The Fishing: General thoughts - I tied 25 dozen flies in the months before the trip, bought some in NZ, and brought along another 10 dozen I already had tied. I lost a dozen or so. Yes, I went a bit over board on the flies. The following patterns caught fish - beadhead pheasant tail, beadhead prince nymph, GS caddis, halfback, hare and copper, feather duster, BMS. Except for the BMS (a smelt pattern Mark gave me), all flies that caught fish for me were size 12 or smaller and most fish were taken on 14s and 16s. I don't really think pattern was all that important. If it was a reasonable imitation of a nymph, got down to the level of a feeding fish, and you didn't spook the fish with a clumsy presentation, the fish ate it. I didn't catch one fish on a dry. I think Mark got one to rise on the Tuki Tuki. All other fish hooked during the clave were taken sub-surface unless Mark got some on top during his extended stay - you lucky dog Herron !! I'm sure he'll let us know in due time.
Day one saw Conrad and I making an exploratory trip to the Makuri. It was only a morning trip as GS was due in around noon and we were to meet him back in Palmy North. It was a love at first sight for me and the Makuri. Small and willow/manuka lined, it was like going home to some of the Rocky Mountain streams I know so well (except for the Manuka of course). The water had a bit of tint to it that day, but we were able to see four feeding fish from the bridge. Bridge fish being bridge fish, I managed to scare the bejezzus out them in short order ;-) I should probably explain a bit more about the Makuri before continuing. These fish see a fair number of anglers for NZ fish. They are very wary and any presentation that is less than near perfection will put them off the feed. Kind of tricky to know when you've been made sometimes. Not all the fish scoot away in terror. Some of them maintain their lie, but they wouldn't eat if you pried their mouth open and tried to force feed them. The river was recently publicized in a where-to book, and CB says there has been a noticeable increase in angling pressure. We saw other anglers that morning. Not much room here for a whole herd of fishers. After seeing far fewer fish than CB was used to seeing, we decided to give it a rest and headed back to Palmy. Spent the afternoon talking and drinking with GS. Interesting fellow that GS. He doesn't talk in olde English ;-) Thanks for the caddis ties Glen. They were producers. Next morning the three of us headed back to the Makuri. The water had cleared a bit more and sighting conditions were decent between rain showers. The fish were just as weary as they were the day before. We worked up river spotting and taking turns casting to a dozen or so fish but there were no takers amongst them. As we continued towards the upper bridge, we spotted a fish feeding freely in open water. It was my turn to cast. First cast was two feet to the left, but the fish did nod that direction as the fly passed. Second cast was a bit right and the fish showed no reaction. The third cast was right down the pike. The fish turned almost imperceptibly and I lifted into solid weight. Not a lot of sizzling runs from this good brownie jack, but it used its bulk to advantage and gave me a some thrills before CB grabbed it and flipped it onto the bank. I was an eNZed virgin no more and neither was my new Dave Lewis six weight (nice rod Dave--I enjoyed it very much!!). Good fish it was. Well marked and in fine condition. We had agreed earlier to dispatch one for the smoker, so we pithed it and cleaned it on the river bank. It went down smoothly at tea that evening ;-) I got to fish the Makuri one more time. Mark and I headed up one day when CB had personal matters that needed attention. Once again, it was tough. The water was very clear that day. We spotted somewhere between twenty and thirty fish and got presentations made to a good percentage of them. Even presentations that I thought were nearly flawless resulted in spooked fish. Time after time our offerings were refused. A funny thing this fishing though. When we had just about given up hope, our fortunes took a turn for the better. A fish was spotted feeding heavily in a small brushy pool. This guy was really chomping the drifting nymphs and the white wink of his opening jaws was frequently visible. I cast a GS caddis a bit up stream of the lie. Too close to the fish and it didn't get down in time. The next cast was a bit off line, but the needed depth was there. This fish moved two feet, opened its mouth, and sucked the Spackman tie in like it was starving. Landed it and headed on. At the next good pool, Mark spotted a fish working in tight to the far bank under some overhanging manuka branches. It was his turn to cast, and darned if this fish didn't pounce on the fly too. After 20 plus refusals coming in unbroken succession, we brought two good fish in a row to hand. Good thing too. That was the end of it. We didn't see another fish. It was later in the day and we apparently got lucky just before the browns retired to the undercuts and root balls. I like the challenge of tough fish, and the Makuri has them in spades, but it was darn good to catch a couple ;-) We tried a quick trip back to this beautiful little river on my last morning. It had rained pretty good in Palmy, and it had rained a bunch in the Makuri drainage. It was the color on consistency of a chocolate milk shake. I'll be back to this one someday!! Enough for now. Next up the, Mohaka and the Rangetikei. Regards, Don Kelly
