'Very disruptive' jet-boat activity annoys fishers

Photo / ODT File

Otago Fish & Game is unhappy with a response from the Queenstown Lakes District Council's harbourmaster to an angler who complained about a jet-boat interrupting his fishing.

Both harbourmaster Marty Black and Go Jets Wanaka owner Patrick Perkins refused to comment on the incident.

Albert Town resident Ross Dungey wrote a letter to the Otago Fish & Game Council about a disappointing fishing experience he had at an island near the confluence of Luggate Creek and the Clutha River.

In early January, he took a child and the child's father to fish at the spot.

While they were there, a large red and white Go Jets Wanaka jet-boat with passengers accelerated through the water beside them.

''We were probably 3m-4m from the water's edge. He blasted straight through in front of us on a small rapid,'' Mr Dungey told the Otago Daily Times.

He indicated to the jet-boat driver he thought it was inappropriate but the driver shrugged his shoulders and continued.

''He didn't have to go to that specific spot for his clients to have a bit of fun in a jet-boat ... they've seen a lot of the river topography from where they've come.

''His activity is very disruptive to other river users.''

Mr Dungey said the jet-boat driver could have stopped and asked if they could go past or avoided him.

Otago Fish and Game chief executive Niall Watson took Mr Dungey's side at the organisation's Otago council meeting in Roxburgh last week.

Mr Watson wrote to the harbourmaster Marty Black but was not satisfied with his response.

''[The harbourmaster] seemed more concerned with the angler's reaction to the jet-boat than the disturbance.

''Do they have protocols in place to govern how jet-boat operators conduct themselves when other recreational river users are around?''

Council regulatory manager Lee Webster said a new navigation safety bylaw, which was adopted in March, did not contain any restrictions for jetboats by the confluence of the Luggate Creek and Clutha.

However, further public consultation to consider additional changes to the bylaw was under way and a survey would be on the council website by the end of this week.

The new bylaw lifted the 5-knot speed limit between a downstream part of the Clutha River near the Outlet and the Red Bridge near Luggate from 10am-4pm in the winter and 10am-6pm in the summer, which meant boats could travel at high speeds during these times.

But the ODT reported in March that the council was investigating a jet-boat ban from the Outlet to Albert Town.