Hey guys, just a quick report to let you all know that I Fished with Jeff Ham on Sunday on the Waiomou River and Witnessed the first trout ever caught in NZ ( By Jeff) on a Vanessa fly! Plus I caught fish on one of Jeffs yellow cricket wee wets. Great day, lots of small fish and I learnt a fair bit about wee wets and how best to fish them from Jeff.
Thanks very much Jeff, as soon as I get the renovations done and the fly tying gear back in the house I will tie up a few more wets and try them out, will let you know how they go while you are away overseas.
All the best.
Mike.
Hi,
It was a really good day. The forcast was calling for rain, but we hit it lucky and it was quite a nice day, bit of sun early on, later just overcast. Rained in Auckland, but we were 2 hours south.
Anyway, Mike showed me a stream I’ve never fished before, which made it a lot of fun. Great to explore new water. I think Mike must have landed a dozen or so, with a mix of browns and rainbows. I brought half a dozen to hand, and dropped three or four. I was pleased though as I spent a lot of time nymphing under an indicator, which I do quite rarely and usually miss them on the strike (which, as Mike can back me up on, I did a few times yesterday as well!). I was watching Mike cast for a bit on a few stretches, and it was clear that his ability to cast that much further (and accurate) than I can really make the difference at times. I must learn to double haul!
At one stretch I tried a Vanessa, one of my own patterns that John Scott used in our exchange, and on my second cast with it brought a small rainbow to hand! She’s now completed the cycle and caught fish around the world!
At the end of the day, we were back at the car packing up when this fellow comes from the house beside the river, bounds over the field, climbs the fence, crosses the road, and asks us how our day was, and if we had any luck, etc. Then, he tells us he’s from Fish and Game, so we show him our licences. He wasn’t working, but was visiting the people in the house for a birthday party. He was basically curious to see why we were fishing this river (it doesn’t see a lot of anglers; Mike’s never seen anyone else fishing it!), and how was the fish population, etc. It was good to see that even in some pretty out of the way places, you can still get checked.
Anyway, thanks Mike. It was a good day, good company, and good water.
- Jeff
Mike and Jeff -
Good to hear from both of you on your day out fishing. Must have been a really good break from the things you’ve had to deal with recently, Mike.
Exploring new water is probably the best part of fishing, as long as you do some catching while you are at it, or at least can go back and give it another go based on what you learned the first time out. Since you didn’t get skunked, no need to go back, unless you want to, of course.
Glad to hear that Vanessa rounded out the adventure, Jeff. And Mike, you are a lucky fellow to be fishing with that guy. Been thinking maybe I could coax him off his route to Nova Scotia, either coming or going, so we could get out on some SE Idaho streams together ?? Would be just too cool to join up for something like that.
John
P.S. Since the “going” part of your trip is just around the corner, Jeff, guess I’ll have to start working on the other end of the trip ??
Hi John,
I consider myself lucky to have been able to get out with Mike. He’s a great guy, showed me some new water, gave me first access at some sweet pools, and shared some good conversation and laughs with. We even talked about your reports, and how both of us would love to get the chance to see some of your waters. My next year is pretty much planned out, and what time I have away from work is time to be with the family. I don’t get to see them much, for the obvious reasons of the globe between us, so every day will be precious. Especially since this will be the first time many of them get to meet Genesta! However, in the future I’m planning on looking for some conferences out your way, ones that just happen to be around prime fishing seasons, and then for sure I’ll be there!
- Jeff
Hey Jeff these conferences at prime fishing times do you need a bag carrier?
All the best.
Mike.
Or two? :idea:
You know, I probably could use a couple ghillies! 
- Jeff