June 15 newsletter

Jack Kos and trophy trout

Club ContactsExecutive:President: Tony Entwistle 5444565 [email protected] President: Ray Day 5441245 [email protected]: Bruce McLean 5480066 [email protected]: Ray Day 5441245 [email protected] Editor and Webmaster: Graham Carter 07 8551833 [email protected] 021 02600437Committee Scott Ingram 5441605 [email protected] Peter Lawler 5489753 [email protected] Maree Peter 522 4166 [email protected] Mathew Williams 5445996 [email protected] James Jemson 7443123 [email protected] and Greet New Members Ray Day and Pete LawlerFishing trips James Macdonald [email protected] 03 5403520Fly Tying Convenor Tony EntwistleClub Librarian Lois Rutherfurd 022 6010642Trophy Master Lois Rutherfurd [email protected] Sponsorship & Newsletter Advertising Ray DayClub Speakers: Tony EntwistleClub Night Tea/Coffee: Maree PeterNewsletter Distribution: Brian Richards [email protected] 0274349165Life Members: 2007 John Willis 2012 Graham CarterPast Presidents: 06-08 Lester Higgins 08-09 Ross Walker04-06 Richard Boyden 11-13 Ray Day 13- Tony Entwistle09-11 Dennis Ealam THE NELSON TROUT FISHING CLUBMeets once a month at: Fish and Game Offices, 66 Champion Road, Richmond. Normally the 3rd Wednesday of the month 7.00pm. Please phone 5440066 if unsure. Any views or opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the committee, club or editor. www.thenelsontroutfishingclub.com

3President’s FlylineThings are pretty quiet out there right now so this month’s ‘Flyline’ is a shortone. The recent cold snap has made for tough fishing conditions, but with thefrosts comes some lovely settled weather and pleasant opportunities for shortbursts of fishing around midday when things warm up. Remember that this can bea good time of year to break out the spinning gear, when the trout remaining inthe fishable areas are less inclined to move on a fly.Last year the Club ran a couple of full One-Day ‘First Steps’ Fly Fishing Courses,which were well attended and well received. If there is enough interest I amprepared to run another one this winter … at this stage I am suggesting SundayJuly 12th. This introductory course is suitable for beginners and those looking torefresh their basic skills. It will run from 0930 to 1630, is free to club membersand will be limited to a maximum of ten participants, but will require a minimumof four participants to go ahead. Bookings for the course are on a first come firstserved basis and should be made to me at: [email protected] … bookings willclose on July 3rd.So far I have had three anglers express interest in getting together for a latewinter expedition to chase running rainbows in the Tongariro River. They are allexperienced hands but it would be great to also include some newbies to theTongariro experience. If you’ve always wanted to give fishing the Tongariro a gobut didn’t know how to go about it, this is your chance to join a Club trip northand learn. Once again you can email me at the address above if you would like toput your name down for the trip.For our June meeting we have been very fortunate to secure Jack Kos from theUniversity of Canterbury as our guest speaker. Jack is a PhD student studying theintroduction of trout to New Zealand. He’ll speak primarily on the introduction oftrout to New Zealand, but will also give his perspective as a young angler ongrowing up ‘fishing-wise’ in an age of dairy and didymo. Jack is also an excellentphotographer and a very successful young angler with an already seriouslyimpressive track record on trophy trout.A reminder too with the club AGM and election of officers coming up in July thatwe are still seeking nominations for Club President and Club Secretary. Dig deepguys … we need some new blood to step up and help out.TightlinesTony EntwistleCover Photo: The winner from the May Photo Competition: \"The club mascota Top Gun fisher\"' by Richard Breakspear.

