Two happy Aussies on the Season Closer

Guided my Last clients of the summer season into the Kaimanawa's a few days ago before the majority of our rivers close this month.

Photo: Hamish Carnachan

The forecast didn't look good but going on how met service has been getting the weather wrong lately I still had hope, Our Pilot dropped us off after a quick flight, My two Australian guests soon felt the the 20 knot 3 degree southerly wind ripping through there waders, My suggestion of walking down river for a few Ks first to warm up then fish our way back was quickly accepted.

Photo: Paul McDonald

After sorting out a few casting issues and the fact that these fish were spooky as hell the boys were soon into there first fish. By 2pm the rain had started and the wind did a 180 and blew from the north bringing some slightly warmer weather.

Photo: Paul McDonald

Steak and Noodles that night followed by a few cold ones, The fire was heating the Hut just nicely and burnt all night making it a comfortable nights sleep (Thanks to the Helpful guide who woke every 2 hours to keep it going) We don't want any whinging Aussies now.

Photo: Hamish Carnachan

The next day we hit another river, The good thing about fishing this area we have 3 rivers to choose from which are a 10 min walk from the hut, Once again lots of fish but also lots of spawning fish Which we left alone to do there thing.

Photo: Hamish Carnachan

The fishing got tough lots of big Fish but there mouths were shut, The fish we did find feeding took a few drifts past them until they took, Our usual size 12-16 nymphs Wouldnt work soon as we switched up to a size 18-20 PT or a Black bead H&C bang they were on.
A few fish were landed and a few lost mid river, Tony our pilot flew us out that afternoon, I was looking forward to a hot shower a good feed and lots of beer.

Photo: Rob Vaz

Stayed the night at the very quiet Mountain View Motel in Taupo, Which my Friends Kunio and Kathy run, A great place to stay with Couple of the nicest hosts you may ever meet.

Photo: Hamish Carnachan

Next day we were greeted by showers, Quick check on flows and we headed off to our next river which was about a Hour drive, The showers had now turned into rain and didn't stop, A quick stop at the local Bakery for more Pies and Custard squares got our spirits up again. Arriving at the river our good spirits quickly left us again, The river had turned upside down and was at maxing out.

Photo; Paul McDonald

My two Aussie mates didn't seem to mind to much as they said they were still recovering from the previous two days fishing and had caught plenty of fish anyway, I did the half day tour of the surrounding area and dropped them off at there Hotel, Unfortunately we didn't get to fish that last day but it was a nice way to end my guide duties for the season with a couple of good bastards.

Photo: Paul McDonald

I'm off for a few days fishing with a mate before a lot of our rivers close, Its going to be sunny no wind and 20 degrees- Yeah Right.

The Islands Quick Clip

Was just looking at a few old Photos and video clips of a trip a Couple of mates and I did last year, Put this together pretty quick. Apologise about the quality, Hopefully Something to keep you warm on those cold nights.

Just Rambling on.

 Nice cast mate, But get your line on the bloody water your not going to catch fish flicking your line back and Forth 20 times, Plus you spooked that fish on the 5th false cast anyway. If your flys aren't in the water then your not fishing.

Take your time when you first approach that pool, Don't rush up and fish the head of the pool ( Plus your probably just pissing your mates off ). If you can try and scramble up a Bank, Cliff, or Tree to get a high vantage point to scan the pool, You will be surprised just how much you can see into that pool all of a sudden with a bit of elevation, Scan the pool looking for that slight movement or maybe a flash of a trout or even better a fish scoffing its guts on bugs.
Work as a team Calling out to your mate where the fish are laying and where to cast to and sometimes when to strike, Browns can quite often be found sitting at the rear of and sides of pools. They always say, Fish your feet first!

Show respect for the landowner and his property. He will likely allow you a return visit, Try to Seek permission to access the river if its across farm land even ask a couple of different landowners along a certain stretch you plan on fishing that day, I often cover a fair bit of water in a day and without knowing can cross onto a couple different property's. Beer can get you some good access.

Be Patience!, Fish the pool your fishing in and not the next one up, Ive been fishing with people who will walk and cast at the same time, fishing like the next pool up is going to dry up all of a sudden and its a race.Once again take your time, Sitting back and watching a pool for 10mins that at first inspection looks empty can all of a sudden give up a few fish that you wouldn't have seen as you fish frantically through that pool.

Linking up as you cross a sketchy piece of the river is wise not Gay, Plus a Wading stick isn't just for old folks these things are bloody good and have saved me more than once when the old feet started to slip.

Too many anglers learn to do things one way only e.g. they may only fish a dry fly on streams, or only fish Woolly buggers on lakes. The successful angler will have a few different technique's up his sleeve and is quick to change Rigs and methods when the favoured tactics don't work.  

Anyone can take a picture of a dead fish. Taking the shot and releasing the fish requires a little more finesse.Taking a photo of a fish means keeping it out of the water, You are already adding stress to a stressful situation. Speed helps both in landing and in photo taking.
Support the fishes body when taking it out of the net, Don't grab it by the tail and hold it vertically the fishes internal organs will slump forward and can cause damage. Remember that the fish's internal organs are normally supported by the buoyancy of water.

