Friday, June 19, 2009
Ozzie Novices Get Hooked in Taupo
Simon and Brian came over from Adelaide to the Fielddays - a big agricultural fair held each year in Hamilton, 2 hours north of Taupo. Since they were in the neighborhood, they decided to come on down to Taupo for 3 days of fly fishing.
Simon had fly-fished once previously, Brian never. The first day was a bit hard. Heavy rains the night prior had brought the river levels up, which certainly brings the trout into the rivers from the lake, but typically the fishing fires up a few days later. Net result (haha) was 1 fish for the day. That evening, we headed into town for dinner at Plateau Restaurant. They were serving wild venison, which all three of us ordered and enjoyed immensely. From there it was off to a bar to watch the All Blacks (NZ's national rugby team) take on France, and shame of all shames, we lost. Had fun at the bar though, and enjoyed some great live music following the game.. Day 2, it was back to the same river. Water had started to drop but still pretty high with strong flow. Morning was tough, but afternoon produced 3 fish. I decided to fix dinner that night: Lamb and chicken burritos - not what you'd expect in NZ, but then I spent 19 years in Texas. Day 3 was the real winner. The rivers had dropped further, Brian and Simon fished from about 9am until 1:30 and hooked a total of 9 fish, 6 landed. Until this point, Brian had been reticent about doing any more fly fishing, but at the end of this wonderful day he admitted, "I'm hooked."
Simon had fly-fished once previously, Brian never. The first day was a bit hard. Heavy rains the night prior had brought the river levels up, which certainly brings the trout into the rivers from the lake, but typically the fishing fires up a few days later. Net result (haha) was 1 fish for the day. That evening, we headed into town for dinner at Plateau Restaurant. They were serving wild venison, which all three of us ordered and enjoyed immensely. From there it was off to a bar to watch the All Blacks (NZ's national rugby team) take on France, and shame of all shames, we lost. Had fun at the bar though, and enjoyed some great live music following the game.. Day 2, it was back to the same river. Water had started to drop but still pretty high with strong flow. Morning was tough, but afternoon produced 3 fish. I decided to fix dinner that night: Lamb and chicken burritos - not what you'd expect in NZ, but then I spent 19 years in Texas. Day 3 was the real winner. The rivers had dropped further, Brian and Simon fished from about 9am until 1:30 and hooked a total of 9 fish, 6 landed. Until this point, Brian had been reticent about doing any more fly fishing, but at the end of this wonderful day he admitted, "I'm hooked."