4 AGM NOTE CHANGE OF DATEWednesday 22nd July 2015It is the FOURTH Wednesday in July 7pm, Fish & GameChampion Road, Richmond • Election of Executive • General Business • Trophy Awards • Quiz • Social TimeBruce McLeanSecretary03 [email protected] REMINDER ANNUAL AUCTION 19th AUGUST MEETINGContact Cameron Reid with your entries

5WHAT A GREAT SPEAKERBy Ray DayAt our May club night meeting, we were privileged to have Tom Kroos of TomKroos & Associates speak to us.Tom Kroos with a Brown Trout recovered while researching the Brook StreamTom has BSc in Biology and land management. He uses his qualification andknowledge in: Ecological Assessments; Fresh water Fish Surveys and Salvage;Passage and monitoring; Habitat Enhancement; RMA Habitat Mitigation; WildlifeManagement Advise.Tom’s Address was mainly about working with the local Councils, giving adviseand working to improve the Habitat in some of the streams flowing into theWaimea estuary.Tom showed pictures detailing the procedure for repairs to Poormans stream andJenkins stream after the 2011 one in 150 year flood.

6He described how sections of the stream were dammed off and the waterpumped around the dammed section.Then with the use of electric fishing and nets the fish are removed. Theexcavators and trucks then removed the gravels carried down by the flood. A Big Girl long fin eel recovered from Jenkins CreekThe stream bed is then reinstated in a natural way, with rocks, weirs, logscreating fish passages etc, all placed so as to provide suitable fish habitat.Overall it was a most interesting evening.It was pleasing to hear that the local councils and engineers are now prepared tolisten and act on better stream management.The Richmond District Council have realigned the lower section of Borck creek inline with Tom's input. Borck Creek flows under lower Queen Street by McShanesRoad so have a look next time you go that way.Tom also mentioned that while removing fish from the streams prior to workingin the bed they found Gold fish and Mosquito fish which had been released intothe waterways possibly by people emptying their fish tanks.

7 A new water way being developed in the Lower Queen St Richmond areaI think we would agree that such actions are very irresponsible and find it hard tothat people would do it.For further reading check out from the Nelson City Council site the work Tomdoes in conjunction with the Councils.http://nelson.govt.nz/assets/Environment/Downloads/scorecards/River-and-Stream-Health-Annual-Monitoring-Summary-2012.pdfTorrent Fish: This little fish is the only freshwater member of the Pinguipedidaefamily in New Zealand. Closely related to the more familiar blue cod, thescientific name of this fish means literally torrent (cheimarros) fish (ichthyos).

8 Torrent FishAnd it’s an apt name for this species because that is exactly where this fish lives- right in the swift white rapids of stony rivers and streams.The flattened head and large pectoral fins help this fish to anchor on theriverbed, while the raised eyes and ventral mouth are probably adaptations forfeeding in this habitat. These later two features, along with the distinct darkbands along the sides, easily distinguish the torrentfish from other freshwaterspecies.Despite its skill at living in swift water, the torrentfish is not a good climber andonly penetrates inland in river systems where the gradient is relatively low.It is less common in Otago and Southland than in other parts of New Zealand, andtorrentfish have never been reported from Fiordland, Stewart, or ChathamIslands. It is not found in any other country except New Zealand. Cont Pg 12.

9 BRAG PAGESTop left: Casting to that shadow, by Pete Lawler; top right: Easter treatsfishing, by Maree Peter; mid left: Eye-on-you, by Tony Entwistle; mid right:Got one, by Maree Peter; bottom left: Hooked up in the rough, by Ray Day;bottom right: Just about perfect, by Tony Entwistle. 10

BRAG PAGESTop left: Lake Argyle, by Richard Breakspear; top right: Late Season TrophyJack, by Tony Entwistle; mid left: Jack Kos with 16.5lb trophy fromCanterbury high country stream; mid right: School's In, by Tony Entwistle;bottom left: Slick casting, by Bruce McLean; bottom right: Well done, byMaree Peter.

