Greg Morton tells the story of a freshwater fishing trip with his family...

Waiting at the airport for my overseas family to arrive was a strange feeling. It just hadn’t happened for so long. I had even forgotten where Queenstown customs spits international visitors and their bags out into our country. Finally, four tired-looking travellers popped into sight and it was good to hug children and grandchildren in person. It had been 2018 when Nana L and Poppa G had last seen Tanz, her husband Michael, and twin boys Thomas and William. I’m sure many families have had the same experience this summer, catching up after years apart.

COVID-19 has ruled the world for a long time, and sadly it isn’t done yet. The tired-looking Perth-based family I welcomed were using air credits to visit us in Alexandra and other whanau in Christchurch. Travel for these visitors wasn’t over yet, however, as Alexandra was another hour or so inland.

After a good meal that night, some tentative plans were made for the days ahead. As it turned out, all plans were ticked off easily (plus some, as the weather was hot and perfect, unlike other places in the country).

A bit of time spent practicing at home meant the youngsters were ready for action.

I had written a fishing story about the three-year-old twins in this magazine back when they last visited in 2018. They were very young anglers then, and with their dad helping, they landed a large brown trout hen.

It was a memorable moment for all of us, so it came as no surprise that one of the top items on the boys’ wish list this time round was to go fishing. They are now seven and wanted to be a lot more hands-on when it came to trout fishing. I took them down to the basement and allocated a rod to each of them. William had a gold reel on his rod, while Thomas had a silver reel on the other rod. They were shown how these unfamiliar pieces of equipment worked and given tips on how to cast and retrieve gear. A bubble was then attached to the end of each line and they practiced accuracy casting at a target in the driveway. They learned fast, so the next day they were ready to go nose-to-nose with our local fish.

The first location was an irrigation dam that has brown trout, rainbow trout, and redfin perch. It is a very snaggy place, so rather than attach lures or bottom gear that would get lost, I attached a bubble and soft bait to each of the boys’ rods. A minder parent watched each boy and helped out if required. The first spot was slow, and the only success was a small rainbow – though both rods did receive some good strikes and short hook-ups. I was impressed with the casting and retrieving of the boys, but the fish weren’t obliging.

Redfin perch were on the boys’ target species list.

Spot two was at the other end of the dam, so we drove there. Almost immediately, we found perch, and over the next hour or so several were landed, and several were lost. They are very attractive fish and produce tasty fillets if large enough. As the day got hotter, the fishing got slower, so it was time to return home, where Nana L had an excellent lunch ready.

On the subject of food, always make sure you have tucker and water in your bag when out fishing with youngsters. It’s never long before a plaintive voice will say, “I’m hungry and thirsty” so be prepared. Protective clothing, hats, and a mat to sit on should be essentials as well. Short sessions are always better than long ones, and make sure all the young anglers are involved in the actual fishing. If the fish are absent, come back another day, relocate, or change activity.

Four years earlier, the boys had caught their big brown trout on a worm, and that is the perfect bait for very young anglers. It works when they are doing other things, but this time they were older and wanted to be fully involved.

The next day we went to the location where the brown trout had been landed four years earlier. It is very rocky, and it is not uncommon to see cruising trout looking to catch cockabullies away from their rock refuges. The fishing strategy we would employ this time consisted of two stages. Stage one involved catching some bullies, and stage two involved suspending a live bully under a float.

Catching cockabullies for bait was a fun part of the fishing process.

What was even better about stage one of this plan was that catching bullies is fun. The technique involves laying a fine mesh net on the bottom near a rock overhang and twitching a soft bait near the rock. Territorial bullies attack the soft bait over the net and are captured when the net is lifted. They were kept alive in a bucket with water in it.

The rig for both rods was a casting float, and a lip-hooked live bully suspended a metre down with a small weight at the end of the line to slow the drift. The rigs were cast out, and while we waited Michael, Tanz, and the twins tried to outwit more bullies. Time passed, and like the trip four years earlier, it came down to the wire. I had suggested it was time to leave when Tanz pointed at the little float in front of her that was twitching. It then pulled under, and the reel began to screech.

It was on the gold reel, so William stepped up to the plate. A lovely rainbow jumped clear of the water and made William work hard before Thomas netted it. It was a perfect eating trout, caught at the same place by the same anglers – but with four Covid years between trips.

March 2023 - Greg Morton
New Zealand Fishing News Magazine.
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