The second expedition started with a connecting flight via Auckland touching down in Queenstown at 9am. The flight over was very interesting as the cloud cover was minimal and we were flying low enough to take in a bird's eye view of the South Island en-route to Queenstown.
We picked up the hire car (Juicy El-Cheapo), headed for the super market for supplies and drove to Glenorchy to check in to our motel.
The El Cheapo - Had no guts but got the job done.
Now meet the adventurers of the second kiwi expedition.
Bruce (Big Daddy) - Dressed rather poorly as you will see the ramifications later.
So once we had checked into our modest motel and settled in (Big Daddy had a mini nap) I went for a quick recon of the nearby waterways. Although only a stone's throw from the centre of town the conditions were perfect with the water clear and the air warm. I spotted a couple of fish but I did not have my rod with me - note to self never do a recon without a rod (what was I thinking).
I walked back, woke big daddy up and sorted the gear. We departed promptly to fish a tributary of the Dart that we like. We arrived to find cars at our usual section and decided to fish the middle section.
Clear water and fanastic views welcomed us and so did the local colony of blasted sandflies.
We sighted roughly one fish per pool without hooking a single one. Whilst fishing big daddy got eaten alive by the sand flies and at one point actually took to the river to get away from them. He did not cover himself up very well and was paying the price for his brain fade.
We pulled up stumps at the middle section and fished the upper section. We spotted a number of rainbows hooked a couple but did not bring one to the net. Yet to get off the mark by the close of play day 1.
28th December 2011
The planned tramp and fish up the Greenstone river started with an early departure from our digs followed by a bumpy car journey to the car park at the lower reaches of the Greenstone. Unpacked ourselves from the hire car and made our way up the valley for a proposed 15km tramp with fairly heavy back packs. A third of the way up the track we spotted a beautiful pool (Dad's favourite) that demanded our attention. On closer inspection we noticed small trout surface feeding and a lunker trout at the bottom of the pool. 3 Seconds after the fly landed a small fish eagerly engulfed it. I struck only to be disappointed - the fly came off (poor knot). Dad continued to chase these surface feeding badboys and the lunker at the bottom of the pool. I nipped off upstream and found a nice mini pool with a nice sized rainbow feeding subsurface. I put on the popular fly from the day before (Zonker special) and the fish responded favourably. I struck and bingo this time my knot held and after a quick shout for an able netman a nice 3 and half pound rainbow was landed. Off the mark for Daddy Junior!
With plenty of walking ahead of us we were off again. After a number of stop overs including one beautiful stretch of water in which Dad was off the mark with four small rainbows on the dry fly.
After a few too many fishing stops with 1 sizeable fish and 4 tiddlers we arrived at the hut exhausted at about 6.30pm. Big Daddy elected to rest in light of some pretty heavy tramping and the late hour. I decided to have a crack about 6km further upstream from our hut and was rewarded with a 3and a half pound brown trout. My first sizeable brown ever and first sizeable on a dry fly. It was very rewarding. Plenty of challenges were overcome in order to capture and land this fish including a difficult late afternoon glare (hard to spot fish), strong winds blowing down the valley into my face and a fussy fish. This fish was spotted by chance as it surfaced while I was inspecting a fish-like looking rock on the bottom of the river. After 5 fly changes with a hint of interest on the 5th change I elected to try the largest dry i had in my box - a big Royal Wulff. I managed to get the cast and drift right and the fish surfaced and took it. I was in shock as my expectations of catching this fish were low as I had spent close to 45mins trying for him. After a fair battle with plenty of jumps i landed the fish, put the camera self timer on and presto!
Nice reward for the extra effort
The fish released and I walked back for the hut arriving in darkness at 9.45pm. What a day!
29th December 2011
After a solid sleep in our DOC hut we headed off early to make some progess home before it got too hot.
Doc hut and warden hut - Greenstone hut
We stopped for a few flicks along the way to no avail.
Special water but none to the net
The view from the last bridge a stone's throw from the car park.
The 30+km round trip took its toll on us and we sought the comfort of our trusted motel in GY.
We had a late evening fish at the tail race creek near by. The fish seemed very spooky and we ended the day both fishless.
30th December 2011
The change of batons occurred and we raced off in the El Cheapo bound for the Wicked Campervans depot. We picked up our new vehicle for the next phase of our trip.
The freedom of the campervan was fantastic! We made the decision that day in the van that we would explore Fiordland! With our destination known we fired up Tron (Each Wicked Camper is decorated with a name) and made our way south of Queenstown. We stopped on the way at the famour Stu's Flyshop for a few supplies and some advice. With a little of his local knowledge we continued to Fiordland via a local lake. This lake delivered exactly what Stu had promised! Trout that were jumping out of the trout to take Dragonflies mid-air.