11From Page 9Like many of New Zealand’s freshwater fish, the torrentfish undertakesmigrations between the sea and fresh water as part of its life cycle. Looking justlike tiny replicas of the adults, juvenile torrentfish enter fresh water in springand autumn, and after a few weeks in the estuaries, begin moving upstream tothe adult habitat.The adults continue to move slowly upstream, with the largest and most inlandfish being the females and those in the lower reaches predominately males.How and where they get together for spawning is unknown - we suspect thefemales move downstream to the males, but no spawning sites or spawningbehaviour has ever been observed.Despite the mystery surrounding aspects of its life cycle, torrentfish are one ofthe most common fish in open-bedded rivers in New Zealand. Pools, riffles and wetlands all part of the planned work

12Fishing Tandem FliesLarge stonefly patterns (above) or other heavily weighted flies such as Copper Johns canhelp sink your rig quickly.You can fish two or more wet flies under a large dry fly, under an indicator, or without anindicator — especially if you are swinging flies, like the older method of fishing a cast ofwet flies downstream. The most popular connections for nymphs are bend connections,two eye, or droppers, but you can also connect looped-leader nymphs to dropper loopsor to knotted leaders (placed just above a knot).There are several effective configurations for fishing nymphs, depending on thecircumstances.You can first tie on a heavily weighted pattern to sink the rig, followed by a pattern thatfloats freely in the currents. I'll often fish a weighted Beadhead Pheasant Tail with aZebra Midge tied to the bend. The weighted fly gets the rig deep and the unweightedmidge pattern drifts freely above the heavy fly. Many anglers have one or two specialtyflies that they like to use for this purpose. The best patterns are generic enough so thatyou can use them throughout the season, and sink quickly — the Copper John is an

excellent example of a generic pattern that can also be used as a weighted first fly. Thesecond option is to first tie on the smaller pattern followed by the larger, weighted one. 13When fishing heavily weighted flies for fast currents, strike indicators are often a betterchoice than indicator flies. You can rig your flies in many different ways. The dropper(left) and bend connections (right) may be the most popular.The setup you choose may depend on what you have already tied on. For instance, if youare fishing a heavy nymph but want to cover another area in the water column with anemerger, you may just attach the emerger above the tippet knot with a movabledropper, or retie the fly, leaving a tag large enough to attach the emerger. If you don'tfeel like rerigging, you can attach the emerger to the bend of the heavy nymph. Thereare always several available options with these combinations, and you shouldexperiment and let the trout tell you which one they like best.In the Czech-nymphing style of fishing, anglers fish heavily weighted, streamlinednymphs (so that they sink quickly), most often three at a time. They connect twonymphs on droppers and one on point and most often tie the heaviest fly pattern on themiddle dropper, so that the weighted fly helps sink both the first dropper and the pointfly.Fishing several subsurface patterns is often a better choice in high water than fishing adry-and-dropper rig. Though the dry-and-dropper rig is versatile, it is best for waterdepths from one to four feet and slower to medium currents. In high, fast water, fish oneor more weighted nymphs under a supersized indicator fly or indicator. The downside of

using a fly large enough to float these weighted flies — like some of the foam hopper andstoneflies — is that they can be less aerodynamic to cast than some strike indicators —though large polypropylene yarn indicators are no joy to cast. Fast-action rods and lineweights and leader tapers designed for turning over heavier, wind-resistant flies makecasting large foam hoppers, stoneflies, and Chernobyl Ant-style patterns relativelypainless. 14StreamersTwo popular ways of connecting tandem streamers are the bend (top) and two-eyeconnections (bottom). Some anglers think that the streamers have more action with thetwo-eye connection, though I find it easier to tie tippet on to the bend of a hook thanthrough a hook eye already crowded with tippet.Fishing two streamers is a deadly way to entice the largest fish to strike. The two mostpopular connections for fishing tandem streamers are the bend and two-eyeconnections. When fishing streamers, choose flies with different colours and sizes. Fishone fly that is smaller than the other, and fish flies that are both light and dark to coveras many bases as possible. Woolly Buggers are always good choices to imitate largehellgrammites, stonefly nymphs, as well as crayfish and sculpins, and you can't gowrong with rabbit-strip flies such as Zonkers or Double Bunnies. You don't cast twostreamers as much as you lob them. It isn't pretty, but the combination is deadly. Two

