April, no, it cannot be! But it is. Don’t time fly!
Down at Taupo over this Easter weekend, the Autumn chills were starting
to make themselves known. Still, very soon now the rainbows will start-on
up the rivers in the central North Island and we can look forward to
great fishing.
I managed to get some wonderful trout out of the river mouth at
Hatepe, fishing from 10pm to 12pm – and under a full moon in very
bright and light conditions. "You can’t catch fish under a
bright moon," I hear some of you say – maybe the fish cannot
hear you say it. Think I can feel
my next article coming on.
But to more immediate things, my new article in the April edition of
NZ Fisherman, and now up on my site, is on the subject of saltwater
fly fishing. Hanging On In
There is about what to do when you actually hook a fish
– many books and articles go into all sorts of detail about tackle,
lines, knots, leaders and flies, but usually too little detail about
the angler must do when he or she actually hooks one of the brutes.
Hope this article fills in one or two gaps.
Saltwater Fishing Keeps On Keeping On
Despite the fact that Autumn is now upon us, the long hot Summer and
long periods of wind pushing warm water down from the tropics means
that saltwater fishing will remain very good for another month or two
yet.
Inshore fishing for snapper
and kingfish should
only improve over the next month or so, as fish keep piling on the weight
to get them through Winter.
Out wider, good numbers (in fact record numbers) of marlin and tuna
are still being taken, and probably will be right through into May.
Later on in May could be a good time to have a crack at Albacore on
light gear or saltwater fly.
But a word of caution, Autumn weather can be very fickle,
please ensure you get a forecast before you head out into the briny.
There are old fishermen, and bold fishermen, but there are no old, bold
fishermen!
Practice Makes Perfect
Winter fishing in the Central North Island of New Zealand requires
throwing big heavily weighted nymphs. It is not called ‘chuck and duck’
for fun. Now is the time to get in some practice casting these bombs,
before heading out fishing.
Seems to me to be a waste of valuable fishing time getting your casting
up to speed on fishable water, instead of doing the ground work now.
Quick Tip:
Fly casting purists will scoff and jeer, but one of the most effective
ways of ‘loading’ the rod when casting heavy nymphs is to let the fly
hit the water on the forward false cast. The grip of the water helps
to fully load the rod so you can get the line up to speed.
Mark Kitteridge, one of the better casters around on saltwater has
an article on casting free-spool reels in the April edition of NZ Fisherman.
It is one of the best I have read on the subject – well worth a look
if you are trying to overcome the dreaded backlashes associated with
casting these reels.
Old Chinese Proverb
If you want to be happy for a few hours
get drunk,
If you want to be happy for a week, kill your pig and eat it,
If you want to be happy for a month, get married,
If you want to happy for the rest of your life, go fishing.