As I am writing this News Letter a severe
storm is lashing the central and southern part of the North Island,
heaps of snow, rain and high winds. Probably winter’s last blast
before we head into spring.
The storm is not all bad news, well not if you are a
trout fishermen. The North Island hydro lakes are very low due to
a relatively dry winter and sheer incompetence on the part of those
who manage the lake levels. This has made fishing in the rivers quite
hard.
But this storm should really stir things up and get fish moving up
the rivers.
But while the fishing has been hard some beautiful fish
have been taken, and are still being taken. The low lake levels mean
that anglers have been able to wade out closer to the drop-offs, and
bring their flies up over the lip, producing some great fishing.
Got an email from an old mate of mine, now living in
Samoa - Louie the Fish. Louie was one of New Zealand’s true
fishing characters and a very well-known guide - infamous as he was
famous. But one thing all his clients could agree on was that he could
put them on fish, sometimes-great fish, and give you a hellava good
time doing it. Well Louie is now based in Samoa, and while his primary
business is turning out wonderful bone carvings, he is now set-up
for light tackle and saltwater fly-fishing.
You can contact Louie at louiethefish@yahoo.com
Give it a go, life is too short to miss out on one of the most fun
fishing times around.
A couple of friends of mine own a boat called ‘Striker’
up in the Bay of Islands. The boat and its skipper Bruce ‘Smithy’
Smith, have rightly become famous in this part of the woods for the
seemingly endless run of records (World and New Zealand) they have
managed to produce. Have a quick squizz at their site, (done by Bish
by the way), the record is impressive,
www.striker.co.nz
I have a new article on the site, Jigging
Tips. Seems to me that the ‘jigging craze’
may have peaked, but in many situations jigging is a very effective
method. So for those who have drifted off the path of jigging, here
is some info to rekindle the interest, and to catch fish.
And now that it is coming up to Spring I guess it is
time get amongst my reels and give them a good servicing. I will probably
have to get the line replaced on several of the reels, it is starting
to get that cloudy, drab look that indicates it is past it’s
use-by-date. Hate to lose a big fish because of gear failure. Oh,
by the way, while you are checking the reels get out your lures and
give them a clean too. Nothing like a shiny jig to get a snapper excited.