Innehållsförteckning för Issue 185 - Winter 2023 från Trout Fisher

200 years ago, you could probably have found less adaptive native birds like these Whio – imitating the male blue duck’s whistle – the female rattles like a slowed-up mallard drake – all round the country. The main reason you cannot is simple: their natural habitat and food source has been severely diminished, by human activity. Add predators like stoats, weasels, feral cats and dogs into the equation and frankly, it’s amazing these unique birds still exist. Whio have much in common with trout. They thrive best in cool, clean streams that support a heavy population of aquatic invertebrates, on which both species feed; exclusively, for whio and juvenile trout. Remove the trees around such streams and numbers of both trout and whio immediately decline. Pollute the water and their…

Nothing beats the savage smash of a winter-run Tongariro rainbow as your wet-fly swings across the current. It’s an addictive thrill with few parallels. As a die-hard downstream dredger with better than 40 years thrashing the waters of the Tongariro, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learnt. And maybe you’ll improve your catch-rate, throw away the nymphing gear, or even teach me something if we meet on the riverbank. Today I use just one fly pattern. Sure, I’ll have the odd darker one for murky water or late evening/early morning but the one fly I find works every time is the orange-beaded olive green Woolly Bugger. There are lots of variations including black heads. Tied on a #6 Kamasan B830 with a 4mm orange bead and plenty of…

Clive and I had long dreamed of a return to the Mokihinui River system on the West coast, after enjoying our back-country fishing experience in 2000. Our initial plans for late February in 2017 were for a similar trip, starting at the fork of the North and South Branches. However, the increasingly popular ‘Old Ghost Road’ tramping and mountain bike route that now traverses the valley enables an influx of visitors that would significantly impact on our desire for a wilderness experience. The clincher was our helicopter pilot advising that our dates also clashed with the annual ultrarace along the 85km trail. After hasty discussions and exploration of maps we rearranged our plans and despite the likelihood that the headwaters had already been heavily fished, decided to land in the…

https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/130547880/upgrading-polluted-christchurch-stream-comes-with-62m-price-tag There is a hidden plaque in Hagley Park on the banks of Addington Brook recording the site where the first brown trout ova to arrive in New Zealand were reared in 1867. This site has special significance to me, as my son was born in Christchurch Women’s Hospital 16th December 2015. It is a short walk beneath the fifth floor where the Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) is situated. With my son having a rocky start to life I had time to locate and photograph the plaque. Addington Brook was visibly polluted with a floating pollution barrier placed in the Avon River at its junction. The thought did cross my mind that polluted New Zealand rivers may well be the legacy my son will inherit. This May, I spoke to…

The first attempts to establish an ocean running salmon fishery failed and more; 24 shipments of Atlantic salmon ova from Europe and eastern America in all failed. With liberations from Auckland to Southland, a single Atlantic Salmon weighing 6.5kg, caught by a trawler at sea, off the eastern South Island in 1893, was mounted and displayed in an Oamaru cycle shop. Eventually it was concluded that North Island rivers were too warm for either Atlantic or Pacific species. By 1876, Atlantic and Chinook salmon smolt were being liberated in the Avon, Hurunui, Opihi, Waimakariri, Rakaia and Ashley by the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society (NCAS), with more in following years but no returning fish noted. However in 1880, a fish was brought in for identification and was finally decided by those…

Nostalgia is a word I take to mean warm re-collections of our earlier years, remembering family times, friends, schooling, holidays, fashion – including music, food and others. Most fashion-related styles move on but some do bounce back into what again becomes trendy, known as ‘retro’ or with food, ‘comfort’. Nostalgia can take us wandering through second hand or bric a brac shops, especially on holidays when time allows. Reminiscing, sharing in conversations of others, “Remember these”, “Auntie had a set of that”, “My Dad fished with one of those” – pleasant moments. On a recent trip down south a cousin said he had seen a magazine I would like, in a small but quite special shop at Waikouaiti, in East Otago. We called into ‘Oddity Second Hand Shop’, the magazine…

As an angler, hunter and an observer on rivers and in the backcountry, even around town and even in the garden, I have noticed disturbing trends of declines in many species. Examples are insects, kingfishers, shining cuckoos. In the absence of scientific studies, it’s called anecdotal. Trout and rivers are just one part of the total ecosystem. It needs examination, thought, open minds and discussion and a will to rectify the situation. Nevertheless, there is no one silver bullet that will fix it, which frankly is why nobody has. The solution is bigger than anglers. Bigger than Fish and Game. Bigger than agriculture, bigger than towns. It needs system changes, cultural changes within government, governmental administrations and even Fish and Game, the latter with a bigger vision and stronger advocacy.…

As the end of another season approaches and I plan my final trip to the Rock, I take a moment to reflect on our first season in our larger and more comfortable van. Was it all worth the effort, time and expense? Yes, it was! Most trips to Lake Aviemore seem to have extended. What used to be 5-7 days is now 10-14 and even at that, the time seemed to race by too quickly! My good lady Jan has stayed longer, and I don’t have to ask Mr Otis if he has had a good time. Having more space has enabled us to accommodate a few more family members too, even pushing that to seven extra bodies at one stage in early Autumn, when both sets of grandchildren came…

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