NZ February 2012
Saturday 11 Feb
Last minute decision to come – flew CBR to SYD on Virgin then Emirates to CCH. Arrived on time. Got the hire car from Renny Rentals. A people mover which you need when there is only one of you... but you have some gear. Actually to say I have some gear is like saying Alaska has some snow. You get the picture?
Went and stayed with my cousin for the night.
Sunday 12 Feb
Up at 6.40 am, drove 3.5 hours. Met Ravetta at Kurow. We went a fished a stream I nicked named ADFA. Not great looking water but there were a couple of fish in there we counted 10 all day. I pricked but lost 2 in the timber. Chuck caught a nice 5lbs rainbow, that jumped all over the place. Great fish. We stayed the night at the Kurow camp grounds, $30 a night for a cabin with two beds. Not bad!
Preparing to attack!
The take!
The set!
The end result... 5lbs of rainbow happiness !
Planning the next day's mission.. over some Irish whisky (and peppermint tea.. .if your name is Simon)
Monday 13 Feb
Fished from 12pm till 7pm today. Had a long walk home. Weather was cold and overcast. Chuck landed one I hooked and lost 3, which was very unimpressive by yours truly, given how many opportunities Chuck gave me. We fished for one fish for a while, it kept moving upstream. Chuck suggested throwing a woolly bugger at it, first cast it came over and took the fly. Cool to see. Pity I didn’t land it. So two days fishing, 5 hooked, none landed... hmmm not a great start but thats fly fishing!
Long walk home...
A civilised way to take your boots off.
Tuesday 14 Feb
Drove from Kurow to Te Anau to get into some better weather. Boring day, no fishing.
Outside of Queenstown.
Stopped for a coffee and some lunch, which was corn cakes, ham, cheese, mustard and tomato.
Wednesday 15 Feb
Fished the Waiau from 11.30am till 7pm. Didymo was terrible, but least it was settled on the river bottom and not loose like snot in the water. It stank bad in places, either that or I need to change my socks. However, caught the crap out of them, must have caught 25-40 each (you lose count after a while.) The biggest one I managed tipped the scales at 5.5lbs. A beautiful looking brown. Managed 4 good rainbows around the 4lbs mark that fought well. A great day. Drove to Tuatapere and stayed at the camp ground there the night.
5.5lbs brown caught on the woolly bugger
Chuck hooked up in the fast water.
Not too hard to see when the sun decides to show itself... a once in a lifetime event on the South Island of New Zealand. Ok maybe that was a slight exaggeration... I think we got 10 hours of sunshine in total in my 10 day trip.
Thursday 16 Feb
Floated with Chuck today, started at 11am and finished at 9.30pm. It was still light then, in fact it was still light until about 10 to 10pm. We both caught so many we lost count, I must have landed 35 fish and lost another 20 or more. The biggest one I caught was 5.5lbs (same as the day before.. wonder if it was the same fish that up and walked to a new spot?) Also caught another decent one that was 5lbs. I rowed for the last couple of hours to give Chuck a fish, as he had rowed for me all day, he caught heaps too (despite poor oarsmanship from one Simon Zarifeh.) Dinner was pre cooked gluten free sausages and beans, cooked (ie heated) by yours truly at 10.45pm. Simply a superb day fishing and weather wise.
Any time its warm and sunny enough in New Zealand to get the shirt off... do it! Unless you are in a sand fly area.
Time to work on the tan
I guess this fly looked too good to refuse.
Loop reel performed superbly.
5lbs. Shirt is back on here, as it had dropped about 10 degrees.
Friday 17 Feb
We did another float today from 11.30am till 8.30. Weather was overcast but the fishing was first class. We caught at least 25 each, and I say at least because in one run where we fished, we caught 10 each. We saw some big fish, but didn’t managed to catch any. Biggest I caught was just on 5lbs. We then went and had a great dinner at a new accommodation place that had opened up in town – roast pork belly with beetroot risotto. Very nice way to finish the day!
That goodness for the cropping feature when editing photos, as you may have seen a little more of Simon from the rear than the world is ready for!
Not a bad pic for a self portrait and no net
Last one for the day.. then I started rowing (and I use the term loosely) for Chuck.
End of the day.
Saturday 18 Feb
Drove over to Wyndham and looked for some access points to the Mataura. A bit of a boring day but necessary - planning wise.
Sunday 19 Feb
Floated the Mataura today, downstream where the regulations allow it. An interesting day, the fish weren’t coming out of the willows as I thought they would, but a green woolly bugger was still effective in the shallow water. Caught more than 10, Chuck managed about the same from some of the runs he fished which is pretty good going since he only fished when we stopped (as he was rowing the boat while I fished.) The weather wasn’t great but it was a fun day with plenty of action.
Chuck hooked up after we stopped the raft and fished a decent looking run.
Monday 20 Feb
Fished the Mataura at the Riversdale access. I found a nice little back water and found some fish willow grubbing... but unfortunately they didn’t like the willow grub imitations I had, which were yellow and green, when the grub they were taking was more of a translucent cream. See what I mean...
Nothing is more frustrating than when trout are rising all around you taking off the surface and you simply don't have the right fly to 'match the hatch'.
Close up
Close up
This trout was on the willow grubs.
Caught 5 for the day, some from blind fishing some decent looking water, the others from a side channel. I left the river at 6pm for a long drive back to Christchurch. Made it to Ashburton by midnight then arrived in Christchurch the next morning for my flight home. A short but fun trip.