1

Christchurch

Fishing & Casting Club Inc (The Friendly Bunch) www.cfcc.co.nz

Canterbury Horticultural

Soc. Bldg, South Hagley Park.

Patron: Peter Shutt

President Secretary Treasurer

David de Montalk Shirley Salisbury Graeme Berg 03 942 2339 03 322 8218 03 354 3403

Next Meeting: 1st

of May

More flies are tied to attract fly fishers

…than are tied to attract fish

2

Fisherman's Loft for all your Fishing Requirements

Support the sponsor of our Raffle

359 Lincoln Road, over the railway line Phone now 3383131

www.fishermansloft.co.nz

Supporting our club with their community grant

Input for your newsletter

Do you have an article, event, picture, item, or anything else for your

newsletter? Please send it to me by e-mail or post. Contributions need to be in

by the 20th to make it into the next month’s newsletter.

My email address is rlamb@xtra.co.nz

My postal address is 2/43 Eastling St, Bishopdale, Christchurch 8053

Thank you very much, to those people who have sent me material for this

issue: Shirley, Rex, John C, Norm, Merv, Heather & Monique.

Richard

3

2012/2013 Events Calendar

Fly Tying Classes

Fly tying classes will begin on Sunday 9th June and will continue each

Sunday until 14th July.

Classes are held at 47 Veitches Road from 1.30pm till 4pm

Instructor: Norm Parkyn Phone 3599 359

Organizer: Fay Mangos

Cost: $10

This course is suitable for beginners as well as for those who wish to

improve their techniques.

All materials will be provided. If you do not have your own set of fly

tying tools, the club will provide a set for the duration of the course and

for 1 month following the course.

You can sign for the course at the next meeting or ring Norm.

4

Lake Georgina

Lake Georgina is one of the closest high country lakes to Christchurch and

is full of fish, both rainbow and brown trout. Because it has plenty of fish

it does not make catching them any easier. From opening day through to

February I have found the lake fishes best. After this the water gets too

warm and the fish change to bottom feeding such as snails, newly hatched

koura and fresh water mussels.

Many fishermen arrive and watch the lake for 5 minutes and if they see no

rise they are off. I find you need to walk around, take your time and

search for a feeding fish. If you see a rise, assume the fish is moving up

wind (if there is any) and cast at least 3 metres ahead of it and hope the

fish stays on course. I use a dry with a nymph dropper of about 60

centimetres. At times when no fish are being caught, I drop the nymph

down to a size 14 or 16 pheasant tail type and this seems to work for me

sometimes. I fish between 9.30am and 3pm and my fishing diary shows I

have never caught a fish between 12 and 1pm. This is probably because

this is when I have lunch each day.

If all else fails, go out after dark, in front of the trees with a lure or large

wet fly. It is unusual that you don’t get something.

Merv Holland

Quote of the Month

Lo the angler. He riseth in the morning and upsetteth the whole

household. Mighty are his preparations. He goeth forth with great hope in

his heart and when the day is far spent, he returneth, smelling of strong

drink, and the truth is not in him.

Author: Sum Won Courtesy: Bish & Fish

5

Fly of the Month

Orange Witch

Hook: 4-8

Tail Black Squirrel

Body: Orange chenille

Side Feathers: Barred flanks from chukor

Method:

Bind Hook. Tie on the squirrel tail then tie on the chenille. Wind to half

hook shank. Tie off. Measure the chukor feathers against fly. They should

reach halfway along tail. Clear the herls off the feathers so you can tie

them where the chenille stops, two feathers each side. Retie the chenille

and wind to the eye, leaving room to tie the second lot feathers. These

overlap the first lot of feathers slightly to get you two sets of coloured bars

on each side of the fly. Tie off and whip finish.

This fly works best in waters where there are perch present. It represents

the perch fry. All rivers flowing into Lake Ellesmere have perch in them.

Most are open for winter fishing in the lower reaches. Give it a try.

Tight lines

Norm

6

Salmon Tales

My friend Frank is an old fishing buddy from years back, he had two

Salmon already from Peel Forest a 20 lb and a 22 lb he caught in an hour.

He was keen to head out to Spot X on the Waimak in the early hours one

Saturday in March. The river was low so I thought it would be a waste of

time but always keen to get on the river. I said to Della, “If I don’t go he

will catch a fish,” so off I went at 4.30 am.

I met Frank and walked to the spot in the dark. The only other Salmon I

have caught was about 5 yrs ago, a 13 lb Rakaia Salmon ( my 1st river

salmon ), while staying and fishing with Richard & Sharon; that was a

happy day. Della & I have had many good weekends fishing with Richard,

& Sharon, only to watch others catch fish.

Any way after about 3 hrs fishing with not a salmon to be seen, we saw

some fish breaking the surface down stream. Frank caught & landed a 17

lb fish, I was happy for him as it was a fine salmon, although I did wish it

could have been me.

