Tim Angeli
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We ventured down to the river after dinner. I took my 7 weight, sink tip, and a variety of my favorite streamer patterns. It was time to see if I could tangle with a nighttime hog. It quickly progressed to total darkness and I was left casting only by feel and sound, bringing back fond memories of fishing the hex hatch back in Michigan. Sure enough, in the pitch black, I felt a tug, lifted the rod, and was tight to something. The next thing I felt was violent shaking highlighted with the sounds of splashing out in the river. Fish on. 5 seconds later, everything goes loose. No more tension, no more head shakes, no more fish.
I fish 12lb. maxima to my streamers, so I couldn’t bring myself to believe that my leader had snapped. Turns out the fish had actually snapped the hook (about a #6 streamer hook) at the bend. My guess is that this fish would have rivaled the Loch Ness Monster in size.
This fly used to have a rear hook on it:
A couple other shots from that night:
The next morning came all too early. Up by 6:00am, out the door at 6:30, and on the water by 7:00am. No rest for the weary, there were fish to be caught.
This day proved to be nothing short of amazing. Lots of hiking, lots of fish, some sketchy river crossings, and even an eel sighting or two.
Although the picture doesn’t show it well, the above river crossing proved to be one of the more difficult crossings of the day. We initially thought that we might not be able to cross and would have to turn around. I decided to just go for it and see if I could make it. It got to about chest high at the deepest point, but I made it. Pictured above are Josh and Hamish crossing on the way back to the car, linked up to avoid going for an unplanned swim. At this point, they just spotted an eel that they estimate was 2m long. Hamish is poking at it with the stick he picked up to use as a wading staff, trying to scare it away. Apparently it didn’t even budge. For an idea of the size of this thing, it’s head was described as, “it looked the head of a black lab.”
Of course, they decided not to tell me about the eel before I crossed. I get halfway across, at which point they are dying of laughter on the other side. As I’m just about out of the water, Hamish says, “Dude, we just saw the biggest @$*#ing eel right where you just walked across.” Thanks guys.
All the kiwis that read this will probably think that I’m the biggest pansy in the world. No, I’m not afraid of eels, but yes, I think they are disgusting and hate them.
Once again, a delicious dinner followed. This bad boy was nicknamed the heart attack special:
And an ice cold beer next to the fire back at the cabin:
Here are a few more random shots from over the course of the trip:
And to end this report, arguably the greatest photo of all time. The fish in NZ are exceptionally spooky, and nothing but the best camouflage will suffice. The true kiwi camo – a tie-dye t-shirt, tennis shoes, and a steinlager:
(photo credit: Hamish Carnachan)And the moment immediately prior. “Just let me set my beer down and I’ll hold it up for a photo…”
(photo credit: Hamish Carnachan)Most likely more pictures to come. Hamish and Josh both had their dslr’s along so they got most of the fish shots. I’ll try to get some of those pictures up here soon.
This thread might be what you’re looking for:
http://www.itinerantangler.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?num=1260648161/4#4
Tim
http://www.fredmiranda.com has a forum for used gear as well that I have bought through in the past. Worth a look if you’re interested in buying used.
Tim
Henry,
Love the shots. Can you possibly give details about the equipment used for these shots, specifically the lens? Love the look. I really like the focus in the first shot and the net in the second (if that makes sense). Great stuff!
Tim
Nate,
The headwaters look like a really solid wader with all of the benefits of Gore-Tex. The one downside when compared with the G3 is the reinforcement of the knees. IMO, where the G3’s really shine is the reinforcement of the knee such that the seem is in the front of the wader and avoids rubbing of the seem on the inside of the leg. This is the area of highest wear and is where most waders will wear out (leak) first. Whether or not that (and the other added features) are worth the extra $130 is totally up to you. Personally, I have the G3’s and absolutely love them. Best wader I’ve ever owned, and absolutely bomb-proof so far (not a ton of time on them, but I would guess about 35 days or so).
Not sure if that helps, but I hope so.
Cheers,
TimThanks guys, I’m glad that you all seemed to enjoy the report. My trip over the holidays was definitely a lot of fun.
Neal, I’ll be sure to bring my portable hard drive with all of my pictures on it to New Orleans. I’ll let you know as soon I know what our schedule is…crossing my fingers that I can sneak away either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here is another load of pictures from the end of the trip. No more fish since I spent the majority of these two days sightseeing around Tongariro National Park and only spent the evenings on the river (unsuccessfully).
National Trout Centre:
A cool viewing window in the banks of one of the on-site streams:
They had quite the impressive cane rod collection:
And a few fish in the kiddie pond:
Tongariro National Park:
No, I did not stay here:
“Mt. Doom”:
The scenery was amazing:
I’m very happy to see how active the entire country seems to be in the fight against didymo. There are signs and warnings everywhere, and there were even free pre-mixed bottles of cleaning solution at one of the National Park visitor centers. Please, if you visit New Zealand, learn about didymo and take the necessary precautions to stop the spread.
Sign outside of Turangi:
Some images from evening spent on the Tongariro River:
My trip ended on a negative note when my car broke down on the side of the road with steam pouring out from under the hood. I hitch-hiked into town, figured things out, spent the night in town, hitch-hiked back to my car (in a hearse, no less), limped into town 2km at a time, only to find out that I had a blown head gasket. Not cool at all. I had to cut my trip short and take a bus to get back to Auckland. I just picked up my car the other day, leaving my pocket substantially lighter since it was even more expensive than the already shocking quote. Unfortunately I think that basically killed my plans for a DIY bonefish trip and officially leaves me as a “starving college student” once again. It was an unfortunate end to the trip, but if nothing else, I suppose it at least added to the “adventure.”
I’m heading out in about 8 hours for a 5 day trip to a couple of rivers that I didn’t get a chance to hit over the holidays. Hopefully I’ll be all re-loaded with pictures and experiences to add another installment of my NZ adventures upon my return.
Tim