favourite Woolly Bugger variations are the Beadhead Woolly Bugger and Rooke'sMinnow.The easiest setup for fishing multiple streamers from a drift boat is a short sinking-tipline with a floating running line and a short, straight piece of tippet heavy enough tohelp turn over the flies, prevent break offs when fish slam your fly, and stout enough topull your flies from snags or the occasional bush as you pound the banks. Fish typicallyaren't leader shy with streamers because they often see the fly first and the fly isgenerally fished on an active retrieve. 15In addition to an active retrieve, a combination of dead-drifting and short strips alsoworks well. Many anglers fish tandem streamers with a floating line and tapered leader.Good casting technique is essential with this setup, as is the leader's taper design. Useweight-forward lines with heavy front tapers (nymph and bass tapers) and leaders withlarge butt diameters that extend through at least half of the entire leader's length. Ithelps to build your own, but Umpqua sells a leader they call the weight-forward leaderthat turns over tandem streamers well. When fishing double streamers, it's imperative tomodify your casting stroke, not only to prevent tangles, but to prevent hitting yourselfwith the heavy flies.Though many anglers don't use them, streamer and nymph combinations also workwell, perhaps because the larger streamer draws the fish's attention to the nymph.Charles Meck is the author of more than twelve fly fishing books, and his writing appearsregularly in Mid-Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide and Fly Fisherman. You can find out moreabout Fishing Tandem Flies by visiting the author's site (www.charlesmeck.com) orcontacting Stackpole Books, distributor for Headwater Books. Copyright © 2007 by CharlesMeck.A couple drove several miles down a country road not saying a word. An earlier discussionhad led to an argument and neither wanted to concede their position.As they passed a farm with donkeys and pigs in the front paddock the wife askedsarcastically, “Relatives of yours?”“Yep”, replied the husband, “In-laws.”Finding a woman sobbing that she had locked her keys in her car, a passing soldier assuresher that he can help.She looks on amazed as he removes his trousers, ..... Rolls them into a tight ball and rubsthem against the car door.Magically it opens.......\"That's so clever,\" the woman gasps. \"How did you do it?\"\"Easy,\" replies the man. \"These are my khakis\".

Paula Bennett is touring around the Nelson area in her ministerial chauffeur driven car.Suddenly a cow jumps out into the road.They hit it full on and the car comes to a stop.Paula in her usual jaunty manner, says to the chauffeur \"You get out and check - you weredriving.\"... The chauffeur gets out, checks and reports that the animal is dead.'You were driving, go and tell the farmer, says Paula, I can't afford to be blamed foranything.\"The chauffeur walks up to the farmhouse and returns five hours later totally plastered, hishair ruffled and with a huge grin on his face.\"My God, what happened to you?\"asks Paula.The chauffeur replies: \"When I got there the farmer opened his best bottle of single maltwhiskey, the wife gave me a slap-up meal and the daughter made love to me.\"\"What on earth did you say?\" asks Paula.I knocked on the door and when it was answered, I said to them, \"I'm Paula Bennett'sChauffeur and I've just killed the cow.\" 16A cow cocky up in the sticks of back and beyond sent his worker to town to pickup some fencing supplies. It was a four hour trip, there and back, with about anhour in between. When the worker was overdue by an hour, the cow cocky giveshis worker a call on his cellphone. Worker: Yeah, Boss.Cow cocky: Where the hell are you?Worker: Oh I'm about half an hour away stuck on the side of the road.Cow cocky: Stuck on the side of the road, what the $&#@ for?Worker: I hit a pig and he's stuck in the bull bars of the ute. and making a lot ofnoise.Cow cocky: Well get him out.Worker: I can't, Boss, he wants to have a go at me.Cow cocky: Do you have the .303 with you in the ute?Worker: Yes.Cow cocky: Well shoot the $&#@er, dump the carcass and get back home.Worker: Are you sure, Boss?Cow cocky. Yes.The cow cocky hung up... another hour passed and still no worker, and it wasgetting late. He calls the worker again.Worker: Yes.Cow cocky: Where are you?Worker: Still stuck on the side of the road.Cow cocky: Did you shoot the pig?Worker: Yes, Boss.Cow Cocky: And you got rid of the carcass?Worker, Yes, Boss, I dragged it off the bull bars and into the bush and dropped itover a ravine.Cow cocky: Good. Now get your $&#@ing ass here now.Worker: I can't, Boss.Cow cocky: Whaddya mean you can't?Worker: The pig's motorcycle is stuck under the ute, Boss.Distinction between Guts and Balls

