NZ January 2007
27 December 2006
Well it was time for another volume of Trout Tramps trips to NZ, so Clacko and I got our butts into gear and organised one. 'Trout Tramps' is the name Clacko and I have been unofficially referring to ourselves as for some time now. He thought it was slightly better than 'Team Simon', which I still now respectfully disagree with. We came up with the name as we predominantly target trout and we have been known to catch a couple. Actually I am being diplomatic .... I am a dead set fish catching machine, I just have to take my top off, jump in the river and snare the fish in my body hair as they swim past. It’s a bit like using a net in a river, but as you would imagine its a lot more civilised.
So anyway, I digress, we target trout and we like to think that we catch a few here and there, and Clacko would walk from Sydney to Brisbane with a fly rod in his hand in two days if you let him (which I suppose is fairly reasonable since it's only 800km or so). Walking as most of you would know is called ‘tramping’ in NZ so we came up with the name ‘Trout Tramps’. Has a certain ring to it I reckon. No team would be complete without a motto... so here's ours... “we measure in pounds not inches”. I think this is quite an accurate statement for the Trout Tramps, cause unlike our American brethren I have no concerns with how long or short a fish is, just how much it weighs. That’s a bit like me really, I am not the tallest bloke in the world, so if I was trout caught by an American angler I wouldn’t rate a mention, however if I caught myself on a fly rod I can assure you I would be yelling out the international angling term that you let fly with when you know you have hooked a big one. I reckon I would also have to get myself stuffed and mounted on a wall I would be that impressive.
Ok now I am way off topic. But while I am there (i.e. off topic) let’s have a quick chats about the international angling term which I think has been incorrectly used for years now. Most anglers ( and in case we have non anglers reading this) think that you yell “Fish on” when you have hooked a fish. I dont think that term is quite right... I always understood the international angling term to be something different. In my view the term does involve two words, and coincidentally the first one is also four letters and also starts with “f” ...but it's not 'fish'. I will let you use your imagination as to what you think it is. The second word is also 2 letters but this is where I deviate from the international angling community, as I think the second word is "me", not "on". So whats the full term? Well I think its... actually I have given you the clues, I think you can work it out yourself (and if you cant work it out then dont read any further as I only want smart people reading this blog).
Ok, for all those not possessed with superlative imaginative faculties, or you have just had a tough day at work, in my opinion the international angling term when you have hooked a big fish is ... “F**k me..............!” I could be wrong on this but as I have used it quite successful to notify other fisherman who happen to be fishing near me (in most cases you would think that I would be refering to my fishing mate Clacko, but its not true as he would probably have walked off somewhere) that I have hooked a fish. So I am glad I have put that to rest once and for all now. That wasnt so hard was it? I feel like Dan Brown explaining the Da Vinci code, but this was a lot more complex. Please feel free to use the term when you have hooked a good fish.
So anyway, I had come over to NZ on the 22nd of December and had spent Christmas with my cousins. I picked up Clacko at the airport. I was a bit late, (my Swiss watch wasn’t living up to expectation) but really it’s because Clacko got through customs in about 29.5 seconds. I don’t know how he managed that with all his fly fishing gear... he must have slipped someone a few bucks.
Anyway, I had all the shopping done and the car, a Subaru Grand Wagon rented from Reny Rentals (for $50 a day) was fully loaded and ready to go. We took off straight away, heading out towards Arthurs Pass. The weather was deteriorating rapidly as we went, but we didn’t mind, we knew we were in for a good holiday.
We turned off the highway near Cass and drove 25km down a dirt road to the Broken River. On the way down we had to cross a railway line a few times. At one point the road parallels the railway track which is on your left and on your right is a cliff wall that comes down to the road. No sooner had I started thinking that I would hate to meet a training coming along the tracks , when... yes, you guessed I hear a massive horn go off!! Sure enough what's coming up from behind but a train.
I looked at Clacko, he looked at me, then you would have thought that we had a double hook up (ie we both had a fish on the line at the same time) as we both let rip with the international angling term! I should add that its bad fishing karma to be using the term when you don’t actually have a fish on, it’s like the boy who cried wolf if you know what I mean. We could both be in for some bad luck. Anyway, back to our predicament. Actually now would be an appropriate time to extol the performance virtues of Subaru Grand Wagon. I am happy to report that can go from 60 to 140km in 8 seconds. I swear that we got airborne cutting back over the railway to get out of the way in time!
