TR: The Swede and the Yankee do New Zealand

Guys,

First day of real fishing here in NZ. Spent the morning on a creek less
than 10 yards wide. Caught one and spotted five. True to form the one I
caught was the smallest. The fish in this creek average 4lb (2kg) with
some up to 9lb (8kg) and are mostly browns. The creek is in what I
would describe, more or less, as a rainforest. The bottom of the stream
is fine gravel and sand. Fish are shy and easily spooked, but there are
plenty of them. Surprisingly NZ is, on my part, living up to
expectations gathered over ten or more years. We have been upstream
nymphing so far, but tonight will mean some dry fly fishing and after
that some streamer fishing. Yesterday we spent the evening on the rip
of one of the rivers floating into Lake Taupo (streamer fishing). The
fish there are rainbows and browns averaging around lb6 (2.7 kg). We
have as you understand just started fishing, but with the fish spotted
so far, this trip holds promises of new personal records. No fishing
is done, during daytime, without polaroids and a stealthy approach.
The locals are using 8 weight rods in this little stream, that if
nothing else should give you an idea of what can be caught in the NZ
small clear and very beautiful streams.

BR/ Roger

angler wrote:
Guys,

First day of real fishing here in NZ. Spent the morning on a creek less
than 10 yards wide. Caught one and spotted five. True to form the one I
caught was the smallest. The fish in this creek average 4lb (2kg) with
some up to 9lb (8kg) and are mostly browns. The creek is in what I
would describe, more or less, as a rainforest. The bottom of the stream
is fine gravel and sand. Fish are shy and easily spooked, but there are
plenty of them. Surprisingly NZ is, on my part, living up to
expectations gathered over ten or more years. We have been upstream
nymphing so far, but tonight will mean some dry fly fishing and after
that some streamer fishing. Yesterday we spent the evening on the rip
of one of the rivers floating into Lake Taupo (streamer fishing). The
fish there are rainbows and browns averaging around lb6 (2.7 kg). We
have as you understand just started fishing, but with the fish spotted
so far, this trip holds promises of new personal records. No fishing
is done, during daytime, without polaroids and a stealthy approach.
The locals are using 8 weight rods in this little stream, that if
nothing else should give you an idea of what can be caught in the NZ
small clear and very beautiful streams.

BR/ Roger



Take lots of photos.

Willi

"angler" wrote in message
oups.com...

Guys,

First day of real fishing here in NZ. .
The locals are using 8 weight rods in this little stream, that if
nothing else should give you an idea of what can be caught in the NZ
small clear and very beautiful streams.

BR/ Roger

McIntosh comments --visited NZ a couple of years ago
and only used a 6 wt. My problem was spotting the fish before they spotted
me.Would move to Nelson on south island tomorrow if wife said OK and NZ
would let me. She thinks I am to old and the country knows I don"t have
enough money. When you see Clark hold on if he is driving.

"Joe McIntosh"
When you see Clark hold on if he is driving.

Sorry Joe, didn't rea;ise i "spooked ya"... but as we say down here...
"Harden up"!

Clark

Hej Roger,

Great, we feel almost there by reading your report. Most of us have the
polaroids, rods, reels, lines, flies, just miss one key element: the being
in NZ bit!!!

Nevermind, if you can spare some non-fishing day time everyday we will
"drink" your words of exploits with delight. (promise: no sorrow!)

Catch some for us.

Jerome


"angler" wrote in message
oups.com...

Guys,

First day of real fishing here in NZ. Spent the morning on a creek less
than 10 yards wide. Caught one and spotted five. True to form the one I
caught was the smallest. The fish in this creek average 4lb (2kg) with
some up to 9lb (8kg) and are mostly browns. The creek is in what I
would describe, more or less, as a rainforest. The bottom of the stream
is fine gravel and sand. Fish are shy and easily spooked, but there are
plenty of them. Surprisingly NZ is, on my part, living up to
expectations gathered over ten or more years. We have been upstream
nymphing so far, but tonight will mean some dry fly fishing and after
that some streamer fishing. Yesterday we spent the evening on the rip
of one of the rivers floating into Lake Taupo (streamer fishing). The
fish there are rainbows and browns averaging around lb6 (2.7 kg). We
have as you understand just started fishing, but with the fish spotted
so far, this trip holds promises of new personal records. No fishing
is done, during daytime, without polaroids and a stealthy approach.
The locals are using 8 weight rods in this little stream, that if
nothing else should give you an idea of what can be caught in the NZ
small clear and very beautiful streams.

BR/ Roger

Hi again,

Will, of course, take loads of pictures.
Today, after speaking to Sean Andrews, we went fishing in the Waipanu
river. Extremely hard to access and only way to travel along the river
is to wade upstream. Caught two rainbows at or just above lb2 (1kg) by
the way of upstream nymphing. Nothing much, but Myron lost one that
must have weighed in between lb4 - lb6.
Beautiful stream though, so tomorrow we fish the upper reaches of this
stream where the average fish is said to hold a weight of lb6 - lb7.
Just made contact with Clark Reid (we got an email), this might change
our plans a bit, we'll see tomorrow.
So, fish are increasing in size and we're getting the hang of how
things are done down under.
More later.

