The day dawned clear and calm as the easterly had now completely died away. After a quick breakfast we were on the road to fish for some cruisers around the margins of Lake Brunner. We arrived to a glassy clear lake that had been quite peat stained only a week before, after significant rains in the Westland region for several weeks. My client spent a little time stalking the lake edge in search of cruisers while I assembled the inflatable dinghy. Having sorted all the gear, we proceeded to some submerged bush edges where there are usually plenty of good cruising browns to target. Upon reaching our destination we immediately located a few cruisers. It wasn’t long until my client was into his first fish of the day. We were mainly using small damselfly nymph patterns with a small dull yarn indicator located approximately 45cm up from the terminal fly. The aim was to cast the fly approximately one rod length in front of the cruising fish. As the fish approached the fly, a brief retrieve or twitch would get the trout’s attention. The fly was then left to naturally sink, during which time the fish would usually take it. Using this technique we were getting takes from most fish that hadn’t spooked by seeing us before they had seen the fly. This often happens in such close quarters fishing like this where fish will sometimes take the fly within 2 metres of the boat. As long as you are not wearing bright colored clothing or move at the wrong time, often the fish will be oblivious to your presence in their peripheral zone, as they visually focus on the fly. It’s exciting visual fishing! One thing I noticed was that the average fish size was down on previous years. Usually we would regularly encounter 4-5lb fish but these were few and far between, as we were mainly finding 2.5-3lbers. My client proceeded to land 3 fish within a short period but then lost several more under logs and on unlucky strikes. We were all having a fun time but unfortunately the weather forecast wasn’t as accurate as hoped, and the wind started to really blow just before lunch. This dictated that we fish amongst the shelter of the submerged trees, but the swell was even penetrating into this zone, resulting in less desirable fishing conditions. Despite this, my client still got stuck into some more fish, landing a beautiful 3.75lb specimen with lovely spots. The wind caused an early departure but not before encountering some fantastic sight fishing, described as some of the most exciting fishing my client had ever done. Happy client, happy guide! We packed up our gear and headed home having had a very enjoyable two days fishing on the coast. Thanks for the great company guys and I look forward to another trip away together when you visit Christchurch again in the future!