When we got down to the river and parked the car we noticed that we had a flat front left tyre. I was starting to think that I would have to reconsider the performance virtues of our trusty stead... it might not be as reliable as we hoped. I mean what sort of car can’t take a little air over a railway crossing.... bloody Jap crap. Ok that’s a bit harsh, I mean it was fully loaded, had two grown men in it and if our car was the equivalent of a horse it would only be considered to have thrown a shoe. So I will reserve judgment until the trip is over.
Clacko rigging up.So anyway we changed the tyre and then put on our waders and went for a fish. We both fished for a couple of hours with no luck. In that time a ranger and his mate came down and crossed the river in their large four wheel drive. We had a chat to him for a bit, I shared a bit of tucker with them, then off we went.
We then limped out as the spare tyre was one of those ¾ size jobbies. We got back on the road and turned towards Arthur’s Pass. By then it was starting to rain in earnest, big cold drops. We booked into a hotel called ‘the Chalet’ on the main road. We paid $140 for a large room with a double bed and 3 singles. It was really nice sitting in the warm room, heater cranked up on high listening to the rain pelt down.
28 December 2006
We headed to Greymouth when we got up, as we wanted to get the tyre fixed. We got it done on the spot for ... wait for it... $215!! Can you believe that? I actually caught Clacko down on his knees seeing if the rim was gold plated or had titanium or some other exotic metal in it. He came up with a handful of brown smelly stuff and looked at me with a quizzical expression as if this could be the mystery substance that we were paying so much for?! I quickly yelled at him ... ‘ go and wash your hands you filthy heathen, you aren’t coming into the car while they are covered in sheep shit.”
We may have stopped at McDonalds for a little feed, but I couldn’t confirm or deny such a rumour. After filling the tank (mine, not the car’s) we drove off towards Reefton. We stopped at the Little Grey river at the Maimai road turn off. We got there about 12pm and fished until 7pm. It was running high from the rain but we managed six between us. I caught 2 on the nymph and 2 on the dry. I was fishing a size 10 foam humpy that I had tied with a nymph suspended beneath. I lost a decent one of about 4lbs, I wondered at the time if loosing it had anything to do with the incorrect usage of the international angling term mentioned above? But it’s not for me to understand the intricate workings of the universe. Next time I will just tie the fly on with a better knot.
We then drove to Reefton and checked into the camp ground for the princely sum of $8 per person per night. It’s amazing what 24 hours can do to your accommodation status. From a great hotel.. to a sleeping mat. Clacko cooked up chicken tikka for dinner, while I wrote this diary up. That seems to be the dispersal of duties of the Trout Tramps. TT2 (Clacko) cooks dinner and I write up the diary (ie think of ways to sledge my mate, or ‘eviscerate him in text for all of time’ as the character of Chaucer says in the movie a Knight’s Tale – least I think that’s the movie ).
Just in case you think Clacko is getting a bum steer I will have you know that I also tie the flies for the trip and willingly share them with him (well at least the crap ones I would never fish with). I have also been known to give them to people who have picked us up and given us lifts upon thanking them and finding out that they were fly fishermen too.
I finished writing in my diary at 9.45pm. Then we both stuffed around for an hour or two and then went to bed.
29 December 2006
I slept terribly last night. I just could get comfortable in my tent. I don’t know what was wrong. Maybe it was the bloody chainsaw 3m away. I wish I could pull the plug on it so that it was quiet, but that might involve a pillow over the head, and if I did that who would cook me dinner and take photos of me with the trout I had caught? So thought I would shelve that idea, at least for the time being.
Anyway, when we got up it was drizzly. We drove over to Springs Junction and decided to fish the Upper Grey. We fished it from the first bridge up through the gorge. It was hard going at one stage as we couldn’t get through this deep pool with steep rock walls and so we had to back track and go right up and around it. 2kms and a sore arse later, all we had for our efforts was a fish that Clacko had spooked out. Not happy Jan.
We then went down towards Springs Junction and just out of town we took the Rahu road exit and went and fished the Maruia. I saw a nice fish lying right in the edge in some slow water. 2 casts later I landed a nice 5lbs fish. My first decent one for the trip (see photo above). Clacko kindly took some snaps for me. That was a really long tough day with not much to show for it.
