamaru or up the Kaipo, walk in over Te Iringa.

Just wondering if anyones been in recently or at this time of year and how busy will it be in there, wont be staying at the hut will be fly camping but would like a crack at a trout fish in the lower Kaipo or Oamaru river as well as get out for a hunt or two.

Cheers FBD

Not sure about the state of the rivers in there at mo. There has been aot of heavy rain over past few weeks. The Oamaru river below Kaipo has very greasy smooth rocks in the bed and it can be treacherous to cross so be careful.

Take an eeling line with you and some bacon rind. Oamaru Hut area used to be a seasonal eel harvesting pa (Te Routi Pa) and the tuna around there are fat and healthy.

give DOC a call and check how many hut bookings there are? might give you an indication though not difinitive
ive been in there in jan an feb in the past and had the place to ourselves. but then others have struck it bursting at the seams
take a fly and camp by the stream that feeds the tikitiki as you come off the te iringa ridge much better spot (apart from the fishing)

Originally Posted by scotty

give DOC a call and check how many hut bookings there are?

The hut itself isn’t bookable, and I think the helicopter landing booking system is only for the Kawekas

As mentioned above the tikitiki stream bed is also dangerously slippery.

Flew over the Kaimanawas yesterday…… plenty of water in all the rivers, but they were all clear.

Thanks Fellas for the info, more than Likely to go Waioeka, Save the Kaipo for the next trip

Mate was in there the 27th. 5 people at the hut with a few on the track in. So not super busy, but that was two days ago.

Had my first trip to the Oamaru the second weekend of October this year. Great fishing and the rivers were pretty easy to get around. Make sure to have some small (#16) black nymphs.
Will be back there again in the near future.