NTFC Newsletter_April 2022

CLUB CONTACTS Executive Don Clementson 027 437 6019 [email protected] Barry Howell 544 3069 [email protected] President: Jean Willis 547 6432 [email protected] Past President Secretary Chris Clenshaw 544 5276 [email protected] Treasurer Committee Richard Breakspear 541 9050 [email protected] Kevin Nansett 545 2007 [email protected] Peter Lawler 548 9753 [email protected] Tony Entwistle 544 4565 [email protected] James Macdonald 540 3520 [email protected] Neil Anderson 539 4941 [email protected] Allan Ballard 544 1735 [email protected] Web Master Peter Lawler 548 9753 [email protected] 547 1197 [email protected] Club Librarian Cameron Reid 545 2007 [email protected] 027 437 6019 [email protected] Trophy Master Kevin Nansett Club Sponsorship Don Clementson Club Speakers Committee Members Club Night Tea/Coffee Committee Members Newsletter Editor James Macdonald 540 3520 [email protected] Life Members 1982 Chappie Chapman 2007 Jean Willis 2018 Richard Boyden 2021 Tony Entwistle Past Presidents 06-08 Lester Higgins 08-09 Ross Walker 09-11 Dennis Ealam 03-06 Richard Boyden 13-15 Tony Entwistle 15-17 Maree Peter 17-18 Michael Stevenson 11-13 Ray Day 19-20 Barry Howell The Nelson Trout Fishing Club Meets once a month at: Fish and Game Offices, 66 Champion Road, Richmond Normally the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7:00pm Please phone (Don’s phone #) if unsure Any views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the committee, club or editor Webpage: www.nelsontroutfishingclub.com Follow us on Facebook Cover Photo: Kevin Nansett with a beautiful fish

President’s Flyline Nelson Trout Fishing & Craft Beer Club April 2022 Greetings Club Members. Welcome to the April Newsletter. The summer fishing season has now finished and we can get ready for the winter season. There is still plenty of good fishing in the lower reaches around the region for the next month or so. This season, so far, has been better than we thought it would be. Because of the flooding last winter it painted a picture of doom and gloom for years to come. It just shows you how resilient trout are. Fish numbers are definitely down in most rivers but some are fishing better than others. They are very patchy though. I have days in the Motueka where I have spent hours fishing a run and get nothing. Not even a small one. Then in a pocket the size of two cars I have pulled six fish out. It has been a bit like that in some smaller rivers. But overall it has been a good season. With the lack of guided and foreign fishermen about, the fishing experience has gone up. I have hardly come across any fishermen this season and in some areas not even any boot marks - may it continue. At next month’s meeting we have Ross Gigg as our guest speaker. He is a sales rep from Feather Merchants. He will be bringing with him lots of the latest fly tying materials and vices. So come along and you can order your materials on the night. He will also have some fishing bits and pieces as well. Now I have decided that craft beer makes me fat and it also costs too much. The fishing hasn’t been as bad as we expected so there is no need to drown our sorrows in the brown liquid any more so I have decided to cease the craft beer section at this stage or until the next big flood! Happy winter fishing.

Buy & Sell 1. For Sale Sea Nymph Sea Rider 19 ft fibreglass runabout with 150 hp V6 Yamaha 2 stroke motor only 153 hours ,7.5 hp Mercury auxiliary. Single axle trailer, auto anchor, marine ship to shore radio, Humminbird fish finder and GPS, stainless steel rocket launcher for 6 rods, road cover, battery charger, demountable canopy and side panels, underfloor fuel tank, power cut out switch,and many other extras. All in excellent condition Offers over $39,000 Phone or text Chris 0274377630 2. Club Member Rick Usher would like to get in to Flytying. Would any members have some gear they would like to sell? Rick is a novice needs everything to make a start to flying simple flies in the Nelson area, mainly nymphs or drys. I will also need a vice. I am happy to loan and return as I have not done this before . Suggestions for links to YouTube would also help. Thanks Rick Ussher Contact Rick at [email protected] or 020 4168 1042



