Journal for the 2008/09 fishing season.
1 November
No1 daughter and I went for a little look at the Shag River, it was a rather overcast morning and the weather forcast was not looking good. The river is still in lovely order, the water clear and as yet the weed growth hasn’t progressed to the point of being a problem… Could do with some serious rain in the head waters though as the flow has dropped off quite a bit of late.
We saw a few trout, one or two appeared to be feeding but really it was pretty quiet. We didn’t do any good so when the breeze that had been blowing on and off for a while turned into a nasty cold wind qwe decided to call it a day.
27 October
I awoke to a stunning high country morning, clear, calm and sunny.
I went for another look at Kelland’s Pond and was pleasantly surprised to spot fish almost immediately.
They were reasonably wary as they tend to be in bright clear conditions. I spooked a few and then was rewarded with a fish right in the edge feeding on something below the surface.
I offerd the fish the same gold beadhead hare and copper nymph which was taken immediately. As I lifted the rod tip up I felt that great feeling of weight on the end of the line… Then all hell broke loose and the fish took off, it stripped off the fly line and got half the backing out before I managed to slow the sucker down.
I saw a few more but the wind came up not long after so I decided to call it a day and go help the family pack up and get ready for the drive back home… All in all a great weekend fishing and I can’t wait to go back up there in around 6 weeks or so.
26 October
I awoke a little earlier… A bit less wine and beer the night before maybe helped.
Snow on the hills
I went our for a fish and noticed that there had been a considerable dusting of snow very low on the hills. This kind of weather is rather common for Labour weekend.It was quite calm and the sun was shining making trout spotting a little easier than the day before. There were some midges hatching at various points around the lake.
The first fish i caught was happily rising so I dropped a gold beadhead nymph in front of it and it grabbed the fly without hesitation. A great deal of splashing and running took place before I was able to land the fish, a handsome 5lb brown trout.
I fished for a couple of hours more and saw several good fish, a couple of three pound browns were all that I managed to catch but I was excited to find my old friend… A very large brown trout that lives just past a willow tree, I tried several times last season to catch this fish and he won every time.
It doesn’t matter how slowly and quietly I stalk this fish i can never see him until he moves and by then it is too late he has already spotted me. Whenever I am in Twizel I go and try for this fish because I know that all he has to do is make one small mistake and I might get a chance.
These are the really special things about fishing that make it very interesting and a whole heap challenging.
I went out later in the day but didn’t really see much and caught nothing. The weather had become a lot rougher with a stiff wind blowing.
25 October
Kellands Pond
The day started really nicely, still and warm and definately inspiring a guy to go out for a fish, I wasn’t up early as I slept in.
As it turns out it was very bright and clear which can make fishing a little more challenging and this proved to be the case. I saw several good trout but they were very wary and either spooked the second the fly landed if not before or they showed minor interest but not enough to take the fly.
I went for another look in the afternoon, it was warm and sunny and very still so I figured there was the possibility of a rise. I sat in the boot of my car getting my gear rigged watching a great display of hot rods and American cars travelling along the near by hiway. The lake was still and I could clearly see hatches of insects at several places along the shoreline.
First Fish Labour Weekend
By the time I reached the waters edge the wind had come up a wee bit and it looked cloudy down south. Within 20 minutes there were 30cm waves, the wind was howling and the cloud was closing fast.
It became almost impossible to spot fish but I did manage to find a nice 3 1/2lb brown. I fished back to where I left the car and got out of there just as the rain hit.
24 October
After work we left for Twizel for the long weekend (Labour Weekend). This is the first trip for the year and I was really looking forward to getting some fishing in my favourite place in the whole world.
As it turns out I didn’t go for a fish on friday evening (which was my intention) a few beers and a couple of wines followed by a meal out at the local Thai restaurant put paid to that. I wasn’t too distressed it was a great evening out with friends and family and there were still three days left.
19 October
Went out for a fish tonight, windy and very difficult spotting conditions. I did see a trout where I caught the 6 1/2 lb fish and it looks almost identical to the fish that I caught. It had a couple of looks at my pheasant tail nymph but not this time… Oh well it is great to know there is another one to chase.
