Monthly Highlights
Below are photos and a story from the recent month's guided fly fishing trips in New Zealand's Central South Island.
April 2021
John with one of the few rainbows landed.Recently retired John needed a fishing "fix" and with the introduction of the Trans-Tasman "bubble" happening just before the end of the river/small stillwaters season the opportunity was there to get in some last minute fly fishing.
I've never seen the rivers so low for such a long period of time - close to 3 months since the last decent fresh for many!
Three days (plus a part day) netted 14 trout (mainly browns) ranging between 1.2 and 2kg which was a very good result since spotting at this time of year is demanding to say the least and many of these trout were in very calm water making a delicate presentation essential.
On top of that, John had hardly cast a fly in two years!
It all came together though and some accurate casting undid most of these finickity fish.
Late in the day brown trout.We only suffered one breakage, due to an over zealous hook set, and a couple of missed strikes completed the action. I have my own tippet knot (SBN knot) and always use the Pitzen for attaching the fly. When it's tough going you don't want the best fish of the day disappearing down the river with a fly or tippet that's not attached to the rest of the leader!
John is one of my most long standing clients having made his first booking with me way back in 1998. It's more like guiding a mate so it was great to welcome him back after border barriers prevented interntional clients coming here these past 13 months.
John tells me that he's counting on coming over more often in the future. After 25 years working long hours in a demanding job back in Geelong, fly fishing here in NZ seems like a great way of spending part of your retirement!"
This brownie was one of very few feeding avidly.
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| This SBN 003 accounted for a deep holding brown trout. | In the net ready for fly removal. | ||