Originally published in New Zealand Outdoor, July 1953



Originally published in New Zealand Outdoor, June 1953

New Zealand’s Jurassic Lake By Andrew Harding It’s not really a lake, nor is it a river, despite having a subtle west to east flow. Despite the identity crisis, this small body of water is commonly classified as one of the hottest pieces of fly fishing real-estate on the planet! No, we’re not talking about the huge mouse eating browns of New Zealand’s South Island, but a tiny, man- made water-storage dam located in the shadow of the majestic volcanic peaks of New Zealand’s central North Island. It’s beautifully barren, epically isolated, and the trout? Magnificent in condition and size. It’s Otamangakau. Pronounced (O-ta-man-ga-cow) or simply “Ota” to us kiwi’s, New Zealand’s answer to Jurassic Lake, albeit a fraction of the size with an average depth of only one meter! It’s a sensational fishery for those lucky enough to live here, however the lake receives relatively low angling pressure in the broader scheme of things. Ota’s make-up of 50/50 browns and rainbows makes for some exciting fishing, stalk the edges in the morning for the numerous, big, tailing browns, or hit the channels in the afternoon for some ridiculously proportioned rainbows. Tailing browns For myself, it’s the tailing browns that are the major drawcard. Through the warmer months of October through to March, these browns with an average weight of around 6-7lbs take to the lake’s shallow silty margins in substantial numbers, their huge paddles waiving like excited kids in mere inches of water as they grub around in the mud for bloodworms and anything else that catches their eye. But don’t be lulled into thinking these browns are easy to catch, they aren’t…You’ll need your A game… coupled with 20ft plus leaders and a stealthy approach, even then expect refusals 90% of the time.

When you do eventually hook one of these fish, the trade-off is you would have had to use a light tippet to induce the take - now have fun with said tippet when that brown makes a run headfirst into the nearest weed- bed… the struggle is real… obviously, a long-handled net is an advantage! Cracking the code It took me a good 10 years to crack this lake, and I still know many who’ve not caught a fish in it! The potential for a trophy fish, over the magical 10lb mark is high, especially when fish are in peak condition around January. Most anglers like to fish the lake from a form of watercraft, drifting nymphs under huge indicators… not really fly fishing at all in my eyes,… Me? I love going shore-based! The lake edge fishing is sensational and a hell of a lot more fun than staring at an indicator bobbing round for hours on end, in the hope that a cruising rainbow will snaffle one of your nymphs. The one caveat is the mud will try and suck you down to a watery grave. The wading is very difficult if you’re not able bodied, and somewhat fit. Twice the mud here has nearly claimed my life, so it’s something not to be taken lightly. A memorable fish My most memorable fish from ‘Ota’ was a rainbow funnily enough, despite the browns being the larger of the

species in general, my Norwegian friend and well known trout-bum, Andre Hesslewroth and I were firing Damsel nymphs on a January afternoon at the numerous cruising browns along the shallow weed margins. A swirl here and a cast there, we were certainly nailing a few beautiful browns between 5 and 7lbs each - it was a great morning. The gentle current dislodging damsels off the weed edges into the jaws of marauding trout. A distant fin cutting a swath through the mirror calm surface on the weed edge caught my eye so wading just a little further… I fired a cast a meter or so ahead of the fish, strip… ON! The fish in Ota really do pour-on the gas when something lands near them to intercept it. From the initial run, THROUGH the weed-bed and out the other side into the channel, she jumped, (well I think it was a she. To this day I’m still not sure! It’s not as if that kype was a defining feature). Andre turned to me with a sly grin and muttered… it’s big… With only a few turns of backing remaining, I was inching forward, I still don’t know how I managed to coax her through the weed… As she touched her belly on the shore all hell broke loose, a swift net shot by Andre and I’d won…. a stunning fish, not huuuuge, but a 5kg lump of stunningly conditioned and proportioned rainbow, and still my biggest rainbow to date. It was such a great experience, made even better by being able to share the moment with Andre. A remote alpine basin Ota’s downfall despite it’s high elevation, and sitting in a remote alpine basin is the one thing you wouldn’t expect… a lack of wind! It really is very sheltered. The mirror like surface on most days sees fish on midges, taunting and teasing anglers in a cruel fashion. When it’s calm, it’s tough! The lake fishes best in foul weather, the worse the weather? The better the fishing, you know?… the usual story with lake fishing. Whilst Ota is predominantly what I call a “strip, strip, bang” fishery, this method of using floating lines and small damsel imitations or Woolly Buggers is only effective with some surface ripple, when it does calm-off it’s time to target fish with a dry / dropper on the weed edges. With a dropper no more than around 10cm, this is an excellent method for picking off fussy cruising browns and a hell of a lot of fun! As with any dry / dropper fly fishing, you’ll encounter that odd fish who’ll prefer to snaffle your dry and ignore the unweighted nymph dangling below. They aren’t overly fussy on patterns, just size. Dry Time Come January through March, it’s dry time! Whatever huge rubber legged concoction you have in your fly box is never big enough! The abundant, but short-lived cicada hatch spurring the trout to feed with reckless abandon. Unfortunately, this is a blind method, the fish moving so fast, it’s near impossible to spot them or intercept their path, but they will take a huge dry drifted blindly around the cooler inlet water, where the upper reaches of the Whanganui River enter the lake by way of a man-made canal.

