A First Seasons Fish

With the start of the season soon upon us (well, a month away but I'm getting excited already!) I thought it would be good to review the fishing year just gone, my first as a fly-fisherman, or any form of fisherman in fact. OK, I had a rod of some sort when I was very little and did actually catch one fish but that was many moons ago and no memory lingered of the actual how to go about catching fish. Embracing the outdoor lifestyle as soon as we arrived in NZ, I thought where better to learn a new skill and, having thought about taking up the sport in the past, where better place to learn and what better excuse needed than the possibility of visiting some spectacular scenery and hopefully hook a few trout in the process?

We all have to start somewhere and as I did not have the luxury of a network of friends who already fished to show me the nuts and bolts, I signed up for a weekend course to learn the basics of theory and fly casting. Not put off and with the words of advice to use the new skills within the month echoing in my head the necessary kit was procured and I hit the park next door and the Ashburton River to practice my casting over the winter in anticipation of October 1^st.

Now it is all very well to be able to vaguely cast a fly, actually hitting the river is a different prospect entirely. Thankfully I was very kindly invited to join a couple of guys on opening day (who I also joined on several subsequent trips), who even gave me first cast of the day to a fish sighted little over 50m from the car. Getting ready to make that cast was near on terrifying, not wanting to make a complete hash of things and spook the fish or knot my line on the first attempt. It was with relief then that with trembling hands, my bead head nymph gently plopped into the water, although somewhat wide of the target. Several casts later, struggling to cast across the wind, it was time to move on as our quarry gently finned away. There was not long to wait for another opportunity as my turn came round again and the indicator obligingly plunged from view. Fish on After a brief battle a 2 1/4lb brown came to the net, result! Things were to get even better when towards the end of the day a 6 ½ lb hen was landed. I certainly can’t complain if a little beginners luck helped provide such a successful first outing, with more than a little help from some more experienced companions.

It would be fair to say that it was me who had become hooked and looking back at my record of the whole season managed to squeeze in plenty of afternoons, evenings and full days on the water in locations as varied as South Canterbury, the MacKenzie region and the west coast. Not all were successful but it was seldom longer than a few trips before a fish or two were fooled, generally after spooking plenty of others in the process. That has been the biggest challenge, spotting the fish in the first place as opposed to fishing the water blind. It is easy enough to spot a fish after it has spotted you and is making its escape. A little harder is getting there first and not disturbing a fish while it is happily feeding away. I imagine it is this hard earned skill that really makes the exceptional trout stalkers stand out from the crowd and can only hope that things slowly get a little easier. Practice makes perfect and all that!

Inevitably there were plenty of first along the way: first fish on a fly, first on a dry and first on a self-tie. First in the dark, first brown, first rainbow. Just need to get my first from a lake, first on a wet, first on a terrestrial…..there is plenty to aim for (first trophy maybe?!).

There are also several highlights and special moments to go with those first two fish. Most of my fishing has been done solo so I have to rely on memory to go with only the few photos taken. A weekend trip to famous waters where I arrived in time for a prolific rise on nightfall and claimed a lovely 4lb’er. The subsequent day in torrential rain but not another soul on the water where plenty were seen, most spooked but a couple of good ones brought to the net and released. The challenge of catching dinner for the group on the Tekapo and succeeding with a tasty 4lb rainbow. The only fish taken for the pot, coming from a well stocked river should not be a problem. Heading to the backcountry after generously being given permission to access over private land and spending a few days in idyllic wilderness with only the sandfies for company, of which there were many and I was the one on the menu.

The side-hobby that has developed as a result of this new fishing obsession is fly tying. There are plenty of worse ways to spend the evening that sat in front of a vice, producing the vital ingredient to tempt the fish. While it won’t really save much compared to buying those flies tied by the experts, there is undoubtedly something satisfying about catching a fish with one of your own concoctions and while there are exceptions to every rule, the general consensus is that presentation is more important than form anyway, which may explain why I have snagged a few with my meagre offerings. I’ve been sticking mostly to nymphs so far but will have to think about trying a few more dry fly creations.

So what are the stats so far? Well, I did not record every evening trip to the river for an hour or so (of which most were blanks with nothing caught), but for those days I did record I made 28 trips in total ranging from an hour to full days and caught 43 fish at an average of a little under 2 lb. Ignoring the tiny fish that bravely intercepted nymphs that would have doubled their weight if eaten, the fish numbers fall to 27 at an average of 2.8 lb. No monsters and no days where every cast resulted in a hook up but a little effort goes a long way and there were plenty of rewards along the way to keep interest up. I can’t wait for next season to start so I can continue this new past time, acquire even more “essential” gear (trademe has already privided a new vest!) and maybe catch a few more trout in the process. I hope to tackle a few different areas close to home as well as returning to several familiar locations for another go at fooling the local population. Who knows what will happen but I’m sure it will be fun!