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"The great charm of fly-fishing is that we are always learning." - Theodore Gordon

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The Fishing Report

The Archive: Rio Azul, Imbabala Safari Lodge, Chile, New Zealand, Lake Tanganyika, Bassas da India, Des Roches Island, Farquar aboard the MV Illusions, Barotse Tiger Camp, Chawalo, Neptune Warrior - Trident Tested, Ngwezi Houseboat - Okavango,

New Zealand

Gorilla warfare - New Zealand

Water is something we all take for granted, it covers more than 70% of our planet and even when your life literally depends on it, we rarely stop to consider the consequences of short supply. But when we landed in the world’s trout capital to the news of the worst drought in a decade, the thought of dry river beds devoid of fish made our jet lag look positively infectious.

Well let me tell you, the kiwis just don’t know what a dry season is…water spews from every crevice that sulfur doesn’t. The sheer number of streams, creeks and rivers will cause the average angler to wonder around in a daze…in danger of spending more time traveling to fishing hotspots than actually having your line in the water.

And in practically every miniscule segment of source water lie trout.

We had decided to join the Sybase Proteas for few days, prior to the start of the World Fly Fishing Championships, before heading out to the renowned back country rivers that every guide guards more fiercely than his sister’s chastity.

Grevin and Mike Price, winners of the Hyundai Corporate Trophy Challenge were my fishing partners for this coveted trip, and to say that they were chomping at the bit would be like describing sea biscuit as a pretty good finisher.

We were fortunate enough to have the help of migrated South African, Garth Plank, who despite having qualified to fish for New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games, imparted his local knowledge to his fellow countrymen.

The 2008 Sybase Proteas comprised of world champ silver medalist Mark Yelland, seasoned campaigners Gary Glen Young and Robert van Rensburg as well as recalled Tim Rolston and newly capped Andre Steenkamp.

And it didn’t take them long to get amongst the fish

Mark led the way and his approach, once hooked up had no regard for finesse……..hauling them into the net as quick as possible, such are the time constraints with competitive angling

The lads had obviously sussed the fly patterns very quickly and knew exactly where the rainbow and browns were holing up as their practice sessions hauled in over 300 specimens which verified that the lakes of North Island house an impressive array of browns and rainbows, as wild as they are unique in their coloration.

There’s only so much watching another angler catch fish that you can take, so leaving the Sybase Proteas to strut their stuff, our touring party made a hasty departure for the trout capital of the world… Turangi

This is home to the legendary Tongariro river. It’s a serious piece of water, with a minimum flow rate of 21 cubic meters per second, creating an array of famous pools and runs that eventually feed the volcano made Lake Taupo, creating one of the most prolific trout fisheries on our planet.

But these waters attract more flies than a dead wildebeest on the Serengeti plains.

The reputation of New Zealand fishing is world renowned and consequently every angler who has the incurable fishing pox makes his pilgrimage to this holy land of trout and you can understand why….the sheer quantity of trout in these waters would drive the most religious of catch and release preachers to grab their priest and start clubbing trout by the kilo.

Grevin, aside from his obvious angling ability is terminally ill when it comes to fly fishing, he will always be first on and last off the water and wastes no time with idle chatter, for he was here for one and one reason alone. Using some heavily weighted flies on a Czech nymph rig, Grev managed to fleece a good few rainbows from the river in the 5 to 6 pound range.

And the apple never falls far from the tree as it was plain to see that his enthusiasm had been instilled from an early age by his old man, a poacher of pedigree….who elected to down stream nymph on a sinking line to the trout holding in the slower water, being rewarded with a brace of 4 pound juveniles.

As hard as the number of fish are to believe, they haven’t invented a fly pattern that most of these fish haven’t seen. Educated is an understatement, these fish have a PHD in fur and feathers. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll catch more than your fair share of trout, but they are a fraction compared to the number that will swim on by.

Having spent many hours fighting the current and watching the wry smiles of the rainbow trout passing through, I finally had an oblivious fish take my offering…..and as invariably happens, once the hoodoo has been broken, yet another fell prey….still, although feisty in the cold oxygen rich waters, they were a far cry from the trophies that we had seen grace the covers of brochures in every fly fishing shop.

Having had more than our due, we retired back to Creel lodge, situated right on the banks of the Tongariro river to savor our old friend Arthur Bell.

