PART ONE Our neighbours across the Tasman are truly blessed with some of the world’s finest fishing, once described by the late Zane Grey as the fisherman’s "Eldorado." Bills first New Zealand trout on the Lower Matura River. South Island topography with its towering Western mountain ranges result in extremes in weather. For example rainfall can be as high as 6000mm per annum in Fiordland and as little as 350mm per annum in Central Otago less than 150 kilometres inland. Glacier fed rivers, mountain torrents rushing around boulder-strewn rivers, small meandering streams crossing pleasant farmlands, crystal clear spring creeks, tannin stained burns, and a myriad of lakes and lagoons offer a great diversity of choice. On this trip an old friend Bill Wojcik and I are fishing the famed South Island trout. Our journey will take on a central route from Southland, as far north as the Canterbury Plains. A Britz Explorer four-berth campervan was chosen for this trip, providing plenty of space for two mates to travel in comfort and while I would gladly share a more intimate two birth with a lady friend, not so with Bill. (I think he smells, he thinks I do, and he assures me that I snore). The camper enables a quick change of location, with minimum fuss; (no need to pack up all the gear to head back to the lodge in time to check out, just throw your rods on one of the beds and off you go!) During the summer months when twilight hangs around until almost 10:00pm, you can be faced with a "long drive" back to your lodge for dinner (and of course a few drinks) when the rise is still on. A mobile home allows you to wine and dine where and when you choose. Time is spent looking for fish or relaxing with a nice cool ale, rather than searching for accommodation or your next meal. A leasurely breakfast with the Britz before heading off. Importantly if the weather turns bad, (and it certainly can) you just keep moving and hopefully, no matter what Mother Nature throws up, you can move around to find reasonably clear water and a few cooperative fish. Arriving just prior to the Christmas season, the intention was to show Bill it’s possible to "sightfish", regardless of early season conditions, using different techniques I have learned during previous trips. A hint on arrival. - To get through customs unscathed, ensure you declare your fishing gear. Check your waders, boots, landing nets etc. are thoroughly clean, before you leave home, or you will be scrubbing them with disinfectant at the airport. Forget about taking your latest road kill possum, or other furry critters to tie flies, leave your fly-tying gear at home and ensure the flies you take are professionally tied. On the subject of flies - think small , by comparison to general fly sizes used in Australia, size 16 to 20 are the norm rather than the exception (see fact box for recommended flies and sizes) Finding out the latest fishing news, and condition of various rivers is the first task, so we called in on Len Prentice, a well-known professional Southland fishing guide with many years’ experience. Located in a small town called Athol, near the banks of the Mataura, Len also runs the "Brown Trout Fly and Tackle" shop. Another Matura Brown. Forthcoming news for us was not great. Heavy rains some days previous had discoloured most of the rivers in the area. Further, unusual high humidity, coupled with sudden cool changes, made the fish less cooperative than usual, with a lot of fish lying "Dog" and unwilling to take dry fly or nymph. After a coffee, long chat and stocking up on a few flies, Len recommended that we head down south to the stretches of the Mataura around the Gore area. The Mataura River is renown for its mayfly hatches (Deleatidium). These hatches usually occur at around 10:00am and with the right conditions can continue until nightfall. The fish can be incredibly selective at times, either on emergers or duns, and stories are told by some local guides that the fish can be so selective, they take only the male or female of the species, completely ignoring the other sex! The hatches of these tiny mayflies can be so prolific, and the subsequent rise so spectacular, that the name "The mad Mataura rise" has been given to this event. Releasing a Movora Lakes 'Educated trout'. On afternoon arrival the river was quite high, but reasonably clear, the section of the river that looked most inviting necessitated crossing farmland. Permission was granted to gain access to a long bend and long pool. Pulling up the vehicle on the edge of the cliff, I peered over the edge and was delighted to see several nice trout rising to the tiny duns in a large, slow section. Rods and other gear were quickly assembled. Bill invited me to have a cast to show him how, and I don’t need to be asked twice! Carefully navigating my way down to the cramped casting area I presented a size 18 Dad’s favourite, downstream to a steady riser. The tiny dry fly was swirling around in the gentle eddy, when it disappeared with a classic "clomp". I lifted the rod and set the fly into a lump of a brownie, all hell broke loose as the large brown cart-wheeled and catapulted his way out of the water, obviously with different intensions to mine. Bill clambered down the cliff with the camera, as I tried to subdue the fish. Alas, all was in vain as several "acrobatic rolls " later, the small hook came adrift and the brown and I parted company. "Damn small flies", or did it have to do with setting the hook from an upstream position? I asked myself.Not quite the classic start I had hoped for, but at least it felt good to hook up to a New Zealand brown again! The weather was overcast