We happened to be on our new favourite piece of water and it was a little ridiculous how amazing the fishing really was. Being completely spoilt is a total understatement. We started the day with 10 browns in a space of about 40 yards smashing on the first cast of our cicada patterns. Then we moved on to another section of the river and it was fish after fish in these gorgeous runs. I was trying my best to nail every cast I put out, but even the ones I missed accuracy on, the fish would leave its lie and come over to suck in my fly.
Being on this river was like being in a piece of paradise, everything about it makes you smile.
The other part I haven’t as yet mentioned was that our day turned into a 30 km hike. We were not quite expecting to put on this many miles, but we did because we kept being lured by the look of the river and what we had seen on Google earth. Needless to say, not all the river was fishable due to some major white water sections, but Google earth has a way of really sucking one in to exploring further and further. I don't think Dave and I have ever sweat quite as hard as we did on this hike. The humidity and hot sun is a killer here at times. Bathing in the river while trying to kill thousands of sand flies trying to bite you is also quite the sight...good thing we were the only ones around.
We actually only fished a total of 1 km in the end, but between the challenge of the 29 we hiked and the pure fun of the 1, I have some memories to hold onto for a lifetime.
Many thanks Dave. You always come up with some cool gifts.
******
That's AJ's version. DJ has something a little different. We'd had a whale of a couple of days fishing. In fact, having caught amazing fish and many of them, we opted to take a flyer on another river, as the sun was out, the cicadas filling the air. Being the west coast, you can't waste any such days as you never know when the next big rains, winds, etc are to roll through and chase you off the coastal rivers (we're on the internet now... guess what the weather is?). So, we thought that we'd try this other bit of water that we'd been told about by a local that wanted us to keep things on the hush as few get in, and even fewer fish. And so we went. And we went. The track we were on was hideous, a mud slick on rock. The river was so far away you couldn't hear it. The humidity was high - I sweat my ass off at 20C and 25% RH. This was +28C and 95%RH. I really enjoyed the rain forest but had a feeling of 'get me to the river' as I dripped. You know the conundrum... enjoy the moment or get to the water. I was wanting the water as I knew the forecast was for a weather change the next day. We got to the first bit of the river in an hour. The river spilled into a couple of monster pools. Sure there were fish, but this wasn't going to happen. We marched on for another hour. We got to a nice set of runs and rising fish stopped our marching. AJ slid out onto some rocks in quite a stunning scene below a beautiful beech canopy and got a 3 pound brown. Dave followed suit with a 15" brown. It was fun but a look ahead showed more BIG boulders, white water, and no hope of continuity for the day. We hopped back out, onto the 'track' that was more goat trail mixed with moss and mud water slide. It was a really cool hike for sure... but get me to the river. :) We marched another hour. We came to the end of our patience and took a gamble on what looked to be an opening. It was. We slipped over the river where it opened to long, sandy glides amongst large timber. I was dripping wet with sweat and simply put my rod together to feign fishing as I soaked in the water. I threw a cast on the water - anywhere - and drooped to cool myself, look at the scenery. I looked back over at the fly. Instead, I saw a nice brown tailing back downwards, obviously having eaten something on the surface. I didn't see my fly and raised the rod. He was on. I let it go as I saw another shape nearby and flipped to it. It too took and as I fought it saw another, larger trout. I called AJ over and pointed. She cast out and hooked up. I saw another coming near and flipped to it and caught it. Our plan had been to cool off, have some lunch, and then get fishing. We hadn't had lunch but landed 5 trout below our feet, all 3 to 5 pounds. We sat to have lunch and another trout swam to us. I put my rod down, flipped my rod out and as soon as my fly landed the fish casually sipped it. As I landed it, sat down, and looked again, another trout swam into view. AJ got her rod and it was hooked. We packed up lunch and 3 more trout swam into view. A pretty good 50m in life! It was then I decided to put the rod down and just shoot video. AJ was simply in heaven, loving the beauty of the location, the slow and care free feeds of the trout, and enjoying the fantails and other birds along the river. I simply wanted AJ to love life and have the freedom of such a river to herself.
Here's what most wouldn't understand about us though. It wasn't the type of water we wanted so we decided to keep hiking up. Picky, eh? 10 fish in 45 minutes or less and we were on the move. It turned out to be a mistake with blessings. The track never came back to the river. We marched for another hour... dumb. We knew what we were missing and took another gamble on a grassy clearing. It led to a spectacular run and that's where we fished for 4 hours. We slid into the run and immediately 2 fish swam at the flies. The next 1.2 km we fished had about 25 fish and AJ landed all but 1 or 2 in 4 hrs. It was a system of AJ casting the fly and while hooked up, Dave had one eye on the camera and the other scouting the next fish. Pretty good life!
By 6pm, we arrived at a choke point in the river - massive boulders and a waterfall. We knew that the trail was sketchy, we had a llloooonnng way to hike, and the last thing we wanted to do was miss the track markers and bush bash completely, or get hurt. So, by 6:30 we were on our way. The pace was fast and we made the 15 - 16 km in 3 hrs. By the time we arrived, I was drenched in sweat. It had been a long time since we'd done that much in a day. It was the kind of hike that by the end of the day you looked up and the world was still on angle, spinning and distorted. A little delirium to say the least. But, we timed it well as we got out with still enough time to drive to our camp spot and have a bathe before sunset.
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