Mary's Summer in New Zealand (continued)

The biggest problem of fishing in New Zealand was actually keeping the fish on the line. Even with the heavy leader-tippet, I only landed about half of the fish that I caught. Browns are aggressive fighters and they do not tolerate being forced. I caught a total of 54 fish in ten days, which means that they were actually on long enough for me to work them. I only landed 34. There were many more fish that totally ignored me or would come up, inspect, and leave without taking. There aren't as many predators in New Zealand so it wasn't unusual to have a pair of fish feeding in the middle of a river. I got pretty good at getting the fish that were hiding in the willows, but if there was a chance at a couple of fish, out in the open, with no obstructions, I choked.

The fish, that I landed, were all between 3 1/4 and 6 1/2 pounds with most of them in the 4 - 5 pound range. The largest trout that I caught, but didn't land, was probably 8 lbs. The 12 pounders that you read about occur when the mice population explodes. Mostly we fished low-land rivers and streams running through agricultural land. No mosquitoes, no poison oak, no snakes.

People have looked at the pictures and said, "That's a postcard," and I have commented that, "No, it's someone's pasture." New Zealand is beautiful and it's a cliché, but it's also true. Steve took me to fish the area where The Lord of the Rings movies were filmed (also someone's pasture) and it's gorgeous. That was the day that I only hooked one fish and didn't land him. The wind was blowing 70 km but it was the best day of the five to go up to the higher country and I got much better at casting into the wind. I never saw another person fishing for the entire 10 days. Part of this was because I was with guides who knew which electrified and barbed wire fences to climb over, which signs to ignore, and which pastures to hike through to get to good water.

West Side of South Island

I stayed at Ben Kemp's house in a very small town north of Greymouth. Ben is an incredible chef and I had wonderful meals everyday. Ben is a great instructor and the first day we fished from his boat on Lake Brunner. I calculated that I cast 1,260 times that day but it was okay because I can use a fork with my left hand.

The west side is topical with beech forests and fern forests. This is more of the resort area for New Zealanders, which is a little strange because it isn't logical to leave one area and go to another for the scenery when the whole island is so picturesque.

The next two days I fished with Tony Gutberlet. Tony is the most like the guides that I am used to. He likes to challenge the fish and have a good time. Steve and Ben would tend to leave a fish that had seen us and stopped feeding. Tony like to try to trick the fish by offering different flies. He also had me climbing up into willow trees so I could scramble down the trunk to get to a side channel and crawl on my hands and knees through the rain forest to get to the river.

When I caught my last fish with Tony, we were walking up a rise back to the truck when Tony spotted a really large fish in the river. He told me to cast to it. I told him that if I could get a line and fly through the little hole in the trees and get the fly in front of the fish and if the fish took it, we would have no way to land it. At this point, the river was 30 feet below us with a sheer bank and three feet of water running over rocks with no soft place to fall. Tony looked at me and said - very emphatically, "You hook him, I'll net him". I told him that it was irresponsible, that I wouldn't do it and he repeated himself. I expressed a gentle expletive and did get the cast through the trees and got the fly 3 feet in front of the fish. It was a cicada and the stupid fish shouldn't have spooked. Cicadas land like that. This became the "Oh F---" fish.

Next two days were with Ben and he wanted to know how I was finding New Zealand, what I had expected but also wanted to know about guides in the States. He and Tony said that they got no respect from other New Zealanders and rarely are asked to guide them. Their clients come from Asia, Europe, Australia, Canada and the States. I told him that I found that he and Steve were much more formal than the guides in the States. In the States, the guide is "the man." For example, one day I was fishing with Steve and looking at scenery. Steve said, very softly, "Up, Mary, up, up." I looked at him and asked what he wanted me to do. He said that I had a fish on, but he didn't want to startle me. I told Ben that, in the States, when that happens, the guide is usually telling me - loudly - that he isn't going to waste his time finding me fish if I am going to waste his time while I look at scenery and to get busy.

Between Ben and Tony, I fished a variety of rivers and streams. One day, where the Grey and the Arnold join, I hooked a 20+ pound salmon. We never saw it, but others had been caught in the area and it had me to my backing in seconds. Unfortunately, it was tighten the drag or lose all of my line and we didn't get to fight the fish.

Thanks to Steve, Ben and Tony's patience and good humor, I am a better fisherman than when I started. To be fair to Steve, I should have gone back and fished a couple of days with him at the end because he got me first and had the hardest time of it. Ben complemented me on my casting, but he hadn't seen me before Steve worked with me. This was a fantastic trip and one that I would like to do again. The following is the contact information and I can't recommend these people highly enough. You will have a great time, catch a lot of fish, and really enjoy your trip.

More information:

Steve Gerard
13 Cameron Street
Methven, New Zealand
phone: 03.302.8448
fax: 03.302.8441
web 1: www.flyshop.co.nz
web 2: www.flyfishingnz.co.nz
email: steve.gerard@xtra.co.nz

Pam and Roger Callaghan
Tyrone Farmstay
Mt. Hutt Station Road
No. 12 RD Rakai
Methven, New Zealand
phone: 03.302.8096
fax: 03.302.8099
web: www.travelwise.co.nz/listings/Tyrone_Deer_Farm.html
email: tyronedeerfarm@xtra.co.nz

Ben Kemp
Kingfisher Fly Fishing Guides & Lodge
Lake Brunner region - "Where the Brown Trout Die of Old Age!"
Grey Street, Nelson Creek, RD Dobson 7852
West Coast, New Zealand
phone: (+64) 03.732.4884
mobile: (+64) 0274.778.078
web: www.fly-fishing-guides-new-zealand.co.nz
email: ben@fly-fishing-guides-new-zealand.co.nz