Month: June 2012

Five New Fishing Quotations: 29 June 2011

Up now five new fishing quotes – total now 1080.

“Yes, I actually have a portable fly-tying kit in my vest. I spent hours putting it all together, with a special emphasis on midge materials as well as enough fur and feathers to whip out a half dozen of virtually every conceivable dry pattern nature can throw at me. I have used it once, in 1993.”
– Jack Ohman  (num 1076)
(Bit like half the stuff in my vest, I reckon – Bish)

“When they see me holding fish, they can see that I am comfortable with kings as well as with paupers.”
– Imelda Marcos (num 1077)

“What’s the two things they tell you are healthiest to eat? Chicken and fish. You know what you should do? Combine them, eat a penguin.”
– Dave Atell   (num 1078)

“I’m going to gut you like a fish.”
– Mike Tyson   (num 1079)

“You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don’t want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something.”
– Mitch Hedberg   (num 1080)

Posted by Tony Bishop in fishing quotes

New Zealand High Country, High Tussock, Huge Hideous Fly – Perfect!

Back a couple of months as the New Zealand summer meandered into autumn, I got an invitation that many anglers dream about.

"Do you want to join us on a helicopter fly-in to the high country above Taupo, (central North Island of New Zealand)?" asked Pam, bless her!

Despite my morbid fear of helicopters after some very dodgy experiences in my time in the army, I hesitated for about half-a-heartbeat, and blurted out "Yes! Please."

The day arrived and of course there was low cloud with drizzly rain, and every chance the flight would be cancelled. But no, the weather over the range was supposed to be fine and clear.

So Pam, me and guide Steve clambered into the little hideousround bubble under the rotors, and up, up and away we went over the range-top into the fine, clear sky as promised.

The fly-in revealed the crystal-clear headwaters of the river we were to fish. It was fairly Summer low, with shallow runs dropping into pools where the river turned in an apparently never ending series of bends. All framed by high country tussock, right up to the mostly steep banks, dropping near to, or vertically into the water. Beautiful!

Out of the helicopter on a small clearing in the high tussock, we rigged up the rods, and that’s when things got a bit tense. Steve, our guide, and a good mate of mine saw the fly I was about to tie on, and launched into a frank and meaningful critique of "that hideous beast". Full story

Posted by Tony Bishop in fishing flies, Fishing Travel, fly fishing, my fishing trips, New Zealand Fishing

5 New fishing quotes and sayings: 12 June 2012

Just up 5 new fishing quotes and sayings, numbers 1071 – 1075:

“So, eventually, he made one final arrangement with himself, which he has religiously held to ever since, and that was to count each fish that he caught as ten, and to assume ten to begin with. For example, if he did not catch any fish at all, then he said he had caught ten fish – you could never catch less than ten fish by his system; that was the foundation of it. Then, if by any chance he really did catch one fish, he called it twenty, while two fish would count thirty, three forty, and so on.”
– Jerome K Jerome ‘Three Men In A Boat’ (1071)

“Maybe your stature as a fly fisherman isn’t determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed.”
– John Geirach (1072)

“If you’re a fish and you want to be a fish-stick, you have to have very good posture.” – Mitch Hedberg (1073)

“If our father had had his way, nobody who did not know how to fish would be allowed to disgrace a fish by catching him.”
– Norman Maclean ‘A River Runs Through It’ (1074)

“When you see a fish you don’t think of its scales, do you? You think of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water… If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would arrest its movement, give a pattern or shape of reality. I want just the flash of its spirit.”
– Constantini Brancus (1075)

Posted by Tony Bishop in fishing quotes

CATCH THE MOMENT: Fly-fishing New Zealand 2012

goaloneinnz

This, mostly, solo record of a 5 week fishing trip is possibly the best video I have seen on fishing in New Zealand. It shows the huge variety in landscapes, terrain and water. It also shows the wind, occasional rain, sandflies, and roads that test driving skill. All in all, everything that makes fly fishing here a true test of fishing skill, in superb surroundings. Wonderful piece of work.

Documentary of a fly fishing trip – New Zealand Jan./Feb 2012, 5 weeks / one ‘flyfischerman’, a German, and one "Go Pro – Hero 2".

Posted by Tony Bishop in Fishing Travel, fly fishing, New Zealand Fishing