Season 2016-17 A trip to Owen River Lodge

If you have the best wife and family in the world, you'll know what this means. My surprise 60th birthday present was a trip to Owen River Lodge, the best large wild brown fishing lodge in the world. We made a two week trip out of this excursion but the fishing is what this blog is about.
I was told by my guide Pete, that modest returns of large fish was what I could expect. Modest, means 3-5 fish about 6lb is considered a good days fishing. I had three guided fishing days and was very excited. We fished the Wairou river on day 1. We lucked out with the weather and had the first sunny , windless day of the season. Pete tells me to go down and cast to the fish that he's spotted. I can't see it and ask for an exact position. He explains its lying behind the large rock about 2 metres out from the bank. I look closely and ask him where it is in relation to the large rock at the end of the shaley sand. He looks again and says to me " that's the bloody fish you donkey, cast at it" i cast a small fly, size 14 Para adams, the fish rises and I strike. What happens next was unbelievable. The fish rips up the river and takes about 30 metres of line. I can hardly hang on and after a long 10 minute fight i manage to get him in. A couple of quick snaps and I'm on the board with my first fish and plenty of photos. That fish was a modest 6 lb. We fish all day and managed 10 trout , a remarkable effort, for day 1. I missed plenty due to poor casting but over the next 2 days managed to land 18 trout. The two largest were 7lb and the remainder ranged between 3-6 lb. A combination of dry and wet flies were used . Lots of fly changes, thanks to Pete and Adam. They must have changed flies about 100 times each day. No more than 2 casts over any fish before a change of fly. The windy conditions were challenging on the morning of day 2 and I was only average to say the least. Need more practice at home before I fish in the wind again. It was an amazing experience, I'll never forget nearly being spooled by a fish. That big brown trout took my dry fly, charged upstream 50 metres, came charging back downstream with me following as fast as I could. Once the fish got below me, I had to run across the rocks and get below him. After a few leaps from the water, a couple of rapids and many attempts to bust me off I finally landed him 110 metres from where he was hooked, what a fish.
Sight fishing in NZ is fantastic but you need a guide to ensure success. Pete was sensational and found fish each day. I couldn't see them but he was great. Fishing a nymph blindly along those rivers could mean you might get a couple but the guides are worth their money and should be used if possible.

A visit to the McKenzie river at Zumsteins March 2016

We had an extra day at the Stawell Gift planned this year as Michele had some VAL work to do setting up photo finish cameras. I decided to take my fishing gear and wander up the creek from the picnic area to see if I could take a few fish. River was low and clear, as expected. I walked up the creek and fished the pocket water as best I could. Used a small red Humpy and managed to entice 4 small brown trout to the surface. They were very slow with the take and as they swam off just held the fly in their mouth. I only lipped the first 3 after waiting a long time to lift the rod but finally landed a fish about 25cm. I waited a ridiculous amount of time before lifting and I could see the fish 5 metres away with the fly in its mouth. A great 2 hour session on a fine sunny day.

Return to Harrietville, February 2016

I waited patiently for a return to my favourite river and the season was slipping away. Four days in February and another four in April built the anticipation of a great end to the season. Water levels were low but I was anxious to get onto the river. The afternoon we arrived was warm and sunny and I walked the traditional Howards Bridge wade. Glorious to finally be there. The trout were keen to have a crack at anything resembling food and I took about a dozen even though they were pretty spooky. Frosty Corner the next morning and although the weather was perfect the trout weren't keen at all. I managed about 5 and never felt as though I had the correct fly.  Water level was too low for a nymph so i ditched them and concentrated on the usual range of dry flies. Nothing really helped and I only managed a handful of trout for the next couple of days. The top section of Frosty Corner accounted for a dozen trout on day three when i used my Glenn Innes hopper. Took a couple of great browns there when the sun was on the water. I remember the Maestro told me one of the fish he ate was full of black beetles when he gutted it a couple of weeks earlier so the next day I waited for midday and used a black beetle. Very difficult to see, but as soon as it hit the water trout came from everywhere. Had a stellar afternoon taking great fish from very shallow water. Sensational angling and quiet stalking in tough conditions. Hooked a massive brown from amongst a log jam in Frosty Corner after a great cast. he took my beetle and after  10 seconds of being hooked shook his head and escaped to safety. I know where he lives and I'll be back in April.

We visit the King Parrot - November 2015

Introducing Glenn and Tony, my golfing mates, to the KP was a great opportunity to have a closer look at the creek after not visiting during last year.  The water level was very low, about 39cm, and I doubt if the creek will be running if we don't get some rain soon. Ventured to the creek about 10am and walked one of the more popular access points. Glenn walked downstream and was fishing with a nymph trailing a dry. Tony was fishing a small black nymph and I had an elk hair caddis with a small brown nymph. The sun was out and temperature about 20 degrees. We picked our way along the creek and I hooked a nice fish in an early deep pool with many log jams. Held the fish for a while but he was too good for me and shook himself off the hook after diving down into the logs. Second trout took the nymph and it also escaped without too much trouble. Glenn hadn't had much action and Tony hadn't fared any better. The creek looked very fishy and that kept us enthused. We all changed flies a number of times trying to find the right combination. I took two browns on a Glenn Innes Hopper while Glenn caught the fish of the day after working his magic at a nice run along the left bank of the creek. It was a beautiful brown about 32cm long and maybe 500-600grams. Great fish for this creek. Unfortunately, poor Tony went fish less for this trip but will be keen to make amends next time we fish together. If we get some regular rain the KP will be OK. without it, a poor season lies ahead.

A New Season Begins - October 5-7 2015

Denis and I planned a trip to Harrietville to coincide with a weeks leave he took. The weather was hot, a temperature of 32 degrees for much of the trip. Arrived, unpacked and decided to walk Frosty corner to begin with. As we walked to the river we both developed blisters on our feet which troubled us for the whole trip. We both began with nymphs and continued this way for the whole three days. I also used an elk hair caddis as an indicator. Unfortunately it never took a fish for the whole trip. All trout were caught on nymphs and the fish were generally around the 30-32 cm length and in top condition. A combination of browns and rainbows were taken. River height was 140cm.
The trophy was up for grabs and we took many fish along the way. Tuesday morning we waded
Howards bridge and at one stage stood shoulder to shoulder while taking 8 fish from the one run, all around the 30cm mark, fantastic angling. In the afternoon we went for a look at Smoko. It was just beautiful and we managed many fish during that session as well. As a cooler weather change came through the fishing started to die off a bit and Wednesday morning, before leaving for home we only took 8 trout. That gave us a total of 92 fish for the three days. All trout returned safely to the river. Denis took out the trophy with the best trout being 35cm rainbow taken from in the caravan park boundary.
I have seen the error of my ways and am really liking fishing with the nymph. I even got rid of the caddis indicator and used a small foam indicator on the final morning. This made my fly very easy to see and much more enjoyable. I  even made plans to make a nymph box for myself, wow, things have really changed.