A fresh cicada pattern, please! A few years ago on Ota we encountered what can only be described as an epic cicada hatch. These bumbling fat “cheese-burgers” were being blown into the lake in their thousands by the strong, warm, northerly breeze. It was ON!! Browns and bows averaging 6lb + were coming in thick and fast. One of those times in your angling lifetime, you simply pinch yourself and ask ‘can it get any better than this”? After a bust-off in the weeds, I reached for a fresh cicada pattern, only to find that WAS my last one! I’d gone through every manner of cicada imitation and rubber-legged behemoth I had!!!! Arrrggghhhhh!!! With huge trout breaking the surface in every direction, and in desperation I tied on an olive #10 Woolly bugger, snipped off the tail and scissored through the soft hackle… loaded it up with a good dose of floating… and we were back in business. It didn’t matter what I used, the fish were grabbing this improvised dry-w0olly- worm-cicada just fine! I guess a lesson gleaned from that day is there is always a way to improvise with existing patterns given a quick nip-tuck! Dormant and waiting Ota is quiet now, there is no overseas pressure thanks to “that” flu, much like the rest of New Zealand. She’s lying dormant and waiting, the fish are getting more numerous and larger year on year, it’s a fascinating aspect to see despite the Department of Conservation hinting they are about to put measures in place to stem angling pressure when the lake surface temperature reaches 20 degrees Celsius, closing to all fishing at short notice.

Whilst mortality comes as a given on any highly pressured body of water, the lake is so healthy it can sustain it – in my humble opinion, and even somewhat benefit from it. It’s a densely populated and extremely healthy system and can certainly cope with such factors. As I’m writing this; a message has come through to my mobile from a friend “about time we hit Ota again?”… my arm is made of rubber you know… loading up the camper van and heading to my “happy place”… We’re so very lucky to live in New Zealand with angling destinations such as Ota on our doorstep. Andrew Harding is a fly-fishing-obsessed angler based in Wellington, at the bottom of the north island; when he is not in the office (which is virtually ever) you can find him pursuing beautiful red-spotted browns on his local Wellington rivers, an area he is incredibly passionate about. Refer to https://issuu.com/intheloopmagazine/docs/in_the_loop_mag_no32-2?fr=sMDMwZTQ3NDk5MDE

My Fly Fishing Journey by Kevin Nansett I started Trout fishing late in life after I moved to Nelson in 1977. Getting great help and advice from Tony Busch, Tony Entwistle and other tackle shops and reading countless books on Trout Fishing I started on my thread line journey. I caught my first Brown trout in the Appleby River just below the bridge and was instantly hooked on the fighting ability of the fish. I enjoyed many many days on local rivers around Nelson and Golden Bay with varying success. What I enjoyed was sharing the times with my brother Wayne and oldest son Mike. Seeing Mike catch his first Trout in the Matai River as a 10 year old and the enjoyment he got was unforgettable. Wayne and I often talked about trying fly fishing and fishing the major Jones on the Tongariro River, sadly a dream we never fulfilled as he unexpectedly passed on before we could achieve our dream. Mike moved to Wellington for work and became involved with the trout club and started Fly fishing. On my trips with him I still used my threadline rod and Mike his fly. I was mesmerised by the looping fly line and thought I might like to try this, doesn’t look too hard , does it ………? A while later when a Big Brown trout streaked out from under a willow and smashed Mike’s dry fly and performed like an Olympic high jumper I was hooked. I had a few “casts” with Mike’s rod and very soon discovered that this was not as simple as it looked but I did hook a small rainbow so was pleased to get a fish on the first cast. Nah… this isn’t too hard at all……yea right.

