While on holiday in Italy recently I was invited to go fishing in the Gulf of La Spezia by two friends from the MedFlyFish forum, Marco and David.
We headed out early in the morning from where David's boat was moored:
We headed out of the gulf passing in front of beautiful Portovenere:
The church on the promontory was where Byron used to get his inspiration from, or so they say:
Moments after going past Portovenere we found what could have been a school of bonito but they disappeared never to show again. We then headed north opposite the Cinque Terre, and then back south, into the gulf again and eventually ended up fishing a beacon where we caught lots of Sugarelli, a type of horse mackerel that were very tasty when they ended up on the barbeque later that evening.
All in all we didn't catch anything else, but as my first boat based saltwater flyfishing trip off Italy it was fascinating, especially being confronted with amazing landscapes and vistas, so different from my usual haunt of Moreton Bay.
David said that in September/October there is much more activity, they catch dolphinfish, bonito and other tuna species. I must get back there at the right time.
I flew down to Canberra to fish the Tumut River in NSW with some friends from the Flylife Forum. I was hoping for a shot at my first Aussie river trout. Two friends from the Forum, The Warnes (Jnr and Snr) picked me up at Canberra airport and then we drove over to Tumut where we met up with the other forumites the Swadlings (swaddo and fatso) and with Nigel (coarsefisher).
Water levels were very low and the fish were obviously not too active as a consequence, but there was some surface activity and I managed to catch fish mainly working the faster riffles with a bit more flow. I had a really great weekend, very relaxing, great company, and managed to catch a few fish too, nothing huge, even though I did spook one up near the dam that left a wake worthy of a wakeboarder.
It was good to finally catch some Aussie river trout, mainly rainbows but a few browns thrown in, and it was on a good mix of nymphs and dry flies.
The most memorable moment of the whole weekend though was Dave Warnes actually declining to accept a fly I had tied specifically just for him - which is a shame for I managed to catch a few fish with it the next day, unlike someone who shall not be mentioned that actually blanked . The NABF nymph works
Anyway, thanks to all the guys for the hospitality, it was well worth the trip down, must do it again next season. Weather was lovely too, even though the river was very low, so I was told.
Wes and I flew into Christchurch this year, landing late on Friday evening(9th February). We picked up our rental car, a trusty Toyota RAV4 (http://www.avis.com/) and headed off in search of our motel (219 on Johns)
Day 1
We got up early and headed north to Hanmer Springs. After breakfast at the local bakery we went fishing, starting off on the Boyle near the confluence of the Doubtful. Conditions were tough, very overcast and flat light made spotting tough. We saw 2 fish but had no luck. We headed over the Lewis Pass and fished a beautiful looking stretch of the Maruia, the cicadas were definitely around but we had no luck again, only a couple of small browns. So onwards we went through Reefton and to Larry's Creek. When we got out of the car the cicadas were deafening so armed with confidence and foam cicadas we hit the river. The slightly tannin stained water made spotting tough, but I managed to catch 2 beautiful browns fishing blind.
6lb brown
5 1/2lb Brown
The sandflies were out in force but long sleeves, sun gloves and repellent kept them at bay. We then headed back to Reefton and found a B&B for the night. The town was invaded by bikers so we were lucky to find a room.
Day 2
We started the day off on the Rough, we fished the section above the sawmill. 2 guys were at the car park when we arrived, and a guide with clients came past and had the keys to the gate so he headed up north. We sorted things out with the other 2 guys, and off we went. I caught a lovely 4lb brown pretty much at the first pool on the trusty GFF, and we carried on blind fishing our way up, we saw a couple of fish but most were spooky or not interested. Morning tally for me was 4 fish to 4 lbs and Wes caught a lovely 4 1/2lber.
Wes' 4-1/2lber:
My 4lber:
In the afternoon we tried another river, the Waitahu, and I saw a couple of fish but no luck, while Wes caught a lovely 6 1/2 lb brown
Wes' fish
We then headed south to Hari Hari and had a quick look at the LaFontaine hoping for an evening rise but no luck. We stayed at the local motel, a bit rustic but who cares.
Day 3
We fished the middle section of the LaFontaine. Water is peat coloured so spotting was near impossible and there were no rises so we nymphed our way up. Not much luck apart from a lovely 4lber I pulled out of a deep pool:
In the afternoon we tried another nearby spring creek which is gin clear and beautiful. Some fish were rising and others were feeding and we had a great session catching fish to 4lbs in a beautiful setting.
