The Pomahaka winds out of the Umbrella and Old Man ranges through the tussock and farmland of West Otago to join the Clutha, an unhurried river of gravel runs, willow glides and a famous afternoon mayfly rise. Brown-trout water of real quality, less pressured than its bigger neighbours.

Wading: Slick gravel, didymo, colour after rain

Fish & Game name mayflies and caddis as the predominant invertebrates in the river's food community, but the source gives no defensible emergence window — useful for fly selection, not for timing a rise.