More reading , talking to people and I purchased my first fly rod, an Airflo on TradeMe for $60. Armed with a few flies and off to the Motueka River. Tangle. Re-tie , tree, rock, another tangle. Ok. I need to get tuition. Off to Nelson Trout Club and the first person I see, Tony Entwistle. I see you have finally seen sense and got a fly rod , he said. I can only praise thanks on Tony, Michael Stevenson, Richard Breakspear, Don Clementson, Jean Willis and others in the club that generously gave up their time and bashed and bullied this amateur with the skills to fish now with some confidence . Fly fishing has now taken me to many regions in this amazing country and I have met and fished with many wonderful people. I also thank Peter Williams for introducing me to art of flytying. I get great pleasure from catching fish on flies that I have tied.

During lockdown I purchased a rod blank from Epic Rods and built my own Rod. It is a special feeling to catch fish on a rod I built and fly I’ve tied. My journey into fly fishing has progressed a lot since I first started 5 years ago. I became a committee member in 2018 as I felt I had something to put back into the club for the time and experience they had given me and take pride in my “ road kill “ bbq meat Pattie’s and bbq cook at our Christmas function. I also became a trustee for the Sport Fishing For Youth Trust as it is the future of Trout fishing to introduce the young people to the sport to come through when us older generation moves on. This camaraderie and friendship is as important to me as the actual time catching fish and the stories , well you know, What happens on the river eh …… I now have a few trips to Greytown each year where Mike lives now and have fished a number of rivers in the region with good catch rates. I have an annual pilgrimage to Turangi with Mike in Winter for the spawning runs and meet up for very memorable times with several friends we have meet on the rivers . Several years later I was fishing the Major Jones with Mike and caught my first Tongariro Trout, this is always referred to as “ Wayne’s Fish” . A very special and emotional moment. I continue on this fascinating journey with the excitement that I will never stop learning this amazing sport. See you on the river soon.

Fly-fishing and the art of deception Warren Gamble As a New Year resolution, Stuff journalist Warren Gamble decided he needed a new hobby. Here he dips his toes into the genteel but obsessive world of fly-fishing. “Tug is the drug,” Zane Mirfin says as we wade into the Motueka River. The fishing guide legend has a playbook of sayings and stories as colourful and extensive as the boxes of artificial flies, lines and tricks honed over 36 years of duelling with the royalty of freshwater fish, the redoubtable trout. “The world is seriously messed up; the best thing you can do is to go fishing,” he says. It’s hard to argue as we leave pandemics and parliamentary protests behind and head for the nationally protected river that winds through undulating countryside 45 minutes from Nelson city. I’m on a quest to find a new hobby. Inspired by my friend Meg Goodman, I figure I may as well try something different. First attempts She was bitten by the fly-fishing bug four months ago and now has a rod, a growing assortment of flies, and an insatiable appetite for scrambling around waterways in the top of the south. She can talk for ages about the trout she has caught on her back-country adventures and the ones that got away, and the sheer joy of the accompanying nature fix.

“You get so engaged in it; there’s no room for anything else,” she says. At our first stop, I get ready. I look the part, if faintly ridiculous, in waders, boots, a fisherman’s vest and a floppy camo hat. However, clothes do not maketh the fisherman, especially fly-fishers. That’s because it’s seriously tricky. To be good you need a grasp of entomology, psychology, geology, meteorology, and that’s before you set up your line. You need a weird combination of skill and temperament to get that line in the right spot to entice the trout to take the fly and the hook. Even reeling it in is a mission. A lot of fly-fishing involves the art of deception. First trout As fly-fishing enthusiast and Stuff visual journalist Martin de Ruyter says, you just need 427 things to go right. “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it,” he says. I’m not naturally practical and have a dodgy knee, so it was with low expectations that I wobbled over limestone rocks to one of Zane’s favourite spots on the river. I only fell once getting to the riverbank, but at other times I resembled a drunk trying to keep his balance and dignity. “Don’t write yourself off,” Zane says with a smile. “Miracles can happen.” I think Zane has bitten off more than even he can chew. “The main thing is to have fun,” he says, lowering both our expectations. But he didn’t get to be one of the country’s best guides, mingling with movie stars here and in Colorado, without having a laser focus on results.