30 December 2006
Clacko and I fished the Maruia down from the Creighton Rd access. We stopped in and said hello to some to the Khunes, Kobi, Lori and their daughter Sonia and her husband Mike. My cousin had introduced me to another one of the Khunes and he said to pop in and say hello to his mum and dad. Which is what Clacko and I did. Their caravan was on the other side of the river and it was a slightly precarious wade getting across there. In fact later in the trip Clacko ended up having a wee dip crossing the river at this point. Their place was called Sandfly corner.. and that name was extremely appropriate. If you sat still long enough the sand flies would carry you away. That’s assuming they could fly as they could have been overloaded with blood. RH A positive blood to be precise. But I have a bit I can spare.
We followed an old 4wd track that follows the true left bank of the river (ie the left side of the river if you are standing by the river looking down stream). We walked down for a good 45mins then fished up.
I ended up with a couple of 6lbs fish and was very happy with that effort. Both were caught on a bead head nymph tied by yours truly. Clacko unfortunately had no luck, which I know frustrated him. But then again I suppose you have to have a fly in the water if you want to have any chance of catching a fish! Either that Clacky or take your shirt off and jump in. Even though Clacko isn’t as much of a human net as me, so if he jumped in he wouldn’t be trying to ensnare them in his body hair using the human net approach, but rather he would be hoping that the percussion wave from his frame contacting the water would surely stun a few and then we could go and scoop them up. Not a bad plan I reckon. Only issue was I couldn’t find an outcrop or ledge or cliff high enough over the river to launch Clacko off. I was thinking about improvising some other scheme when I noticed that old mate had wandered off... typical... I am just coming up with a practical solution and he is nowhere to be seen.
Clacko working out if he could hit terminal velocity before impact
We drove back to Reefton after that and stopped in at the Reefton auto lodge for dinner. I had the roast pork, it cost $15 and was very good. Clacko had a traditional New Zealand dinner as well.. satay sticks, rice and salad! They were cooked as you would expect too if you were having a traditional Kiwi meal.... battered and deep fried! I dead set wet myself laughing at the look on Clacko’s face when his dinner came out. He never seemed to want to go back after that... must have been something to do with the service cause my tucker was sensational.
31 December 2006
We went back to the Maruia again today. Once again we walked down a fair way, in fact further than yesterday. We made it all the way to a place called Jones’ flat. We then started fishing up. I managed a nice 5lbs fish out of the edge of some fast water. Took a few snaps then kept on fishing. Hooked another one out of the same fast water, played him for about 5 minutes then the hook came out. I knew I should not have used the international angling term in vain... I was paying the price.
Now where is that reel...
Clacko and I kept fishing but didn’t have too much more luck for the rest of the day. We did stop in and have a cup of tea with the Khunes. Actually this was the highlight of the day as the cup of tea turned into a cup of coffee, some chips, a Christmas mince pie and a couple of pieces of short bread! I fair floated across the river when we had to wade over to the other side on the way back to the car. Clacko lost his footing on a rock and took in a bit of water. He wasn’t happy about that, and nor would I have been. He should have eaten more and then he would have had a higher centre of gravity like I did and he could have just floated across.
Having a breather on the Maruia
Back at Reefton we had a burger and chips for dinner each (the short bread biscuits weren’t that big).We went and ate it down by the Inungahua Rv which flows right through Reefton. Oh how romantical.
That night we heard the New Years eve celebrations from the nurses quarters where we were staying. In fact the nurses quarters were quite a find.. $30 a night for your own room, hot shower, 2 kitchens to choose from. It was great, I reckon we will go back there.
1 January 2007
Happy New Year! Today we fished the Little Grey River just out of Reefton. We parked on the highway right near the Stoney Creek bridge and then walked down the creek to the river (or down the farm land all the way to the river if you aren’t the farm owner reading this.) We hit the main river and fished up. I had seen a good pool below the confluence of Stoney Creek with the river and went and fished it. I had one take there but failed to set the hook.
As I was coming up to the head of the pool I dismissed what I thought could have been a fish sitting in the fast water as being a log because it was too big. Yeah I know... load the shotgun and put it under my chin and I will use my toe to pull the trigger! I realised to late it was a fish and after a couple of casts to it I spooked it as I had gotten too close. Man oh man, I nearly used the international angling term in vain at that effort!