and a steady breeze blowing, but an odd fish could be seen rising spasmodically in the swift current above the pool.By the time we moved into position, the wind quickly picked up and the fish stopped rising. The opposite bank appeared to offer more shelter. As the river was flowing too high to cross, we drove downstream for several kilometres, crossing an old bridge, then to the shore we had spotted. Spring Creeks are best kept secrets? Though the wind strengthened and the overcast skies looked ominous we decided to stay on, hoping for an evening rise.In the meantime I tried polaroiding the shallow bank, were an odd fish cruised in for a look for a tasty morsel but these fish were extremely wary and easily spooked. Bill decided to try his luck at the head of the next run, using a small dropper nymph under a size 14 humpy. A rise in the ripply water soon had him casting. Several drifts later Bill let out a yell, he "was on". I made my way a couple of hundred metres down the bank and saw the last of the fight. A nice brownie Bill’s first New Zealand trout. The brownie was released into the slack water. The smile on Bill’s face, coupled with a firm shake of hands, gives a great feeling that only two kindred angling buddies would know. It was time to make our way back to the main run, but the darkening clouds and start of steady drizzle had me wondering if the evening rise was going to eventuate? We relaxed in the shelter of the campervan for a while, enjoyed a quite beer or two, and kept our fingers crossed. The steady drizzle turned into light rain, but we had come a long way to fish, so that’s what we intended to do. Bill was quite pleased in his earlier effort in the downstream run, and felt he could duplicate the event, so he headed off. The rivers were in full flow. In the twilight, as the raindrops danced heavily on the pool’s surface, I sat watching intently. Things were not looking good, but as the light further faded, the wind died down, the raindrops eased their dance, and one by one, trout started rising. Choosing the fish closest to the bank, (so as not to spook the others), I sent my small dry drifting over the fish. The second drift produced the result, a gentle take and the pull of a good fish, but shortly my expression changed, as the strong fish pulled across the river, my fly and the trout parted company. A quick inspection of the fly showed it to be intact, I set off for my next quarry, another brownie that seemed to be chomping down duns without hesitation albeit some distance out. Casting up and across a few feet in front of the rise, struggling to see the tiny fly I could only guess its proximity in the poor light. The fish rose once again I lifted the rod on instinct, again I failed to hook up properly. By now I was starting to lose my confidence, three fish hooked, and dropped in a row! Small lagoons offered some good sheltered fishing. Directly upstream, only a couple of rod lengths away, another fish started rising freely. The dry was eagerly taken first drift; this time the hook stayed firm, and after a short battle, I eased the fish into the landing net, and released the nice buck brown. The fish’s mouth had chopped up the fly, and with darkness approaching I would soon be unable to see the small dry. Trying a size12 then size14 humpy brought only refusals. I could see the fly, but it was obvious the fish were uninterested in such fare. Time to try something different, a small wet black gnat cast several feet upstream of the rising fish brought instant results, a savage take and solid hook up, three browns in a row fell victim to these "Aussie" ambush tactics and thankfully squared the ledger. Again the rain tumbled heavily; By now Bill had made his way back in semi -darkness, and happily relayed he had managed to hook another couple of browns found rising freely at the tail of the pool downstream. We called it a night , time for a couple of Bourbons and a bite to eat, and a chance to reflect on the days fishing, a few more drinks, then off to our beds The next morning saw more drizzle. And rain that had fallen overnight had not helped the situation with the Mataura, so it was a good time to take Bill to the Mavora lakes. Out of the wind it was just perfect. The Mavora lakes are a picturesque pair of lakes to the northwest at the head of the Mararoa River. Polaroiding the lake shorelines before the nor’westerly blows up, can at times be rewarding. As we pulled up next to the lake, the sun pierced through the clouds. Several fish were slowly cruising the shoreline The most successful tactics used in this lake in the past, have been small drys, or a small emerger, coupled with a nymph dropper. At times the fish can be difficult, refusing even the best presentations. This appeared to be one of those times. Despite well presented casts to dozens of fish, the trout would cruise up to the dry or dropper, inspect the tiny offering, then swim off warily. Any offering of a larger dry fly, or a slowly retrieved nymph, sent the fish off quickly into the depths. We took stock, and had a bite to eat, and relaxed a while. Other anglers arrived at the shore to try their luck, one by one they departed, spirits broken. A couple of nearby small bays,looked very inviting. Trout were found cruising in and out of the shallow water. Eventually a trout was brought undone on a size 20 "merger" pattern, a nicely coloured and powerful rainbow. Later many more refusals followed. Another change in tactics called for, I set a small wet down as a trap, carefully mapping the fishes beat, I cast a considerable time before I knew he would approach, letting the fly settle on a