Monthly Highlights
Below are photos and a story from the recent month's guided fly fishing trips in New Zealand's Central South Island.
February 2018
Sheralee and happy guide with 6lb brownie.With 200mm of rain in February, the waterways in the Central South Island (and elsewhere around the country) received a very welcome top up. Most rivers and lakes were high and discoloured as a result of the rain so guiding was orientated towards waters which we may have ignored otherwise.
Just prior to the first dump of rain, Rune, a friendly Norwegian client and I, fished a section of the lower Ahuriri. The river was low and water temperature too high for much activity. Getting there early was the key to success because the afternoon, as expected, was hard going.
In fact, we found a shallow pool containing at least 40 decent sized trout. In normal circumstances these fish would have been spread out over several pools and runs. I can only assume that cooler spring water was filtering up through the gravel attracting the trout to this very exposed situation. We left them alone not wishing to add to their obviously stressed state.
Mark, another friendly regular, had a great day's fishing on one of the few good days between the bouts of rain.
Sheralee and Mike arrived just after the second big rain so we really did have to improvise. As a further handicap, a cell phone containing many of their NZ trip photos went missing. Bugger!! Two years ago on a previous visit we endured howling winds so I reckon we will strike it just right next time!
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| Another fine brownie for Rune. | Success on the lower Ahuriri! | |
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| Rune - a happy man! | ||
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| Mark with a handsome brown. | Super rainbow for Mark. | |
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| Mike & Sheralee tuck into one of Marie's famous home made lunches. | Plenty of spots on this pretty brownie. | |
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| Strike! | Fish on! | Mike with the end result! |