We had a fantastic day. We started fishing at 10am and stopped at 8pm after fishing all the way back up to a bridge that crosses the highway. DC caught 5, his best day in NZ ever ! Well done mate... I was very happy for him (it's only taken 3 trips to work out the merit of having a little bit of a blind fish over good looking water!) I managed 11. But what was amazing was that we both hooked up and lost another 5-10 each! The biggest we caught was 5lbs, the smallest was about 1lbs. It was an awesome day.
Clacko in action.
The only down side was the walk back to the car along the highway... it was 4.8km (we measured later!) We were both pretty knackered when we got back to the car. And to all those people that drove past, saw us walking and didn’t offer us a lift... ‘ila jihanam!’. Loosely translated from Arabic that means.. ‘we didn’t appreciate the fact that you could have picked up two weary blokes and done us a favour’. Even more loosely translated it means ‘jam it’.
I should point out that I had started on language assimilation courses in my earlier adventures, in an attempt to try and learn some Kiwi (as my mother is one and I thought it would be a good bonding exercise). But here I was teaching the locals a bit of Arabic courtesy of my father. How’s that for being adaptable. Side note.. my Arabic language skills weren’t quite up to my standard of Kiwi, so the language I used was probably not the most appropriate or polite Arabic, ie you wouldn’t use it at a dinner party, and in fact you probably wouldn’t use it at all, unless of course you were at an Arabic jam making festival, then the phrase could come in quite handy.
We arrived back at the car at 9.05pm. There was still plenty of light left. We both slept well that night!
2 January 2007
Clacko and I did the Little Grey again today, but much lower down. We drove into a property, asked permission then drove down through some paddocks towards the river. We were hoping for a repeat performance but it wasn’t to be.
I managed 4 and Clacko managed one. The only real joy in a long and tiring day was the first pool we came to. We both fished up it but I got to the head of the pool first and noticed a decent enough fish feeding. Just so you know Clacko and I often play paper rock scissors to see who gets which part of a pool or run. Obviously I had won this time (or I was first to get to the river cause old mate was tying on a new leader and tippet and therefore I may have picked the better looking water – I will let you decide.)
So anyway I must have cast literally 40-50 times at this fish, changed fly about 3 times and eventually caught him! Clacko took a nice photo for me. Thanks Clacky.
We were back at Reefton for an early evening dinner. We were both a bit stuffed.
3 January 2007
Today the Clackmeister and myself decided to fish the Upper Grey river. We drove in down Palmers Road parked the car and bush based down through the scrub to the river. Clacko spotted one right in the shallow water right where we had come to the river. I came and had a look, suggested a parachute Adams, which Clacko tied on. Second cast landed next to the fish, it turned and took it! A short fight later Clacko had a nice 6 pounder to the net. I have it all on video (but see photo below). Good job Clacky! What a great start to the day.
We fished on up the river. Next it was my turn. I put on a size 10 beetle pattern and third cast hooked a nice one, but the fly came out after about 30 seconds. Oh well.. we were having fun, as it was a glorious day weather wise, so I wasn’t too upset about losing that fish. Pass me the shot gun Clacko.... that will pull it up.
Anyway we had an absolutely magnificent day, it was the top one or two days of the trip. I managed 3 of 5lbs, 6.5lbs and a 7 pounder. All of them on the dry, a large size 10 black beetle pattern.
I sort of fluked the last fish. I was standing in the current and Clacko was spotting for me. He saw the fish off to the side of the current and I had just cast up the middle of the current. So I thought oh well I will just wait until this one floats back to me then I will pull it out and cast to where the fish is. I then looked down and was tinkering with my reel or my watch ( I can’t recall to be honest) and then Clacko suddenly yells “Strike ....Strike”. Being a brown belt in aikido my reflexes are spot on and I struck alright, so hard that if Bruce Lee had been standing there I would have snapped him good. Anyway sure enough I had a lovely fish on. It seems that the fish had seen the beetle and turned and come down stream about 3 metres to take it! I have a big smile in that photo (see below).