clear patch along his beat. Not all polaroiding is hard work. Minutes seemed like hours, then the trout approached. When he was several feet away from my trap, I gave the fly just a twitch of movement to get his attention, then let the fly settle again. The rainbow dog-wagged his tail, as it moved over to investigate. The white flash of the fish’s mouth showed the take as the fly was picked up, the hook was set and the fight on. Later on releasing the plump henfish. I spotted another rainbow cruising down the same path. Once again I put the fly down and repeated the tactic, "Presto" the fish charged over and slurped up the offering once again. As I played the fish out, I yelled for Bill to come over, thinking I had "cracked the secret". Giving Bill the identical fly, and explaining what the fish seemed to be doing, I was confident of further success. Then back down to earth with a thud, another twenty or so refusals had us both shaking our heads. Bill was still mumbling about the fish particularly along the other shore being "untouchable’ and possessing university degrees – we watched as other anglers arrived, each making dozens of casts to these fish, but departing without a take. The day was now becoming overcast and humid, and the nor’westerly started to blow, late afternoon was approaching so it was decided to take Bill to the Oreti River. The river is best fished in the morning before wind gets up, but I desperately wanted to check out one of my favourite rivers,as it usually clears quickly after rain. The Oreti holds only brown and is considered by many to be the top trophy river in Southland. Previous visits here are memorable, with fish landed over the 5kg mark. The Oreti is strictly catch and release and rightly so, fish numbers are not high but their size more than makes up for the relatively low numbers. A typical lagoon fish. We alighted the camper and headed down to a good stretch of river, I have fished many times before, By the time we reached the river, the wind really started to howl, the sky was overcast and polaroiding was difficult. The first kilometre or so we only spotted two fish, lying in the edge of the quiet water, I pointed a rather large dark shape out to Bill, he insisted it must be a log, but I had been fooled before. I made several casts over the dark shape, into the strong headwind but the dark shape was motionless, I carefuly approached so close I almost could have prodded the end of the rod to get him to move, one final cast put a hares ear nymph right on his nose the "log" took off startled into the middle of the river. We made our way up to one of my favourite pools were after watching closely we spotted several large fish.Despite our best efforts we did not manage to tempt any of the fish into taking, the small dries, humpies, Royal Wullfs, nymph droppers, heavily weighted nymphs. Nightfall approached and rain again started falling, We had a fair walk "home" back to the campervan. I know Bill had seen enough to be eager to come back. I more than shared his enthusiasm. Time for bed, and to dream about the "log". The next days forecast was for rain in the afternoon, Len met with us early morning to guide us on a more remote section of the Oreti before the bad weather arrived. Picking us up in his 4X4 we crossed farmland and descended the steep valley. Conditions again were overcast and windy, spotting only a handful of fish during the long walk, fish we covered again lay dog and showed no interest. Finding one fish that was feeding. Bill positioned himself downstream, but despite several good drifts over the brown, it refused the fly eventually swimming casually into the deeper pool. In a deep pool I found a brown feeding on nymphs, despite using a very heavy tungsten weighted fly, I could not get down to the fishes feeding depth, and eventually my poor casting put the fish down. Len pointed out another "log" that he estimated to be over 6 kg, but it moved off before we could even think about casting a line. Waiting for a rise. The rain started falling and we headed home, disappointed but at least we knew that the day previous we were not doing anything wrong, the fish just were not cooperating. As we headed up the hill the rain began to fall and rain it did, for the next 24 hrs. During this time we had a Barbecue with Len and his fellow guides, told each other many fishing stories, swapped flies and ideas, and ribbed each other about the cricket scores. The Kiwis are a friendly bunch and can give as good as they get and presented Bill with a blow up sheep ! Time to say farewell and head North, the downpour would dirty the rivers for some considerable time... to be continued. Good fishing Dave Edwards FACT BOX: Accommodation Britz Explorer Campervan Length: 5.60m & Width: 2.07m. Cooking Equipment – Gas Stove, Microwave, Fridge, Sink, etc. Shower, Toilet, A/C, Heating, Pressurised Hot & Cold Water. Manual Transmission, 2.9 litre Turbo Diesel. Bedding for four. FACT BOX: Recommended Flies Dry Flies Dads favourite 14 - 20 Blue dun 14 -18 Humpys 12 -16 Royal Wulf 10 -14 Adams 14 - 18 Cochy bondhu 14 - 16 Black gnat 12- 20 Weighted nymphs Hare and copper 10 – 16 Pheasant tail 14 - 18 Stonefly 8 -12 Caddis 14 - 16 Caddis 12 -14 CDC emergers 14 - 20 FACT BOX: Fishing Guide Len prentice (NZPFGA member) Brown trout fly and tackle PO Box 1 Athol New Zealand Ph/fax 03 248 8890 Lenprentice@xtra.co.nz Footnote: Dave Edwards has been an avid flyfisherman for over 20years & was taught much of his skills from the late & great Bill Ricketts. Dave has visited NZ on numerous occasions as well as flyfished Tasmania & the lakes of Victoria's Western Districts.