17 October
I finally have my rod back…
Fish 5 ~ 6.5 lbs
Well a brand new one the company totally replaced the rod which is very cool of them.
6 1/2 lbs of fish and it was in pretty good condition measuring 26″ in length.
Again it was rather overcast and gloomy and just approaching dark.
15 October
Took my old rod and reels out for a spot of fishing.
Overcast and windy so I decided to use the sinking line and a black woolly bugger which did the trick nicely just on dark. 5lb brown trout in very nice condition.
Bad photo because it was taken in the dark with my mobile phone camera.
12 October
Went out with a mate who is just getting back into fly fishing… I had to use my old fly rod as well as the old reels, boy do I miss my new rod. Saw a few but didn’t catch anything.
10 October
After putting up with no fishing for a few days I decided to use my old reels so I set out for a look at the shag River… I spotted a few fish and it was in an attempt to catch a good sized trout that the tip section of of my rod broke.
Very disappointed I headed for home.
5 October
Today was the first of our fishing club competitions but because of previous commitments I could only fish for a couple of hours just after lunchtime which is not usually the best time of day.
I tried my hardest, spurred on by the sight of the club vice president fishing a ways downstream of us.
It was quite blustery so I opted for the sinking line but this time I came up empty handed… Always the way huh, you can’t catch a fish when you need to.
The day ended badly when my reel developed problems so with no entry for the competition I returned home.
4 October
For the last couple of seasons I have intended to get inland and fish in the Maniototo area and until yesterday all I had done was think about going.
I was invited to join a friend on a trip to Lake Onslow as he was going to take his boat up and have a look around… I of course accepted the invitation and set off with my eldest daughter and met up with my mate and his son.
The weather forcast was for strong winds and they weren’t wrong but we did get out on the lake for a while, being a high country lake it wasn’t that rough but the dull gloomy light conditions along with the tanin stained water made it hard to spot much so trolling was pretty much the order of the day.
Lake Onslow
We fished for a couple of hours and caught one nice little brown and lost another.
I liked the look of the lake and certainly believe that it could be worth visiting a bit later in the season when the cicadas are around.
Lake Onslow
It did brighten up a little around the time that we had taken the boat from the water but the wind remained.
We decided to go and have a look at McAtamney’s head pond which I believe is a small storage lake associated with a small hydro power station.
The lake was rather low around one and a half metres below what looked like the normal water level but it was slightly sheltered form the worst of the wind and the weather had stayed a little brighter.
The lake was a bit small to boat in and there wasn’t much in the way of a launching ramp so we fished from the shore. My daughter and I never even saw a fish but my mate and his son who went the opposite direction from us caught a couple of smallish browns and had a bit of excitement besides.
McAtamneys
It was a great time in a fantastic area and I will be back hopefully in slightly more favourable conditions.
3 October
My eldest daughter was home from university for the weekend and very keen to get out fishing so we went to the Shag River for an evening fish.
Conditions weren’t too bad but there was quite a bit of wind so I used a sinking line and streamer flies.
As it was getting dark I hooked fish, I had tried a number of lures but it was a black woolly bugger that did the trick, another 5 lb brown trout.
By the time I had landed the fish it was properly dark hence the poor photo (phone cameras aren’t so hot in the dark).
There was the odd fish rising but very patchy. We ventured upstream to the pool where I’d caught the larger fish the day before, it is a large pool and I knew there certainly was more than one resident fish.
Mouse
A short while after getting there I carried on upstream and fished a run I have caught fish in before, within 20 minutes my daughter called out that she had a fish on. I got there just as she landed a fine 3 1/2 lb brown trout.
All in all a very enjoyable evening.
2 October
It was an overcast and dull afternoon, the river was in great shape with good flows and not much weed as yet. There were a few fish sporadically rising but no great hatch was in progress.
First fish for the 2008/09 season
The first fish for the season was taken with a pheasant tail nymph, it was quite strong for it’s size and put up a brave fight.
Second fish ~ 5lbs
Further fishing turned up a nice brown this time using a brown woolly bugger which was taken deep in a pool. It is a little unusual for a streamer fly to be so effective so early in the day.
Both fish were in very nice condition for this early in the season and one hopes that this will only improve as they get a steady addition of whitebait to their diet over the next few weeks.
