The next outing was with a client who was visiting Christchurch for a wedding and who had a few days spare for some fishing. We had decided to do an overnight trip to the West Coast with a combination of river and still-water sight fishing on the cards. The weather was looking good and other than a strong easterly breeze, we were greeted with a relatively warm and sunny day upon reaching our first fishing destination, a beautiful coast river.

My client’s wife had decided to accompany us on the trip, and it was great to hear all about their lives and experiences on the drive over. She was really interested in bird-watching, so I had chosen this Westland river location as the riparian native bush held a reasonable variety of native bird life. While she searched the nearby bush for birds we rigged up and started scanning the water in search of the first fish of the day. I was happy to see a nice trout feeding in the first pool. It lay in a difficult lie where drag became an issue in the presentation. My client made some good casts but eventually the fish wised up to our presence and disappeared. I proceeded to spot upstream but the next pool was absent of any fish. Luckily the next nice section of water housed a good sized trout which appeared to be actively feeding. My client was excited to see a fish in the 5-6lb range regularly nymphing in such a scenic location. His explanation of this being one of the most beautiful rivers he had every visited made me feel pretty good about selecting this river to fish. I spent a little time checking all the terminal knots to make sure we had the best chance of landing the fish if eventually hooked. After watching the fish for a while he snuck into a good casting position, and made a nice cast up towards the feeding fish. A few casts later, the perfect cast laid out and drifted down towards the fish. The small size 14 black tungsten glister nymph was the fly of choice and proved interesting enough to the fish, as it swung a metre to the side to engulf the fly. The indicator dipped and the client struck. The weight of the fish made a sizeable bend in the rod as the fish fled to the other side of the river. Luckily after a short time the fish began to tire, and he gradually drifted back across the flow to settle in an eddy in front of us. He appeared to be a reasonable fish as he hydroplaned in the current, surfacing every so often. He seemed to be lacking a little condition but was still a beautiful trout. The opportunity to net him came shortly after, and a successful netting resulted in a lovely spotted 5lb trout glistening in the net, and a very happy client and guide. The first fish certainly takes a little of the pressure off the guide, and allowed me to relax a little more for the rest of the day. We proceeded to take the all important photo but upon preparing to pose the fish, it took its opportunity to escape and bolted to the safety of the river. Not to worry, as the client was stoked and was ready for some more action. He didn’t have to wait long as the next nice glide just upstream held another feeding fish. This time the fish was a little smaller and was sitting a
little deeper in some disturbed water. I checked all the knots and tied on a slightly heavier caddis bead head nymph. The clients first good cast drifted to the right of the fish and it quickly moved in the direction of the fly, before rising as little in the water column to take it. The disappearance of the indicator was followed by a solid strike. The really active fish bolted all over the river, before eventually coming to the net. The day was going well as the wind was slowly dying away and as the fishing hotted up, so to did the temperature. After a quick lunch and a few stories about all the different bird species his wife had encountered, I proceeded up the river to spot another fish. Three to four hundred metres upstream I finally found another fish, but this one ended up cruising down and spotting my client while he was preparing to cast. Oh well, not all opportunities work out. Another 150m upstream I peered over a large log only to find another nice fish feeding in a gently flowing eddy. I watched him for a while and was excited to see him rise for a mayfly dun on the surface. The client came over to check out the fish and while he inquisitively watched his feeding behavior, I changed to a size 14 parachute mayfly pattern, to hopefully get him on a dry fly. The client got into position and proceeded to cast to the trout. He was unable to see him while moving about subsurface, but was able to clearly see his head break the surface as he inhaled the odd terrestrial insect. I guided him to get the cast he needed for the fish to see his fly. A good presentation resulted in the fish slowly rising towards the surface, gently sipping in the parachute fly. I was located directly above him and was in a great spot to watch all the action unfold. There’s not much more exciting than watching a nice fish rise only mere metres in front of you. Magic! I called the pause and then the strike. The fish immediately exploded out into the current upon feeling the penetration of the barb-less hook. The client tightened up to gain some control of the rapidly departing line, and unfortunately parted company with the fish. Maybe a little disappointing to have lost the fish, but it had been so exciting to watch all the action that we were both satisfied with the experience. A further search upstream did not uncover any more fish, so we met up with his wife and walked back to the vehicle. Well what a good day! Some classic fishing amongst good company, surrounded by spectacular scenery and a diverse variety of native bird life. Everyone was happy so we headed back to the hut to relax and have some tea and to get ready for all the action on the water tomorrow.