After a 2 year absence it was back to the old stomping
grounds of Southland, New Zealand to chase some feisty trout. Accompanying me
on this trip was my oldest mate Jon Turley (been mates for nearly 30 years!).
Jon was to join me for 8 of the 10 day expedition. He arrived a day and a half
later than I did. Also it worth mentioning Jon had never fly fished up until
this point and he was on a steep learning curve. FYI if you notice days which only feature scenery it is because the fishing wasn't firing :)
Day 1
I Arrived in Queenstown with a goal of catching a trout
as quickly as possible. I headed for the Arrow river and found some trout and
was on scoreboard inside an hour of being in the country! They were on the
small size but still were worth a fish for. After a couple of hours of fishing
on the arrow and 3 fish to the net I headed for the mighty Mataura. I arrived
to find large Browns mooching around the willows. I was unable to tempt them so
I headed up river. I encountered a small farm
pond connected to a small Spring creek which had a nice brown cruising.
I managed to fool this fish with a blow fly dry but the fish spat the hook.
That was the day's end.
Day 2
I headed for the Wakaikia which was a new river for me. I
saw numerous trout including some monsters however I was only able to fool one
small 1lber. Long day and big effort for little reward!
Day 3
Woke early to fit a quick flick in prior to driving to
the airport to fetch Jon. I headed for the Hamilton burn and was able to hook a
fish 20m from the bridge access on a dry only to be busy off! Not to dwell I
drove off to pick Jon up and we headed for the Routeburn. On arrival it was
clear that the river was up and a little discoloured. We took in the great
scenery and I managed to bend the rod twice with a 2lb brown and a 3lb rainbow.
Day 4
Whilst we were fresh we decided to sample the Hollyford
& Hidden river in the Deep South of Fiordland. Stunning part of the world
but between us we managed only one take. There was some pretty nasty sandflies
so we decided set up camp and proceeded to cook inside the tent to keep the bad
boys away! Jon's camp cooking is something to behold Chorizo and rice.... 1st class.
Day 5
Hike back to the car then followed by some fishing at the
eglinton, waiu and lake te anau. No fish tamed this day nor the day before.
Day 6
With a lack of fish being tamed in the two previous days
we headed for the Mataura to get some runs on the board. The top access had 3
cars already lined up but a F&G officer who came to check our licences
pointed us in the direction of a good access a little further down the road.
Jon got on the scoreboard with a 1.5lb brown and I caught a brown just under a
lb. We managed to hook and lose 6 fish also.
Day 7
With clear skies upon us we ventured into the another tributary of lake wakatipu. we found the going very hard and the day although spectacular yielded no fish. We did have opportunities, including Jon hooking a large rainbow on the dry fly. Much to Jon's surprise the blowfly pattern caught the attention of this fish, the fish rose, took the offering and screamed up river. Jon palmed the reel and bang the line broke. Such is life. We continued up to the upper gorge without any fish sighted. We drove home with a quick stop at the upper oreti. No fish tamed here either.
Day 7
With clear skies upon us we ventured into the another tributary of lake wakatipu. we found the going very hard and the day although spectacular yielded no fish. We did have opportunities, including Jon hooking a large rainbow on the dry fly. Much to Jon's surprise the blowfly pattern caught the attention of this fish, the fish rose, took the offering and screamed up river. Jon palmed the reel and bang the line broke. Such is life. We continued up to the upper gorge without any fish sighted. We drove home with a quick stop at the upper oreti. No fish tamed here either.
Day 8
Given we were unable to fish our desired access point the
day before we headed to the top end of the Nokomia gorge. I managed two fish to
the net but unfortunately for my mate he managed to bring any fish to the net.
Between us we managed to hook and loose 7 fish. Highlight of the day was Jon's
lunch cooking of bacon sandwichs. Superb buddy!
Day 9
Jonny tells me the night before he does not want to
return from his trip with only one fish to his name. So going into this his
final day we headed for cattle flat. Going into the last riffle / last hour of
fishing of jons trip we finally found a spot that was firing. Wow this was a
productive section. Jon got two beaut fish to the net including a very solid
3lber. Funny how fishing goes.
I managed 3 fish to the net and Jon 2. Today Jon
graduated as a fly fisherman his casting had come a long way and the rewards
came finally. Again a special mention of Jon's cooking for lunch of hot lunch
stream side. 1st class !!! Chorizo and rice! Marriage made in heaven!
Day 10
An early start was required to take Jon back to the
airport. I dropped him off and headed up to the mountains to try for a rainbow
or two. This turned out to be the most epic fishing of the trip. I managed 4 to
the net ranging from 2-5lbs. With 6 lost including two which were unstoppable.
Day 11
The intention was to have a flick before making my way to
the airport however the rain poured so hard I decided it was pointless so a
sleep in was the result.
Headed back caught the plane and that's curtains for
another memorable NZ trip. Plenty of lessons learnt. Some reinforced.
A couple observations that stood out were:
1. When nymphing always allow the line to suspend for a
couple of seconds behind you before recasting. We had a number of takes in the
blind when we did this.
2. Don't be put off by coloured water and a lack of fish
sighted feeding. A streamer stripped across the current will normally yield a
fish or two.
