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No
David was not run over by a steam roller! The end
of another afternoon and waiting at the car for
the last of the group to return. You do quite a
bit of walking on these rivers if trophy fish are
to be targeted. There is often a lot of water between
them. |
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A cold beer
at the end of a great day! It doesn't get any better
than this. |
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This summer
the weather was unseasonably wet. We got plenty
of rain and even some snow. Polaroiding fish was
still the way to go. The good news is that we shouldn't
get another year of weather like this past one for
quite some time. |
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Your attention
please! Persistence on the hard days will pay off.
It is funny because with all the blue sky- 'relatively'
easy days that we had, it is these moments where
adversity was overcome that we remember most. |
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How much further?
Just a few minutes in this baby! For someone who
always walked in with a pack, recent chopper trips
have opened up a new world. I won't say anymore. |
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A wilderness
river, a healthy brown, a big smile. In many instances
the fish in the backcountry are no larger than their
lowland cousins. So why do we do it? It's a combination
of the locations, company & isolation that draws
us to these rivers like a moth to the flame. |
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NZ is blessed
with a wonderful hut network. About $70 a year gets
you unlimited access. Just lob up and crash. And
a a heap of them are on trout rivers. |
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Side casting
to keep line and rod flash to a minimum on a bright
day. Dull coloured clothing, good polarised sunglasses,
honed stalking skills and careful presentations
are the hall marks of the NZ fly fisher. |
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The results
for all of the above. A healthy brown of average
size. Unless you have experienced the quality of
fishing and the amazing natural environments of
the South Island much of these words will be lost
on you. |
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Goulburn Valley
Fly Fishing Centre Pty. Ltd does not condone the
wasting of good Scotch. Every group brought some
with them, we were only following orders, It would've
been rude to not have a drink with our guests. Etc. |
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Handling fish
is something we always take great care in doing.
Often there is only time for a brief shot in the
net, especially if a fish has fought a long, arduous
fight. Always gently support fish with wet hands
and never have them out of the water for an extended
period. |
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Sometimes
no matter how good the fishing may be, there will
remain places just out of reach. Can you imagine
walking back up this hill after a day's fishing?
Even walking down at the start of the day would
be a challenge. |
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A nice fish
taken in the late afternoon. There are many smaller
creeks and rivers to fish when either the wind is
too strong in the open or we just want a little
more intimacy. Stalking huge fish on the open rivers
gets boring after a while! Yeah right. |
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Our next door
neighbour for the trip. The cabin we stayed in had
a heap of deer over the back fence. This one was
not too friendly as you could imagine but the does
would eat from your hand. |
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David had
a few hours off between groups leaving and arriving
and here is the result. A brilliant brown of between
7&8lbs. |
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The end of
another day and the end of this pictorial. While
we fish rivers most days there does exist the opportunity
to fish some great stillwaters. But I will save
those photos for another time. |