Wes managed to catch this one though...
We jumped in the car again and headed south. Plan was to spend the night in Haast but when we got there Haast and all the neighbouring towns were full... After many phone calls we managed to find a free room at Mavora so off we went.
Day 4
We woke up and checked out the bible (John Kent's South Island Guide) and looked into jet boating or flying into a river in the area but gave up in the end - too exy and too late, so on Simon Chu's advice we headed off to Poolburn. We got there and started stalking the banks. After a short while we spotted a large fish feeding so I climbed down and had a go. I ended up missing it when it torpedoed out of the water and slammed the cicada fly. The wind picked up and we caught some lovely fish to 5lbs casting into the wind on the foam lines. The fish in Poolburn are a beautiful colour and when they hit the cicada you could see a bright orange/red flash appear.
We then drove up to Omarama stopping to have a look at the Ahuriri, and I had a quick cast near the bridge and managed to miss a huge fish that was feeding tucked in hard against the cliff edge... We stayed at the local pub, beer is good but get there before 9pm otherwise the kitchen is shut and the only thing left is hideous pizzas (as an Italian I object to calling it a pizza, but I couldn't think of any other name for it).
Day 5
We fished the same section as the year before and saw a lot less fish and didn't manage to catch any. There were lots of fresh boot prints so it must have been fished the day before. We tried further up and had more success, I hooked and lost a large brown on nymph in a deep fast run and then found a couple of fish actively feeding off the surface. After many casts, refusals, fly changes I finally caught a 6lb brown after having gone down to 6X tippet. That was one of the most satisfying fish of the week. Only got this pic before it slipped out of my hands, broke the tippet and got away...
A bit further up we found a back eddy with a large fish that eagerly took Wes' GFF and after an intense struggle it was landed.
Wes' 7-1/2 lber:
and the pool it came from:
We were really lucky with the weather:
We then headed off to Dan Isbister's place where once again he put us up and took us fishing, what a champion.
Day 6
We fished the Maerewhenua in the morning, as always it was lovely and full of fish. We found one fish feeding hard against the edge on a run and I finally managed to get a rise when I switched to a size 16 sparkle dun and 6X tippet. After a good tough fight where it took me upstream I landed a 5lb rainbow:
Here's a video of the capture:
I managed to catch one more around 3lbs and we spooked many many more.
Spot the fish:
We headed back to Dan's, and after dinner and drinks we hit the Nunya for a short but intense evening session where I managed to catch a lovely 4lb brown:
Day 7
We headed off with Dan to a secret spot with his in search of the NZ Trophy - a 10lber. The river we fished was lovely and perfect for spotting. We didn't see many fish but the ones we saw were all very big, and after a longish walk we found what we were looking for. I clambered down a cliff and up boulders till I got into position, and on the first good drift up it came. A short tussle followed where I managed to get the fish into a little side pocket and then I pounced. We then realised that we had left the weighnet a km or so downriver, so we took a guess and conservatively called it between 9 and 10lbs. No lie detector so no trophy, but I was elated nonetheless. He was a huge fish, with a massive head and eyes:
Here's some video of the capture:
What a morning, we celebrated when we got back to the car with a Speight's
We then said goodbye to Dan and his lovely wife Liz and headed off to Fairlie where we were due to meet up with Simon and Mat, who had promised some spring creek fishing for the next day. We drove over via the Hakataramea Pass, stopping for a quick fish but the water was very low and warm.
Day 8
We headed off with Simon and Mat to a secret spring creek and we were not to be disappointed. We had barely set off when in a small drain a fish came past. Mat was our official photographer for the day and took some great sequences of shots:
Another sequence:
And another:
Video:
We had a great morning casting and catching browns and rainbows in beautiful surrounds:
Bonefish flat???
We then headed back to Fairlie and finished off the day stalking the bank of Lake Opuha where caught some lovely browns on small dries:
The gang:
Day 9
Time to leave. Mat and Simon headed off to fish further south and Wes and I went back to lake Opuha for a quick last session. We caught more fish the highlight being a brown from the dam wall which meant that at one point Wes had to hold me by the feet while I passed my rod under a cable stretching across from the cliff below. All good fun:
And that was it for 2007, a fantastic week with great weather, great company, and extraordinary fishing. 90% of the fish were taken on dries, and 60% of those on the trusty Carty's GFF foam cicada in green or black.