We were nearly finished for the day when I spied some movement in some shallow fast water. I told Clacko to get down to the river and lob a grenade up behind a certain rock, sorry... cast a fly up behind a certain rock. Truth be told he was a little sceptical and kept saying ‘really?’. So I gave him a lesson in diplomacy... ‘just shut up will you and cast the fly there.” He did and caught himself a lovely 6.5 pounder! Proof is in the pudding... as you can see.
What a great day, we both caught 3 large fish each. Clacko had caught one in the middle of the day by simply dabbing a dry fly on the surface and the fish came up and took it.
We were tired after walking about 3.5km back to the car, but what a truly superb day. Fisherman talk about days they will never forget and that was one for us... large fish, all caught on the dry, magnificent scenery and superb weather. I doesn’t get much better. We drove back to Reefton and slept well that night.
4 January 2007
Today we drove to Westport as we needed to get some money. So we decided that it would be a good time to get a feed. We both had the big Kiwi breakfast from a cafe in the middle of town. It was reasonably priced at $10. It was big too. We then drove back towards Reefton and found some cheap accommodation at a little ‘backpackers’ at Inangahua Landing.
I went in and spoke with the owner, by the name of Len. He said that it was $20 a night per person and while we could have our own cabin at the moment, if anyone else came we would have to share a cabin. There were 3 cabins you see each with two single beds in them. So I counter offered with a ‘how about we pay $30 a night each and are guaranteed our own cabin?’ Len thought about that for about 1.689 seconds and said no worries. I caught myself, just before I inappropriately used the international angling term again, for going in too high with my negotiation. Could have got it for $25 a person a night, damn it!
I should add that my brother, sister and I are all natural hagglers, taking after my dad. I have seen him haggle in Woolworths over a tin of beans. That is pure gold that is. I have also seen him sit down in Morocco at a rug shop and spend 3 hours haggling out a good deal. He is fantastic at it. So I took it personally that I had been robbed of $5 a night.
I note that my brother has a motto “never pay retail’. Which is a good one to live by. My sister also has a motto, hers is ‘never pay anything’ And she will do whatever she can to live by that one (theft and morally questionable behaviour aside), she usually just haggles them to death. It's the haggling equivalent of the American approach taken in Iraq. When in doubt just keeping laying down fire. I tell you she doesn’t let up. You could say that she is like a dog with a bone, but I reckon it's more like man with a jackhammer trying to dig a 3 inch hole in a kids sandpit.
It was a great place to stay, however we should have taken more note of the train track that ran not 50m past the back of the cabin. There I was snoring into my pillow when world war 3 starts! I sat bolt upright in bed thinking what the hell is that. It was just a train, but it's amazing how loud things sound at 2.30 AM!! Clacko I might add was still belting out Rachmaninov’s ‘Raphsody on a Theme of Panganini’ in his cabin.
For all the uninitiated I mentioned in Trophy Trout Trips number 1 (in 2002) when I had the pleasure of sharing a cabin with Clacko, that saying that Clacko snores was like saying that Beethoven wrote a bit of music. Both statements are true but they do no justice in describing the pure mastery that both men have brought to their respective crafts. I can assure you that 5 years later not much has changed, except Clacko can now do a concerto movement in slow motion through one nostril while simultaneously drooling onto a pillow while one eye remains half open. I swear you have no idea the talent this bloke has.
That night in the camp ground we met a Japanese bloke called Sadahide Sugawara. Anyway being the good judge of character that I am (even though Clacko makes me doubt my own skills at times) we decided to ask him to come fishing with us. We had determined that he was a fly fisherman even though he had little English skills, from the way he carried himself and the intensity in his eyes. I only notice the fly tying vice and feathers later... I swear.
5 January 2007
Today we did the upper Grey with Hide, as he said that he would come fishing with us. So we drove down Palmers Road right to the end, which you access from the highway before you come to Springs Junction. We drove all the way to the end and got permission from the land owner there, a Phil Bell, to have a fish. He charged us $5 for access which was nothing for the beauty of the venue.
Today Clacky and I thought that we would have a go at wet wading. Well apart from our first foray into the river, when I thought my legs were going to drop off, it went well. I have always found that as long as my chest is warm I am pretty happy.
Clacko and Hide went and fished the other side of the river, ie the true right bank, which is always easier for a right hander. Clacko spotted a good one in the shallows and hooked himself one. So he was very happy, it was a good fish too weighing just on 5lbs.
