Sight-fishing: The difference between fly fishing on
rivers in New Zealand and those in many other parts of
the world has mostly to do with the back country "gin-clear"
rivers that New Zealand is noted for.
Because of the clarity of the water, the
name of the game is to spot the fish first and then get
as close to it as possible before making a presentation.
This is in contrast to fishing blind - working a section
of river with either a dry-fly, nymph or streamer without
seeing the fish. Back to Fishing Page
Blind casting is practiced in New
Zealand, there are heaps of rivers on both the
North and South Island where you can just wade
in and begin fishing. However, on back-country
wilderness
rivers the method used to fish relies
heavily on spotting the trout, referred to
as "sight-fishing" before making a cast.
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| Fiordland
rivers: When I
take an angler who's a newcomer to one of these
back-country rivers, their response is usually a
gasp of delight at the sheer beauty of it all. These
rivers run through valleys of native beech
forests and all is framed by rugged mountains.
You can't help feeling you've arrived at trout
Valhalla.
But back-country rivers are not jammed
with fish in fact there are entire sections of
wilderness rivers that are devoid of fish.
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Instead, they have large,
solitary fish and they are often spaced far apart - a lot
of walking may be required in the course of a day. The
rivers have good tracks alongside but a moderate level of
fitness is needed to be successful.
| Technique: Once a fish is located, the
angler stealthily takes position downstream of
the trout. While the guide monitors the
movements of the fish, the angler begins to cast.
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With the guide watching
the trout and where the fly lands, he instructs the
angler as to the next cast: more to the left, more to the
right, more distance etc. The thing about casting to the
big ones is stealth, not distance.
Ideally, given the clarity of
the water you too will see the fish. But there
are times when you will need to follow the guide's
instructions as to where and how far to cast and
when to set hook.
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This kind of fishing is
magic when it works. So in a nutshell, when fishing back-country
rivers in New Zealand you need to know that:
Spotting fish is vital and blind
casting is unproductive.
Casting has more to do with line
control rather than distance.
A lot of walking may be required.
Back to Fishing Page
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