To those of you who are nit-pickers about the meaning of words:There is a medical distinction between Guts and Balls.We’ve all heard about people having guts or balls, but do you really know thedifference between them?In an effort to keep you informed, here are the definitions:GUTS – is arriving home late, after a day out fishing with the guys, being met byyour wife with a broom, and having the Guts to ask, Are you still cleaning or areyou flying somewhere?BALLS – is coming home late after a night out with the guys at the Club's Fly tyinglessons, smelling of perfume and beer, with lipstick on your collar, and slappingyour wife on the bum and having the Balls to say, “You’re next, Chubby.”I hope this clears up any confusion on the definitions.Medically speaking, there is no difference in the outcome.Both result in death. 17 Member's CornerTekapo CanalsFor those thinking of fishing the canals in winter, from my recent experience, thearticle in the latest newsletter, and postings on the site below, there are nowvery few salmon down there. However, there are some monster trout still worthchasing as can be seen herehttp://www.fishnhunt.co.nz/forum/YaBB.cgi?board=fishing1.Look in the Freshwater section. For those that don't already know about it, I canrecommend joining up and seeing what other fishers are up to.Kosher SaltI was reading a recipe that called for \"kosher salt\", and not knowing what thatmeans I googled: Salt - Kitchen Dictionary - Food.com. After reading the article Ithought it could be used as a 'filler' some time when you need one. Since we usesalt to preserve both fish and game I thought it would be appropriate to informclub members about the different types of salt.\"Many chefs prefer kosher salt (additive-free, coarse-grained) for cooking and seasalt for table use because they have a softer flavor than table salt. Kosher salt ismade by compacting granular salt, producing large, irregularly shaped flakeswhich allows the salt to easily draw blood when applied to butchered meat(koshering process). The structure dissolves easily and provides flavor withoutover-salting because of its large surface area. Pickling salt is free of theadditives that turn pickles dark and pickling liquid cloudy.\"Salt preserves foods by creating a hostile environment for certain micro-organisms. Within foods, salt brine dehydrates bacterial cells, alters osmoticpressure and inhibits bacterial growth and subsequent spoilage.\"The word \"salary\" was derived from the Latin term \"salarium\" which was thename for a soldier's pay in the army of ancient Rome. The pay included a largeration of salt, which was a spice of high value and also a medium for exchange;

thus the origin of such expressions as \"salt of the earth\" and \"worth your salt.\"\"(Substitutions: 1/2 tsp. rock salt = 3/4 tsp. kosher salt = 1 tsp. table salt)\"Help reduce the Club’s Carbon FootprintThe largest cost to the club each year is the cost of production, and postage forthe club magazine.It goes without saying that it will cut our costs if you choose to get the magazineemailed each month or better still to read it online atwww.thenelsontroutfishingclub.com –and it will also help reduce our carbon footprint too.You will benefit directly as you receive your magazine earlier and of course thepictures are in colour.If we can keep our costs down then we can keep our membership fee’s down.If you have a website link or short comment to make about a fishing relatedissue send it in to the editor. 18



All mechanical Repairs All service by qualified Technicians New tyres W.O.F for cars, trailers, motorbikes, tractors, dumpers Restoration work undertaken - Courtesy car available Also selling Retro Tin Signs Ellis Street Auto Repairs104A Ellis Street Brightwater 03 5424035