I managed a smaller one later in the day that was only 2lbs. Hide had a hook up but the fish spat the hook and so poor Hide went fishless for the day. Later in the day we came across a nice one feeding in the fast water, we played paper rock scissors and being victorious I had first crack at him. Third cast he came over and I set the hook on a nice fish. He ended up breaking me off, I think that my knot to the fly wasn’t the best on that occasion. Oh well I was fairly philosophical about that one. ‘Where’s that shot gun again Clacky?’
It was an enjoyable day, it would have been nice to catch more fish but c’est la vie. I bought Clacko a cold roll, an apple turnover and a chocolate move at Reefton for his birthday. Happy birthday Clacky, he definitely caught the best fish of the day, which was appropriate on this his birthday.
Hide, Clacko and myself. You will note that Hide doesnt mind a feed.
I should point out that I had started on language assimilation courses in my earlier adventures, in an attempt to try and learn some Kiwi (as my mother is one and I thought it would be a good bonding exercise). But here I was teaching the locals a bit of Arabic courtesy of my father. How’s that for being adaptable. Side note.. my Arabic language skills weren’t quite up to my standard of Kiwi, so the language I used was probably not the most appropriate or polite Arabic, ie you wouldn’t use it at a dinner party, and in fact you probably wouldn’t use it at all, unless of course you were at an Arabic jam making festival, then the phrase could come in quite handy.
We arrived back at the car at 9.05pm. There was still plenty of light left. We both slept well that night!
2 January 2007
Clacko and I did the Little Grey again today, but much lower down. We drove into a property, asked permission then drove down through some paddocks towards the river. We were hoping for a repeat performance but it wasn’t to be.
I managed 4 and Clacko managed one. The only real joy in a long and tiring day was the first pool we came to. We both fished up it but I got to the head of the pool first and noticed a decent enough fish feeding. Just so you know Clacko and I often play paper rock scissors to see who gets which part of a pool or run. Obviously I had won this time (or I was first to get to the river cause old mate was tying on a new leader and tippet and therefore I may have picked the better looking water – I will let you decide.)
So anyway I must have cast literally 40-50 times at this fish, changed fly about 3 times and eventually caught him! Clacko took a nice photo for me. Thanks Clacky.
We were back at Reefton for an early evening dinner. We were both a bit stuffed.
3 January 2007
Today the Clackmeister and myself decided to fish the Upper Grey river. We drove in down Palmers Road parked the car and bush based down through the scrub to the river. Clacko spotted one right in the shallow water right where we had come to the river. I came and had a look, suggested a parachute Adams, which Clacko tied on. Second cast landed next to the fish, it turned and took it! A short fight later Clacko had a nice 6 pounder to the net. I have it all on video (but see photo below). Good job Clacky! What a great start to the day.
We fished on up the river. Next it was my turn. I put on a size 10 beetle pattern and third cast hooked a nice one, but the fly came out after about 30 seconds. Oh well.. we were having fun, as it was a glorious day weather wise, so I wasn’t too upset about losing that fish. Pass me the shot gun Clacko.... that will pull it up.
Anyway we had an absolutely magnificent day, it was the top one or two days of the trip. I managed 3 of 5lbs, 6.5lbs and a 7 pounder. All of them on the dry, a large size 10 black beetle pattern.
I sort of fluked the last fish. I was standing in the current and Clacko was spotting for me. He saw the fish off to the side of the current and I had just cast up the middle of the current. So I thought oh well I will just wait until this one floats back to me then I will pull it out and cast to where the fish is. I then looked down and was tinkering with my reel or my watch ( I can’t recall to be honest) and then Clacko suddenly yells “Strike ....Strike”. Being a brown belt in aikido my reflexes are spot on and I struck alright, so hard that if Bruce Lee had been standing there I would have snapped him good. Anyway sure enough I had a lovely fish on. It seems that the fish had seen the beetle and turned and come down stream about 3 metres to take it! I have a big smile in that photo (see below).
We were nearly finished for the day when I spied some movement in some shallow fast water. I told Clacko to get down to the river and lob a grenade up behind a certain rock, sorry... cast a fly up behind a certain rock. Truth be told he was a little sceptical and kept saying ‘really?’. So I gave him a lesson in diplomacy... ‘just shut up will you and cast the fly there.” He did and caught himself a lovely 6.5 pounder! Proof is in the pudding... as you can see.
