Advice & Info: Taumarunui – Fly Fishing Clinic

NZ Silver Flies Ultimate Fly Fishing Clinic

Taumarunui – November 2005

No matter how accomplished a fisherperson you are there is always room to learn new techniques and fish new water. So when the flyer for the Ultimate Fly Fishing Clinic run by the CD Rods NZ Silver Flies (NZ Fly fishing team) arrived in my inbox I knew that such an opportunity could not be missed.

The clinic was a two day event based in Taumarunui fishing predominantly the upper Wanganui. Places were limited to 10 anglers with one team member per two anglers.

We arrived at the motel on Friday evening pretty excited about the weekend ahead. Paul Dewar the team captain was there to meet us and after introductions it was off to the RSA for a meal and a catch up. One thing you quickly learn when talking to any of the team members is that a day of less than 10 fish a bad day! After the meal it was time for some fly tying tuition from the Yoshi – the teams official fly tier.

After further introductions in the morning it was off to a beautiful piece of water just outside town. We were split into two groups and the days fishing techniques were demonstrated – Czech Nymphing and Dry Fly Nymph – by Peter Scott and Steve Brown.

The morning was then spent practicing the Czech nymph technique under the watchful of one of the team members. Details of the techniques will be the subject of a future article. My personal tally for the morning was four fish landed and three lost. To put that in perspective based on previous efforts this was shaping up to be a fantastic days fishing. The difference clearly was the guidance offered by the team. There is nothing better than having your technique corrected only to catch a fish on the very next cast. The second lesson for the day was that you fish all available water. Previously we would wade on in and start fishing yet I was constantly amazed at the number of fish caught at my feet.

We shifted to another spot on the river after lunch and after scrambling down a cliff we were at it again in pristine water. The afternoons technique was the dry fly nymph – the secret it seemed lay in the flies the team had tied for us previously plus the constant attention to our rig and the drift through the water. A common sound all afternoon was “strike”.

Sunday saw the groups split in two again. The first group went off to explore some new water at the confluence of xxxxx. Our group went to a spot just out of town and after asking the local farmers permission we were into another great days fishing. The plan for the day was to focus on some techniques that we felt needed improvement. This saw some casting tuition followed by more Dry Fly nymphing and some wet fly fishing. Paul the team captain had a penchant for “fining” people in jest who dropped fish so when he hooked into a 6lb rainbow that proceeded to strip him back to his backing we were all eager to see how it was done. After a decent fight and a hair raising run down stream the rainbow won the battle and jumped off the hook. Unfortunately the rules for team captain are different we subsequently found out… The tally for the day was similar to the previous day and the fishing was just as exciting and the scenery amazing.

The consensus among the guys who attended the clinic was that it had greatly improved their fishing skills. The support, knowledge and encouragement the team members offered – often in a one on one setting was invaluable. In the weeks following a number of the guys reported trying the techniques learned on their own expeditions to great success. I myself have found that I am hooking into more fish and fishing water I would have normally walked past.

The team plan to run these events regularly as a fund raising exercise for trips to international competitions. If you are interested in being notified contact Paul Dewar on p.dewar@clear.net.nz  – You won’t regret it.