John, the manager of Creel lodge was good enough to introduce us to two of the North islands finest guides, Kenny Drummond and Andrew, who offered to show us the real back country fly fishing of New Zealand the following morning.

Not waiting for a second invite it was up at sparrows and off in search of trophy trout.

That’s the other thing about fishing the rivers of New Zealand, you need a few Maori elocution lessons to pronounce them, the WH for instance is pronounced as a F, so you can understand our amusement at our next location……. The Phukkapappa river.

It was a stark contrast to the density of anglers that we had encountered to date and it really didn’t require too much traveling, not more than a hour out of trout central and you were in the heart of the back country.

The drill was simple but very strict…only one angler would get a shot at the fish in each run or pool, one cast or good drift is all you’d get so make it count…we were stalking the fish that make this part of the world famous, so the anticipation was matched only by the anxiety when confronted with a 10 pound wild river trout holding in water not more than 10 meters from you.

Grev had earned the right to be first man on point and started to present a delicate dry into the seam. A good drift later, a bewildered expression spoke volumes as his 4x tippet was parted like cotton.

Mike graciously let me have next crack as Andrew, tried to control his hysteria as in his estimation a fourteen pound brown lurked at the tail of the pool ahead.

Without your spotter sunglasses, you wouldn’t have even seen the beast.

Now, trout in my opinion and feeble excuse are finickier than most fresh water fish and confronted with thick bush behind, the trout of my dreams in front and a skeptical albeit silent audience all around, I lived up to my own expectations…..and fluffed it.

Despair is the hardest emotion to mask, knowing I had traveled over ten thousand kilometers to have this opportunity and blown it, it’s hard to dust yourself off and start again.

But on we trekked, until eventually another opportunity presented itself and this time I managed to present a half decent proposal….only to have the brown nonchalantly refuse it.

Call them shrewd, perceptive or discerning and you’d be wrong…… they’re down right discriminatory!!

It’s like being famished, watching a juicy rump sizzling, experiencing the aroma and then having your dog snatch it from your grasp.

But on we ventured to the upper reaches determined to have a wild trophy to our names.

And it was left up to the experience of Mike Price, who on a long cast, downstream into the back eddy of a pool, had the resident Numzane take him on.

Forget the fact that you’ve changed to 8 lb tippet, in the current it wouldn’t make much difference if you were on 12lb, the fish is going to dictate the pace….and this was something it had plenty of…..you’re caught between the elation of seeing a slab erupt and the dread that with each shake of it’s head your line might not hold…….man, this is why wild river trout can hold their own in any realm of fly fishing.

Like any fish, once downstream of you and into the fast flowing rapids, you prey that you have a guide as committed as Andrew to chase, who careened over the rocks and bagged the beast.

Sheer relief transposes into gratitude as you consider the odds of landing such a prize under the circumstances.

You can never pay a good guide enough and let me tell you, having enjoyed the guiding services of many around the globe, I haven’t experienced more professional and congenial than Kenny and Andrew…..it absolutely made our trip!

Funny how the next few hours seemed to fly by, they say that talk is cheap but money buys the whisky, well with we were happily pouring the Bells, celebrating a moment that for all of us ranked at the top of those extra special times.

With a heavy heart we left Creel lodge and Turangi, but we had to catch up on the Sybase Proteas.

Competitive Angling is an unforgiving sport. On the worlds stage you have but one opportunity to put into practice 12 months worth of work and considering the arduous preparation leading up to this make or break tournament the wrong result can be soul destroying.

The Czechs romped home, closely followed by New Zealand and France, with South Africa placing 15th out of 18 teams, a disappointing result sorely felt by every team member. The full results you can scrutinize at your leisure on www.wildfly.co.za

But we did learn that New Zealand has a refreshing perspective on trout. Like South Africa, they are not native to the country, in fact they were introduced at about the same time as we brought Rainbow trout into our country. The difference is, they practically worship the species as it brings in Million of Dollars in tourism revenue and they realize the value of protecting the recreational angling of the species.

We need to take a leaf out of their book and make a concerted effort to protect the future of trout in South Africa whilst ensuring that the endemic biodiversity of our waters is not adversely affected.

If you would like to support this initiative drop us an email so your voice can be heard, email savetrout@wildfly.co.zaThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

If you’re thinking of making this pilgrimage, make sure you give us a shout , so we can give you the right advice that will make your trip worthwhile!