1st of October finally arrived in Queenstown. After 2 weeks of stormy wet and nasty weather we were expecting some big water. As it turned out the day dawned to heavy rain turning to snow to 300m and then dropping back to a biting SW wind. Our drive South saw us looking at a great deal of water and found all of it big and dirty (a worm fisherman’s dream). We decided to drop into my fishing crib and get it set up before driving around for more exploring. 1700 saw us on a water a good long jumper could get across and a fish was spotted and hooked 1st cast and in the ensuing battle the fisherman forgot felts were banned and he was in rubber soles – turned around like a ballet dancer and promptly crashed to his knees smacking one on a sharp stone (right on the knee cap) – a yell followed quickly by an appeal to come and take over the rod end up in us both working a very nice 4lb brown trout to the bank. It was time to go home and get the voltaren to work and some whisky to celebrate our opening and the team work required to get this fish on one hell of a nasty opening day.
2nd of October was meant to be a corker but the next front moved in faster than expected and we woke to more howling winds and decided to leg it to an area that just might have cleanish water and might get us some shelter – but a serious 4wd track to get there with the possibility of getting stuck. This approach worked – we didn’t get stuck and we found ourselves hooking a few more fish in a great scenic location.
The 3rd saw us heading to another point of the compass to get out of the still vicious winds to one of my little back up areas and a couple more fish out of clean but big water – no wind tho and time to head home and shelter. The drive home saw lots more dirty water and continuing high winds and today the 4th was another storm coming in with heavy rain.
Oh the fun and joys of spring time fishing
I can’t tell you how much I appreciated everything you did to make my fishing trip unforgettable. That trophy brown was totally unbelievable! Frankly, I’m surprised we were able to land him. That was one of the longest fights I’ve ever had with a fish. Fighting that trout and the river current was a whole new experience for me. Your advice and help were invaluable. I will definitely call you the next time I get to New Zealand. And I really enjoyed your website article and photo. Thanks again for putting me in position to catch the fish of a lifetime. And it was almost a few fish of a lifetime. All in all…brilliant!!!
