Fish on!

Awoke early this morning at our free camp spot, after a good night’s rest.  We parked right near the small river, so i decided to check it for any signs of fish.  Nothing seen on my first pass away from the van, but on the return I noticed a trout sneak out from a rock and eat something flowing down the river.  Noted the spot and quickly back to the van to grab my fishing rod!

Hadn’t lucked out with the lure i had attached, plus the advice i had received earlier was to use the wet fly early and late in the day, so changed it over swiftly.  Maybe too swiftly…  The setup is a small bobber you fill with some water to provide weight for casting distance, then a 3 ft leader attached to the fly.  Basically gives a spin caster the ability to throw flies like using a fly rod.

Walked back to the spot just upriver from the van.  First cast, upstream, not quite far enough across the stream, no fish seen, reel back in.  Second cast a bit further, maybe not far enough, bobber and fly float back down river, trout exits his hiding spot and gulps the fly, bobber goes down a bit and accelerates downstream, count a few seconds, set the hook!  FISH ON!

Appears to be a wily brown trout and a decent fight on light tackle trying to work his way back to a rock on the side of the river.  About 30 seconds into it, he makes a run down river and hear the famous “pop” sound which is dreadful to any fisherman.  Another insufficient knot tying effort by this guy just a few minutes earlier.  The knot tied to the bobber came undone, so now the fish has the lure and bobber attached.  I follow the bobber for a bit and see it’s hanging around the other edge.

Quickly tie on the previous metal lure in hopes of finding the bobber and snagging it.  Walk up and down the bank a few times, not seeing it yet.  Almost give up, but then see it float back to the surface nearby, appears the fish took cover under another rock on the other bank.  Cast a couple times to try snagging the line attached to the bobber.  Success on the third try, fish back on!

Fish is still green and fighting well, about 10 seconds go by and he decides to try a tarpon-like leap.  Once again, pop!  This time the bobber broke off from the rest of the line and the fish took off.  At least the fish should have a better chance of survival without a plastic bobber in tow.  Last day in NZ, glad to finally hook up a trout 🙂

One of these days I will learn to slow down and tie a proper knot…