What a great day, we both caught 3 large fish each. Clacko had caught one in the middle of the day by simply dabbing a dry fly on the surface and the fish came up and took it.
We were tired after walking about 3.5km back to the car, but what a truly superb day. Fisherman talk about days they will never forget and that was one for us... large fish, all caught on the dry, magnificent scenery and superb weather. I doesn’t get much better. We drove back to Reefton and slept well that night.
4 January 2007
Today we drove to Westport as we needed to get some money. So we decided that it would be a good time to get a feed. We both had the big Kiwi breakfast from a cafe in the middle of town. It was reasonably priced at $10. It was big too. We then drove back towards Reefton and found some cheap accommodation at a little ‘backpackers’ at Inangahua Landing.
I went in and spoke with the owner, by the name of Len. He said that it was $20 a night per person and while we could have our own cabin at the moment, if anyone else came we would have to share a cabin. There were 3 cabins you see each with two single beds in them. So I counter offered with a ‘how about we pay $30 a night each and are guaranteed our own cabin?’ Len thought about that for about 1.689 seconds and said no worries. I caught myself, just before I inappropriately used the international angling term again, for going in too high with my negotiation. Could have got it for $25 a person a night, damn it!
I should add that my brother, sister and I are all natural hagglers, taking after my dad. I have seen him haggle in Woolworths over a tin of beans. That is pure gold that is. I have also seen him sit down in Morocco at a rug shop and spend 3 hours haggling out a good deal. He is fantastic at it. So I took it personally that I had been robbed of $5 a night.
I note that my brother has a motto “never pay retail’. Which is a good one to live by. My sister also has a motto, hers is ‘never pay anything’ And she will do whatever she can to live by that one (theft and morally questionable behaviour aside), she usually just haggles them to death. It's the haggling equivalent of the American approach taken in Iraq. When in doubt just keeping laying down fire. I tell you she doesn’t let up. You could say that she is like a dog with a bone, but I reckon it's more like man with a jackhammer trying to dig a 3 inch hole in a kids sandpit.
It was a great place to stay, however we should have taken more note of the train track that ran not 50m past the back of the cabin. There I was snoring into my pillow when world war 3 starts! I sat bolt upright in bed thinking what the hell is that. It was just a train, but it's amazing how loud things sound at 2.30 AM!! Clacko I might add was still belting out Rachmaninov’s ‘Raphsody on a Theme of Panganini’ in his cabin.
For all the uninitiated I mentioned in Trophy Trout Trips number 1 (in 2002) when I had the pleasure of sharing a cabin with Clacko, that saying that Clacko snores was like saying that Beethoven wrote a bit of music. Both statements are true but they do no justice in describing the pure mastery that both men have brought to their respective crafts. I can assure you that 5 years later not much has changed, except Clacko can now do a concerto movement in slow motion through one nostril while simultaneously drooling onto a pillow while one eye remains half open. I swear you have no idea the talent this bloke has.
That night in the camp ground we met a Japanese bloke called Sadahide Sugawara. Anyway being the good judge of character that I am (even though Clacko makes me doubt my own skills at times) we decided to ask him to come fishing with us. We had determined that he was a fly fisherman even though he had little English skills, from the way he carried himself and the intensity in his eyes. I only notice the fly tying vice and feathers later... I swear.
5 January 2007
Today we did the upper Grey with Hide, as he said that he would come fishing with us. So we drove down Palmers Road right to the end, which you access from the highway before you come to Springs Junction. We drove all the way to the end and got permission from the land owner there, a Phil Bell, to have a fish. He charged us $5 for access which was nothing for the beauty of the venue.
Today Clacky and I thought that we would have a go at wet wading. Well apart from our first foray into the river, when I thought my legs were going to drop off, it went well. I have always found that as long as my chest is warm I am pretty happy.
Clacko and Hide went and fished the other side of the river, ie the true right bank, which is always easier for a right hander. Clacko spotted a good one in the shallows and hooked himself one. So he was very happy, it was a good fish too weighing just on 5lbs.
I managed a smaller one later in the day that was only 2lbs. Hide had a hook up but the fish spat the hook and so poor Hide went fishless for the day. Later in the day we came across a nice one feeding in the fast water, we played paper rock scissors and being victorious I had first crack at him. Third cast he came over and I set the hook on a nice fish. He ended up breaking me off, I think that my knot to the fly wasn’t the best on that occasion. Oh well I was fairly philosophical about that one. ‘Where’s that shot gun again Clacky?’