The Dragonfly lake
Trust me we were not allowed to choose the decor
Then followed a afternoon of magic with 5 fish hooked up on and 2 landed both of which went 2 pounds each. One jumped out of the water to take the big dagonfly immitation to set the hook.
One of the 2 pounders landed for the day.
We pulled up stumps and headed for Fiordland with our camping destination out on the Eglinton river.
The sleeping configuration in the wicked camper
31st December 2011
We awoke to another sunny nz day. We fished up from our campsite with only one fish showing interest in our offerings all morning but didnt manage to hook up.
We then decided to fish a section further upstream. This section of the river hugged the mountainside and was bordered by Beech forest. The river was clear and presented very likely water however it wasn't until we had walked a fair few km's upstream and have an american angler from nowwhere play a fish into the pool we were fishing did we find out why our luck was out. I ended up netting his 3 and a half pound prize and he filled us in on his day consisting of landing 2 fish going over 5 pounds and 2 fish going over 3 pounds. Bad luck for us but we had a ball that day in the best looking fishing we saw for the trip.
We trekked back to the campervan and made our way for a spot of lake fishing to end the day. We had a blank day again as far as fish were concerned. But learnt a few lessons in the process.
1st January 2012
Whilst we were fishing up on the dragonfly lake we were approached by a local kiwi angler who was staying at the lake with his family. He was very generous with his advice and indicated the best place to try for a fish this time of year was the lower sections of the rivers as most angler ignore these, finding them hard to access. So armed with a bit of a detailed local int we made our way from the lake mouth up this river which started off looking relatively unattractive but gradually became more appealing as the morning wore on.
Things were looking a little quiet until i spotted a nice elevated cliff section which the river ran against providing an excellent vantage point to spot fish. I climbed up the bank (talk about path less travel) and bang i could see two nice sized fish straight away. I took note of the location of these big boys, climbed down and cast my line but due to the poor visibility at ground level i lined them and sent them packing. I walk downstream and grabbed the old boy as this was definitely a section for team effort (I would spot and big daddy would fish).
Dad's comment: Picture the scene: Tom with his excellent spotting skills up on the cliff directing Big Daddy up the middle of an extremely fast flowing river to a point within easy casting distance of our quarry. Acting on Tom's amazing directions (from where I was I could not see the fish and had to rely on Tom's directions ) I actually hooked into 3 fish over a period of about 3 hours. I will try to describe the last of these 3 encounters.
It is not easy standing chest deep in the serious current of the Egleton , trying to keep your footing on the round uneven rocks lining the riverbed."Another 2 metres ahead and slightly to your right......OK that's about right, you should be able to reach him with your cast from there but he's lying deep and you need something heavy to get down to him in this strong current I suggest you try that weighted woolly bugger it should be in your fly pack "
I reply with a grin: "Anything else Tom?" and then set about changing the fly. Not easy in this current - first I have to change my specs from the long distance spotter shades to the reading glasses so that I can thread and tie the hook; next I have to put the fly I have removed back in the fly pack and then make sure it is securely fastened down in my pocket as I may have to swim if big boy goes on the charge. Finally ready. "Is big boy still there, Tomson?''
''Yup, just cast directly upstream about 5 metres'.''
Casting in this current is not easy but I get the fly in the zone without spooking him. No interest. Next cast in the zone - this time big boy ignores the fly until a smaller fish shows interest. Tom detects a slight movement by big boy. Tells me to cast into the same spot. Sure enough big boy goes for it and Tom shouts "He's on!!!" I strike and the game is on. We are talking about a 7 or 8 lb fish here and you can feel the power as he soars upstream at speed with the reel screaming. Tom is clamouring down the cliff to provide support with the net as big boy gives a huge extra charge and snaps the tippet. I stuffed up - I should have given him a free run. The adrenalin is still pumping and there is that elation at having at least hooked and played this fine fish. But there is also that disappointment at not having landed him. On the whole we reflect that it was a brilliant experience. The fact that he managed to break free was his good fortune.
I trudge out onto the low sandy shingle bank opposite the cliff and am just sticking on another heavy yellow woolly bugger - one of Tom's early experiments in fly tying - when I notice a fish in shallow water upstream about 20 metres. I try a back hand cast which is perfect for the wind conditions and lands the fly with a heavy plop within a metre of the fish. The reaction is immediate and unbelievably exciting. He just attacks the fly as if it has no business being there. It is one of life's rare pleasures to see a good rainbow attack the fly. I strike and there is this swirl as the fish reacts to pressure of the line and leaps from the water revealing his gleamimg silver side. Tom, hearing my shout and noticing the bend in my rod, can't believe the sudden change of fortunes and comes belting up with the net. I play this beautiful fish for about 10 minutes during which he again leaps out of the river displaying his beautiful colours. As he tires Tom cautiously enters the water and scoops him up in the net. We both scream with delight as Tomson comes crashing out of the water , triumphantly holding up the netted fish and hugs his old buddy. Now we both have serious runs on the board!!!