He casually clambers into the river and hooks two smallish brown trout in quick succession, one leaping out of the water, all speckled and furious, and running off downstream. He lets it tire itself out and gives me the honour of reeling them in. “Keep your hand off the reel, keep the rod bent, let it run, then wind in a few times when it stops.” Kissing; the trout looks dubious I’m dubious about Martin and Zane’s supposed ritual of kissing the netted trout as a mark of gratitude and respect, but the adrenalin sees me pucker up anyway. The trout looks indignant at this insult added to injury. Now is the time for purists to look away. We are using a different technique today, one Zane thinks will improve my admittedly small chances of pulling off a miracle. Slip Sliding away

The traditional fly-fishing cast is something that makes a golf swing look easy. It involves a rigid see- sawing of the forearm, back and forth, back and forth, to load the rod and get the light line into a tight loop, so it can be sent upstream of a lurking trout with enough distance that the sharp-eyed fish can't see you. On the end of the line there is a hook concealed in an artificial fly, an art form in itself, mimicking the insects that float down the river ready to become trout snacks. Choosing the right fly for the right river, even for the right time of day, is another piece of the puzzle. Flies that float on the top are called dry flies (even though they get wet). Today we are using a technique called euro nymphing, with flies that sink down in the river, mimicking water nymphs, which are also highly sought after on the trout menu. The euro nymph cast is easier because you don’t have to worry about holding line loose in one hand while you cast with the other. Zane explains it’s like a fencer, making the first move in a duel. I’ve never tried fencing either. My first attempts are as elegant and wooden as a barrier arm. The line goes virtually nowhere. Zane’s fish I make small improvements, but then you have more to worry about. You have to keep the rod at an angle ahead of the sunken nymph as it drifts with the current. There’s a brightly coloured indicator on the line that should be kept just above the surface of the water, so the nymph travels along the river bed. We go to a wider stretch of the Motueka, near a picturesque bridge, fringed by willows. I cast and cast again. Angle, tension, drift, indicator. I’m so focused on this I forget what the actual end result could be. There is an aforementioned tug. I’m so surprised I forget about the upward flick you need to get the hook embedded. The trout gets away.

It's called a strike. I strike out. But I’m getting more into the groove. I visualise a fencer; I say to myself “en garde” as I point the rod at an imaginary foe. The line arcs out, more or less where it’s supposed to go. I’m ready next time when I feel the strike, I lift upward, the hook sticks and I have a brown trout on the end of the line. It runs away downstream. I let it go, then reel in. Zane scoops it into the net; and there it is, my first trout. Not the biggest specimen but I’m stoked at the beauty of it, wet and shiny brown along the top, black dots on its sides. The barbless hook comes out easily, and I resist the urge for another kiss before it swims away. I imagine it will be mercilessly mocked by the other trout for being caught by such a novice. I feel a little more confident now, but that doesn’t go a long way in fly-fishing. In the afternoon we go to another spot, reached through a patch of native bush. The sun has come out, turning the river a brighter green. Across the far side I see trout breaking the surface, a beautiful sight, known as rising. The warmth has brought out one of their favourite treats, passion vine hoppers, and they are oblivious to our approach a few metres away as they gorge. I try the traditional cast, but my loops are as loose as a goose. The line collapses into the water far from the trouts’ feeding ground. Zane steps up and sends the fly zipping to the right spot, just upstream, and bang, he has a good-sized brown leaping into the sunshine. What makes a good fly-fisher? “Practice,” he says. “Lots of practice”. Meg echoes the sentiment, but at four months she already has the basic technique to catch brown and rainbow trout in Nelson and Marlborough rivers, known as some of the hardest in the country for fly-fishing. “It's a beautiful sport,” she says. “So much is about skill, not luck. It's such a rush when you get that strike and bring the fish in.” Her only disappointment is that there aren’t more women, especially younger women, encouraged to take up the traditionally male pastime. The 33-year-old has yet to meet a woman angler on her trips. “It would be nice to have a focus to get more women involved because it’s so awesome and builds so much confidence with things like bush skills and river crossings.” I see the attraction, the potential addiction, and even if I don’t have the execution there’s the chance of a miracle. At the least, being out in the middle of a lazily flowing river is a calming, reflective business - when you’re not cursing your casts or the ones that got away. • A good place for novices to learn the ins and outs of fly-fishing is the Nelson Trout Fishing Club. They meet monthly and have information at https://www.nelsontroutfishingclub.com/ or on their Facebook page. Originally published in the Nelson Mail, 12 March 2022, with thanks to Martin de Ruyter for permission to use the photos