North Island NZ Photo Essay
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I finally stopped letting life get in the way, ignored the work that is piled sky-high, and hit the road for a quick weekend trip. Countless miles were hiked completely devoid of trails, the weather held out, and fish were caught. I’ll let the photos tell the story.
Photo critiques are very welcome. I’m trying to learn as much as I can in that department. Any suggestions for getting better photos in the bright, middle-of-the-day sun?
First fish of the trip. It felt great to get back in the game after what seemed like eternity since my last trip to the water:
My knees almost forgot what 20+km of this feels like:
Paul got into the game shortly thereafter:
And he didn’t let up:
But the real fun didn’t commence until the second day. It started slow, and our sore legs and joints only added to the frustration of spending the first two and half hours of the day “hiking” over terrain like this before we even wet a line:
The fishing was none too hot at the beginning of the day, but as the temperature warmed up, so did the fishing. Feeling that pull again made the walk totally worth it:
This guy came on a Simon Chu designed fly, which is quickly becoming my favorite lead nymph. Cheers, Simon:
One of the perks of the off-season is the time to organize fly boxes. I’m sure this one will be chaos before too long:
We made it to the honey-hole with high hopes of sticking a pig, and it didn’t take long. First cast, indicator jumps, Paul sets, a massive flash of silver and red torques around in the depths of the pool, but it’s over as soon as it began. A straightened hook left Paul empty handed and maybe even a little bit frustrated…maybe. There’s no doubt that that would have been the biggest fish of the trip. But all’s well that ends well, and after spending another half-hour or so working over the pool with nothing to show, we proceeded upstream. Paul immediately spotted a solid fish up in the shallows. We watched…it rose…and my fingers suddenly became a blur of activity, ditching the multiple tungsten beadheads for the favorite dry fly.
Paul climbed to an elevated position and provided the eyes. I crept upstream ever so cautiously. Pull line off reel…false cast…false cast…lay it down.
Wait.
Wait.
“Here he comes.”
A shadow appears under the fly. It looks startlingly like a submarine.
I repeat in my head over and over: Don’t set early. Don’t set early. Don’t set early…
The water breaks around my fly. A mouth that looks the size of an alligator’s appears, engulfing the offering. Miraculously, I actually wait. Mouth closes, and fish turns. I set.
All hell breaks loose, and what seems like eternity passes between the hookup, and the celebration:
One last close-up…
…And then back to the water to fight another day:
High fives all around, and then it was back to fishing.
I hung my fly up and was walking on Cloud Nine for the rest of the day. Paul did his thing and a couple more good fish touched the net before the end of the day:
A few last high-fives were exchanged before loading up and making the nighttime drive back home in time to catch some zzz’s before work on Monday morning. It’s now Wednesday afternoon, and my thoughts are still constantly being interrupted with daydreams of this guy:
The countdown is already on for the next trip. I’m very much looking forward to meeting up with Simon in early December, but until then, the memories will surely tide me over.
Tim
Great Photos Tim and a great trip. Legs are still hurting, Worth every step. Cant wait to do it again. Cheers
All of those fish are pretty sick but damn that brownie of yours is absolutely one of nicest fish I’ve ever seen.
Frikkin’ epic!
Tim, absolutely great report man!
As far as photography is concerned, you get serious bonus points for lugging a DSLR on a 20km boulder field hike.
It looks like you have dialed it in pretty well!
stop working so much and get out there more!
Thanks guys. It was definitely a fun trip. I’m still on cloud nine.
I believe you may now be ruined for life!
I’m afraid you’re right Eric.
Awesome Tim!
Looking forward to catching up in a couple of weeks.
Those are stonking fish!!Don’t worry we don’t hold our fish like that in the South
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