/Roger

Hi gang:
Hows the cold, wintry northland :-)

So far here in New Zealand, so good. We spent the first day getting
here (long drive) and spent the first night fishing until midnight at
the mouth of the Waitahanui river, casting out into the lake. Pretty
thin goings, with only a strike each. My least favorite type of
fishing: standing waist deep in a lake, casting into the pitch dark at
nothing. I was using my 7wt rod since that's what we were told you
needed to catch the big fish here, but I am not as skilled casting it
as I am my 5wt, so I was getting wind knots all night. Its grueling
trying to untangle a knot or retie a fly in the pitch dark with a
headlamp and 47 year old eyes. Its like aiming at a blur, vainly
jabbing again and again (sort of reminded me of the aftermath of a few
frat parties back in college...); it took almost 20 minutes to tie on a
fly, only to get the line all knotted again a few minutes later. I
finally quit just before midnight, just as a torrential downpour came
in.

Then yesterday, we got up at 6am and drove/hiked to the main part of
the river and fished the deep pools until noon. Got a bunch of little
trout, but we had heard stories from folks at our guest house about BIG
fish....mostly around 5 kilos, with the occasional behemoth at 8 or 9
kilos. In the afternoon, we went into town and tracked down a fishing
guide who is buddies with Vaughan from Sweden (and got him into the
biggest fish of his life) and spend an hour talking to him. He's also
from Sweden, and told us the Kiwis are pretty over-armed, using only 7
or 8 wt rods when a 4 or 5 wt is much more versatile. So I put my 7wt
away and am only using the more managable 5wt. He also showed us some
great spots on the map to go to: as we suspected, around Taupo everyone
follows everyone else around. They all fish the lake at night, the
stream in the morning, and drink beer all afternoon. They are very
dogmatic about what flies to use, what water to fish, and what style of
fishing to do. He said we should forget all that 'local folklore' and
just fish like we already know how, but in more remote spots.

So this morning at 8, Roger and I drove about 45 minutes south and
hiked into a remote stream. It was BRUTAL! We bushwacked about 100
meters through blackberry bushes about 3 meters tall; way over our
heads. I kept my waders in my backpack and wore heavy pants and a long
sleeve shirt, and my arms and legs still got shredded and bloodied. And
its HOT here, so we were sweating up a flood. When we got to the river,
it was deep and fast, so it was hard to wade along. Nonetheless, I
rigged up and cast into this deep pool, and instantly hooked the
biggest fish I ever had on my line. I saw a little flash near my nymph,
so I set the hook and my first thought was that I had snagged a rock. I
pulled hard, the rod bent over, and nothing happened. I pulled harder,
and suddenly the rock tugged back. I was stunned; we've all heard the
"gee, I thought it was a rock" line, but it really happened. I managed
to get it to come towards me about 5 meters, and it sat back down and
just did nothing. I tugged and coerced, but it wasn't going nowhere.
Then it rolled up for a second and it turned downstream and swam off
like I wasn't even there. My reel went ZZZZIIIINNNNNGGGG!! and then
suddenly my tippet knot let go. Damn! I'm not sure it even knew I had
it hooked, and even though I didn't get a picture with it (or even get
it under control), it was a real rush to know that there ARE nice fish
down here and they aren't impossible to get into.

We fished the section for a few more hours, I caught and released a
smaller one (about a half kilo) and Roger got two more about that size
(he says they were bigger, but there are no witnesses or pictures wink
wink). My second fish was a funny hookup: I was nymphing again and
daydreaming about the 'big one that got away', and I was reenacting my
hookup. I was thinking (and probably talking out loud) about how I set
the hook, and I instinctly yanked back on my rod, and suddenly there
was another fish on!

Roger later tried fishing for my big fish in the pool where he broke
off, but didn't hook it up although he spotted it (or one like it)
under some brush and aknowledged that it was one of the 'New Zealand
critters' that we are looking for.

Anyway, we'll keep you guys posted. Between fishing with Clark later
this week, and Vaughan's friend on Friday, we might get into some
bigger fish soon. I'm checking and retying all my knots tonight.

Tight Lines;
--riverman

angler wrote:
Hi again,

Will, of course, take loads of pictures.
Today, after speaking to Sean Andrews, .....

and riverman wrote:
Hi gang:
Hows the cold, wintry northland :-)

So far here in New Zealand, .....

Fine stuff, guys. Keep 'em coming.

(and PICTURES!!!)

riverman Hows the cold, wintry northland :-)

You forgot dark.

Anyway, it sounds like you're having a great time there. Keep us
posted.

--
Jarmo Hurri

Commercial email countermeasures included in header email
address. Remove all garbage from header email address when replying,
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On 29 Jan 2006 23:18:21 -0800, "riverman" wrote:

so I was getting wind knots all night.

Lefty would tell you to cast with your forearm and not your wrist. g Have a
great time and, as others have implored, take lots of pictures.
--
Charlie...
http://www.chocphoto.com