It was an enjoyable day, it would have been nice to catch more fish but c’est la vie. I bought Clacko a cold roll, an apple turnover and a chocolate move at Reefton for his birthday. Happy birthday Clacky, he definitely caught the best fish of the day, which was appropriate on this his birthday.
Hide, Clacko and myself. You will note that Hide doesnt mind a feed.
6 January 2007
Today we all went and did the Maruia. Unfortunately none of us caught any. It must have been an off day. Either that or I had a bad attitude. I can’t remember which, so it's probably best if I just don’t write about it.
7 January 2007
Today we left the camp ground nice and early, at about 9.30am, and went and fished the Upper Grey. We did a section of the river a bit lower down than we had before. In fact you don’t access it here from Palmers Road but from south of Reefton, where it comes out of a valley. The river is a fair bit bigger down there.
We parked by the road and walked across a paddock to the river. We then fish our way up towards the Clarke confluence. Well I fished, Clacko had his hiking boots on today and felt frisky, like a 2 year old at the Melbourne Cup. He was out of the gates fast, early and hard. He got up a power of steam and just took off. We picked him up four days later in Christchurch, he reckons he had been there for 2 days waiting for us, which I suppose is fair as we only had a Subaru and not set of his hiking boots. I managed one small one of about 2 lbs, none of the other fellas did so good.
We went and checked out the Clarke having read some information on it holding some good fish up stream. However we walked up it quite a way and it was just a small shallow tannin coloured stream with not many fish in it. I think it had been adversely affected by some floods.
Oh well not to worry. The day wasn’t a complete loss though, I did manage to snap a photo of Hide with a sandwich that was bigger than his head. You won’t believe me until you see, it's fantastic. Lucky I had the camera set on sports mode so that I could take those fast action shots without blurring, as the sandwich didn’t last long.
Hide having another feed! Check out the size of that sandwich.
8 January 2007
Hide left us over night. I was sorry to see him go, I had enjoyed his company. We wished each other farewell at the Reefton nurses quarters and off he drove. I hope we can fish again sometime soon.
Clacko and I fished the Little Grey today, least I did. Old mate was a bit knocked up and went home at midday. He wanted to take it easy. Secretly I was wondering if he had pulled up lame after his super effort the day before. So anyway, little Simey battled on alone. I managed 8 today, none of them of note. I did lose a good one though. I hooked it in some good looking deep water but after a short fight it went under some timber and broke me off. He will keep for next time.
Clacko picked me up by the highway at about 6pm. It was great not to have to worry about walking back to the car. In fact it was like meals on wheels as the old boy had brought me some coke and a chocolate bar. Thanks Clacky!
9 January 2007
Today for some reason we decided to go and fish Lake Daniels. This is strange as we never fish lakes. Anyway, you access it just out of Springs Junction on the way to Maruia Springs. It's an 8km walk through scenic New Zealand bush. It's a very pretty walk. It took us about an 1hr 40m to reach the lake.
There is a 40 bed cabin there, so we checked that out on the way, thinking that we might stay there for a night next time.
We didn’t really know how to fish the lake up there so I put on a large dry fly, like a hopper, and then trailed a nymph about 2 feet off the end of the dry. Anyway no sooner had I chucked it out when a rainbow jumped a clear 2 feet out of the water trying to take the dry!
This turned into the second magic day of the trip. I hooked and landed 8, losing another 6. Some took the dry, coming clean out of the water to do so and some took the submerged nymph. The smallest was 2lbs and the largest was 4.5lbs.They were all rainbows. We had so much fun catching them.
Clacko managed one when he stood still long enough for his fly to stay on the water for 5 seconds. I have some good photos of that day and it was one that shall live with us for a while.
We had arrived up at the lake pretty late, in fact at about midday, and decided to leave about 6.30pm, so I hooked 14 fish in 6 hours. I was pretty happy with that sort of action! You can bet that we will be going back!
10 January 2007
Today we headed back to Christchurch and returned our car. And so ends another Trophy Trout Trip for the Trout Tramps to the South Island of New Zealand. You can rest assured though that we will be back!
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| From NZ January 2007 |