The fish weighed in at 3 and a half pounds. After taking a photo or two I place my noble friend back in the river, hold him there long enough for him to recover his composure and return quietly to his pristine world below. One of my greatest fishing moments.
We celebrated the day with a feed at a nice Te Anu pub before making our way back to the river for a late arvo Reccy/fish. I walked a considerable distance without catching a fish and returned to Dad's mini camp fire with some cooked snaggers waiting (What service!).
2nd January 2012
On the back of a successful day and armed with some new info we walked up the valley further up from the day before. Unfortunately the fishing was harder with only a few targets spotted but not interested. We hit the lake near a river entry but we ended up with another blank fishing day.
3rd January 2012
It was our intention in our planning phase to avoid fishing the big name rivers for the fear that they would be congested with anglers and would be pressured. However it would be wrong not to try the Mataura at least once given its reputation. Armed with a wee bit of information from our Yankee friend we met on the river a few days earlier we made our way for Nokomai station to access the river from one of the many access points in that area.
One of many angler tracks on the farm
Prime spotting from the higher ground
The river lived up to its reputation and more. This one section we fished had a variety of fishing grounds with the main river, small tributaries and spring creeks providing amazing options.
A short walk from the car and we reached a large pool in which there seamed to be fish everywhere (Good sign of things to come). They were a little harder to catch though so we moved on. Further up I spotted a nice lie with the river flowing past a bank and some willows. I crossed the river and was pleasantly surprised to find a nice sized brown taking insects off the surface 3 foot off the bank. After a few fly changes and tangles in the tippet fixed with big daddy to witness i finally got my cast on the money and the shock moment occurred again. The beauty swung over a took my offering! My strike sent the him into a frenzy in which he ran up stream down stream and jumped a couple of times. We landed this lovely marked 3 and half pounder.
On the same bank i am on you can see a tree dipping into the river. This is where my prize was caught from.
The hours to follow were fantastic with plenty of targets spotted and attempted. Unfortunately none would take until on our walk home the first big pool we went past in the morning was a buzz with activity. We hooked another 5 fish in this pool with 2 landed (Not sizeable though). Dad hooked a bigger specimen but the line bust at a wind knot (frustrating).
One of the 2 small browns hooked and landed on my home-made para-adams.
We pulled up stumps and headed for the nearest pub for refreshments and food. Turns out by chance that the first two pubs were closed so we made our way for Kingston a town on the edge of Lake Wakatipu. Had a good feed and drink and over dinner it was discussed that the lake looked good for a bit of a flick. So with our Camper parked up we grabbed our rods and some streamers just as it was getting dark. The water looked very likely and we were rewarded. I landed a 2 pound brown that jumped and ran hard, then big daddy landed a 2 pound rainbow that fought strongly and on the last cast of the evening I hooked a 3 pound rainbow. The most productive day's fishing for the trip and again we were grateful of the freedom of the campervan.
4th January 2012
Last day in the land of the long white cloud and we awoke to some windy conditions. We slept in then ventured for a quick fish before we were to drop our camper back in Queenstown. We stopped by Stu's and picked up a couple of flies he recommended for the Mataura.
Armed with a few more tips and flies we hit the section we had tried the day before. We walked to the gorge section to see if we could spot a few of the big lunka's from the day before.
Dad has first use of the section with me spotted however the fish were not showing up as easy as the day before nor feeding from the surface. I then had a crack with the big bad nymph purchased that morning from Stu's. Dad guided me to cast where he had spotted a nice fish but had dissappeared. I made a long cast and drifted the fly over the ground in question and i was about to haul my line in for another cast when I felt I had a fish on. What luck! It turned into quite a battle actually. I shouted my guide down from his perch to come and net my fish. I have never seen dad move so quickly! He netted my fish and pulled out the weighing handle to reveal my brown went 4 pounds. Great fish!
We didnt have a lot of time so we made our way back with a few stops on the way. No more fish caught unfortunately but still a good morning.
We made our way back to Queenstown and dropped off "Tron" and caught a taxi to our modest hotel. We were exhausted and decided to relax and instead have a nice steak.
5th January 2012
We were off home on the first plane bound for Aussie. We reflected on the plane at our improvement from our last adventure across the Tasmen and what we need to do to be better for next time! TBA