As much as I like fishing by myself, Hitting the rivers with my mates is golden, The shit talking and bragging that goes on makes a good day great, Cheers Team.

Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish. ~Roderick Haig-Brown.

Waikato Browns

Wow!, The fishing around the Waikato is red hot right now, Aggressive Rainbows all coloured up and in Superb condition just smashing the shit out of big Streamers right now, Buttery Beefed up Browns also showing there presence a lot more. Some mornings I can grab a Flatwhite on the Main street of Hamilton, Run down behind the Casino, Pass the Homeless guy sleeping in the bush and throw out a line and catch 2 or 3 Browns in Downtown Hamilton on the Waikato river in Ten minute's, That's how good the fishing is right now.

Iv'e been guiding more then ever at the moment a lot of my clients had been putting off there usual mid summer trips to chase late season browns, Which seem to be the main target right now, We are getting terrific runs of Browns running up the lowland streams in the Waikato area, As well as the hydro lakes south of the Tron, Any little stream flowing into these Lakes is worth throwing a Fly at. Throwing bigger meat flies at them seems to be getting there attention, We have been sight fishing with Streamers/Buggers using about 6-7' of 8-12lb Airflo Sightfree Extreme Flurocarbon, Using a slighty heavier Leader gives you the ability to give these fish a bit more pressure when playing them and also land them a lot quicker.

Fish Magnet Greig Cousins with a Stunning small stream Brown

The Mangatutu is fishing very well as it has all season, Getting up there during midweek is key which gives it time to recover from the weekend warriors. The Puniu river which joins the Mangatutu behind Waikeria has it fair share of Bows and Browns right now, My go to fly in these waters seem to be a Orange bead Hare and Copper, When Fishing down stream Dore's Mr Glister in brown is doing the damage, Have a look at some of the many streams running off the western side of the Kaimai Ranges, Especially when we get our next dose of rain these rivers are going to be cranking, Don't put away your rods yet we have another month of great fishing and theres a Brown out here with your name on it.

No fish & Dogs

30km of winding gravel roads, Plus the smell of wet waders and nets still embedded with fish slime those cheap shit service station pies were ready to come back out.
If it wasn't for the sight of that king Country river down the bottom of the valley my mates car would of had a good splattering of puke on the outside panels and windows.

We had finally made it after hours of scrolling maps and Internet abuse the night before this river was going to be legendary, We then had the rock paper sissors thing going to see who was going to get out of the car to knock on the farmers door, It wasn't because we were scared of the farmer but more his big fucking dog snarling and frothing at the mouth as it pounced all over our car.

After a quick coffee with Mr farmer (That's his actual name) we were given the green light to go for it, "Just leave gates as you find them and drive slowly, Good luck the fishing should be a piece of piss no ones been down there for ages". Now we were amping.

We drove as quick as we could down the 2kms of rough farm tracks, It was a very steep goat track down there I guess you could call it, Hope we can get back up "who cares worry about that later" was the call.  We couldn't believe it, We were going to be parking right on the river, I mean we could of fished from our car. This was going to be the best day ever everything was in our favour, We chucked on our gear strung up our sticks and walked the 3 feet to our first pool.

The pool was so fishy looking theres gotta be fish in there, A few flicks later with a few fly changes- nothing, We Fished for about 8hrs that day in some of the most cleanest clearest water the King Country has to offer and did not touch or see a fish, It was good day to pratice our casts and get some exercise. Yeah right.

I have fished this river since that day and have taken some nice fish, I have Gained regular access now and learnt some interesting lessons on this river which has kept me comming back, I also made a new friend, lady the big fucking dog.

Early Days- Intro

I was introduced to fly fishing by a English friend many years ago while living in Colorado, I had always seen these guys standing in the river waving sticks around, I was thinking what the fuck are they doing.

Years on now Im one of those guys and I still think- What am I doing?

I learnt to fish in the Rocky mountains of Colorado, I was living in Aspen at the time. Snowboarding and late nights of drunkiness was the only thing that mattered at this stage in my life, One summer I tagged along with a friend to a little creek up by Maroon bells to watch him fish, I thought this will be funny what the hell are you going to catch in there. His first cast was placed down on to the water and within a split sec that fly was smashed, He pulled in a nice little rainbow trout.
Shit that was cool," Your turn" he said after about a 1/2hr of trying to cast more than 3 feet of line from the end of the rod and catching bushes and trees and anything else that was behind me I managed to get a fairly good cast out with a white feather fly thing on the end, It hit the water and sunk- dam I thought that wasnt supposed to happen.
I suddenly felt the wiggle and weight of a fish on the end I could not believe how strong this fish was, It came off, Apparently you are supposed to let them run a little not skull drag them in.

The rest of the day was spent catching Brookies and Rainbows and this was the turning point in my life. The next day I went out and bought a rod and reel for $80 and fished 310 days that year.
Yep I was hooked.

I fished all over Colorado and some neighbouring states most days for years and have meet some amazing people and have made many many friends, I miss the rivers and creeks of the Roaring fork valley and one day I will return.

Now back home in NZ the adventure is just begining, friends are been made lessons are been learnt and always will be. I love Fly fishing.

www.waikatoflyfishers.co.nz