Fresh water fishing - right place, wrong time

Greg Morton encounters a great opportunity, but rues the equipment at his disposal – again... 

The term ‘Never take a knife to a gunfight’ is very applicable in fishing. Anglers need the right tool when faced with a variety of challenging situations. Sounds logical, but often I stuff up when selecting the right weapon for the job at hand.

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The most recent example of this scenario occurred during a fishing trip to the Maniototo region of Central Otago. Chasing brown trout there always fills me with expectation, accompanied by some anxiety that a strong westerly wind will ruin the day. As a plain located in a basin, a rising nor’-wester breeze can turn into gales very quickly in the Maniototo.

First, a quick description of the area. To the east is the Rock and Pillar Range, to the west the North Rough Range and Raggedy Range, and to the north are the Hawkdun, Ida and Kakanui Mountain Ranges. The main river, the Taieri, winds its way through the basin, and there are also several irrigation ponds to target. In general terms, the Maniototo is hot and dry in summer, colourful in autumn, cold and stark in winter, and gusty in spring. The scenery is always stunning.

When selecting an appropriate fishing weapon for my October visit, I factored in the wind likely being present, so took a small spinning rod and reel, along with a handful of Mepps and Panther Martin spinners I knew caught fish. I was quietly confident of a good day, as it was calm when I left home, but certain a breeze was guaranteed later. My accommodation base was about an hour or so away from the Maniototo fishing area, so I was surprised when it was still dead calm on arrival.

First stop was a headwater irrigation pond that held a healthy population of medium-sized brown trout. I drove through the access gate and was confronted by a sight every angler dreams about: trout were rising everywhere. I parked up, and for ten minutes just watched the amazing spectacle, with noses poking through the surface regularly as the opportunistic trout slurped up what I imagined were mayflies or midges.

The hoped-for breeze remained absent, so I selected a small Mepps insect-like spinner and started casting. Nothing. No followins, no strikes, no interest. It was one of the most frustrating situations I have encountered in a long time. I knew my fly rod, left at home, should have been in the truck. These trout were zoned in on surface bugs, and nothing I had was going to change their minds. Three hours produced nothing, and the slurping was still going on when I left.

Another pond had a similar scenario: rising trout and no interest in spinners – so onward to pond three, where the occasional puff of wind gave me a smidgen of hope...

Four hours later, I landed my solitary fish for the day – and it was fluky. I had cast out into a stretch of inviting water and, while the lure was in the air, a trout rose directly where the lure was headed. The Mepps landed with a splash on top of the fish, and was instantly nailed. I think the brown thought it was another tasty bug crashing into the water overhead. This fat 1.2kg jack was released to rise another day.

The day could have been spectacular if I had brought along the right gear, as cruising trout could be seen regularly patrolling the edges. Consequently, the fly rod is now left permanently in the boot of the truck, along with my fly-fishing vest and flies.

The reverse has happened to me a lot, too. I have taken just the fly rod on a beautifully calm day, and the wind has got up. I am an adequate fly-fishing exponent at best, so am usually thwarted when faced with difficulties such as strong wind. I now take a light four-piece spinning rod with me when carrying the fly rod!

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I must be a slow learner with outfits, as many years back, on my first opening day at Lake Coleridge, I made a similar mistake. Through the grapevine I had heard that shoreline anglers cast for land-locked salmon using long rods and heavy ticers. Believing I knew best, I arrived at the lake with a traditional-length trout rod and some 9g Jensen spinners, leaving the right rod back at home in the cupboard.

I had accessed the mouth of the Harper River, but immediately found that the lake drop-off, where the salmon were congregating, was a long way out. Right on dawn saw some naïve fish in close, enabling me to snare two salmon with my gear, but after that flurry I was out of range. Some guys standing near me had the solution: surfcasting rods that fired 28g silver ticer bullets miles out into the distance. Back in those days, the limit bag was six fish, and these guys quickly had their limits and were off to their huts for breakfast in a very short time. Another lesson learned.

The other place I have arrived at with the wrong rod was the mouth of the Rakaia River. Sea-run salmon were getting caught in the surf in great numbers, so I grabbed a three-metre-long surfcaster, an eggbeater reel filled with 10kg line, some big weightforward ticers, and away I went, with half the fishing population of Canterbury joining me there as well.

Hmmm. The fish were way out, and the only anglers catching them were the guns with the specialist salmon surf rods and reels, resulting in casts that disappeared over the horizon – and limit bags. The rest of us fought over the odd straggler or two.

I now have all that specialist gear, but the salmon fishery isn’t what it was, so mostly use the gear on kahawai now.

There will never be a fool-proof solution to the right tool situation, but the truck does carry a lot of potential options these days. I just need to remember to take the right vehicle…

   This article is reproduced with permission of   
New Zealand Fishing News

January 2018 - Greg Morton
Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited

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