ADV229 online

AN AQUATIC
ADVENTURE
The art of fly fishing
Words by Steve Dickinson - Images by Lynne Dickinson
My earliest memories are fishing with my dad on English rivers, catching coarse
fish like roach, rudd and perch. We then moved to New Zealand, and I soon
discovered the joy of sea fishing and I still love it today. But twenty years ago we
bought a property on the banks of the Tongariro river, and I was introduced to
trout fishing.
Trout fishing is not like any other fishing, the results are often small and modest
by comparison to other fishing. Yet there is so much to learn and understand
and it is more like hunting than fishing, it’s more of an adventure.
New Zealand both North and South Islands are intertwined with a plethora of
available trout streams, rivers, dams and lakes. There are numerous websites
and books that outline where the most accessible are and how to access them.
There is nothing more exciting than driving up to a river access not really
knowing what to expect. Some rivers are right there, others you have to tramp
sometimes for days to get to. (It is important if you are crossing private land to
ask permission).
Recently a mate and I smashed through bracken and up a small goat track for
what seemed hours following the hardly used trail not really sure if we were
going in the right direction. Then as we crossed a low ridge line, we looked down
on a crystal-clear river on a large bend no deeper than a foot. And we could see
the silhouettes of the trout from where we looked down. We approached the
river ‘stealthy’; these big boys don’t get to hear a lot of footfalls. On the sandy
bank for as far as you could see in both directions you could not see a footprint,
not a sign of mankind. As per our custom we sat, we watched, and we whispered
rather than just jumping straight in. Just using our go to flash back peasant tail,
and keeping a low profile while casting, first cast big rainbow, second cast big
rainbow, third cast big brown. Catching the fish is the bonus and it does not
always work out so well, but when it does come together there is nothing like it.
I am no tramper, I find it boring, but if you add trout fishing to that I’ll happily
spend all day walking the banks of a river casting a fly, hunting the fish for
kilometres. It is so much less about gathering food (but trout do taste good if
cooked correctly) but it is more about the experience, more often than not I find
myself sitting on the bank just looking at what an amazing place we live in, and it
is right on our front door.
ADVENTUREMAGAZINE.CO.NZ//59