20 mins later I hooked up, thought I had similar size fish as I saw a flash

of silver. Frank who was further out in the water yelled out “=/-*%&# JC

it’s a monster,” then I saw it & freaked out. I was going to lose the fish of

a life time, it made four big runs with me hanging on trying to stay calm

remembering everything I had been told to do. It started to go on its side

and Frank tailed it up the bank, both of us looking in disbelief at the size

of it. We guessed it to be in 20 lb range so on the way home I called into

the Fisherman’s Loft where Mark weighed it, 25 lb. I was very happy with

that. I had the bug so we headed out the next morning and I landed a 15 lb

Salmon. A very good weekend indeed, role on next season, more trips to

7

the Waimak and the Loft.

I have enclosed photos of Frank’s and my fish, I think I have earned pass

outs to the river for some time! Tight lines. John C

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tip of the month Recycling is the new cause of the “middle classes”; so I’ll join them.

Recently I received a new lap top by courier. It was packed in a plastic

foam type of material about an inch thick = 25 mm.

It makes an excellent “keep” for treble (or single) hooks. I don’t like to

waste time threading up my spinning rods so leave them all set up and

ready to go.

The down side is that they very easily catch on the car’s upholstery. The

solution is to have a way to neutralise the hook without having to take

them off.

To make the “keep” just cut the foam material into triangles. You need a

very sharp knife or the material splits. Then cut a slit two thirds of the way

in from the longest edge. This slit slides over the shaft of the hook

allowing you to embed the points into the foam. They are also easy to

remove from the hooks. It is certainly easier than removing the hooks

from car upholstery!

I have tried polystyrene but it crumbles. Cut several spares as they can get

blown aways in the typical Canterbury “breeze” and they do eventually

wear out. Rex

8

Another glorious weekend

Every trip to Black Forest station has provided the Club members with

great weather; and trout of course.

This latest trip in April was no exception. The 15 who ventured there

experienced the benefits of our extended summer. A real feature of these

trips is the number of women members, and some non-fishing wives who

enjoy this venue. This year we had the added value of having a nine year

old (Cameron) learning about fishing from his dad; and he hooked into a

fish as a bonus. Unfortunately it threw the hook when it jumped but at

least he could say that he “fooled a fish into biting”.

Where the Fish Cruise.

The summer of “spilling” excess water into the Tekapo River had left its

mark. The river bed vegetation was extensively flattened and inundated

with silt. Never fear though. The lupins have left enough seed to recover

all of the Mackenzie country if needed and numerous other wild flowers

seem to have survived in large enough numbers.

The “spilling” has been the result of the closing off of the Tekapo to

Pukaki canal while repairs were completed to the canal wall. The effect on

the fishery has been to clean out the river’s trout population. Several

members spent a lot of fruitless hours searching the river for fish. They

have retreated up into the tributaries, or headed down into the lake.

Another feature of the spilling has been the deepening of many pools.

Once the insect life rebuilds its numbers, and the trout move back, the

fishing should be great. The deepening extends to the outlet of the main

stream into the lake. Last December we could wade across to get access to

9

the willows and bays just east of the mouth. You would need a boat to get

there now.

The whole estuary area for the various mouths of the Tekapo River was

almost devoid of fish; quite a contrast to last spring. Several fish were

rising off the main mouth but as in the old fable about the fox and the

grapes, they were just too far out.

Fish were caught in many areas between the Tekapo mouth and Black

Forest station. Graeme and Sheredyn came back from a trip, in their “new

toy” boat (just off the homestead area), with big grins and three nice

rainbows.

Almost anywhere where the willows flanked the shore there were trout

visible. Dave Palmer, on a rest break, counted seven at one sport; just

cruising around and poking their tongues out at him.

Speaking of Dave, he had an eventful weekend, a fall on a crumbling bank

saw him collect a great bruise and sit out much of Saturday. He still did a

magnificent job on Saturday evening managing the BBQ cooking

however. Everything was cooked to perfection. A great job considering

that he had sausages, pre-cooked sausages, patties, chicken, at least two

types of steak, and more to cook and have ready to serve at the same time.

Sheredyn’s team had the salads and desserts ready also in perfect timing. I

am sure that many people go on these trips primarily for the food!

Apart from over-eating it is always pleasant to swap fishing lies at these

feasts. Amazingly there was still pavlova left! The cheese cake, etc, also

provided a challenge for full stomachs. The excess salads don’t go to

waste there. They go to the chooks.

Other Friendly Locals

To add to Dave’s trials his car broke down just out of Geraldine as he

headed home. A friendly encounter with a passing traffic cop saw him

organised, even if it did mean an extra (pleasant) night in the Geraldine.

10

The usual suspects caught fish over the weekend and Dave was gifted a

plump 3.75 lb rainbow to compensate for missed fishing time.

On trips such as this you can see why local Maori traditionally spent so

much of their summer time at their camps in the Mackenzie Country. It

was not just the eel, weka, kiore and waterfowl that they caught and

preserved, before rafting them down the Waitaki, but it must have been

the warm days and great views of Aoraki/Mt Cook that made the days

seem so enjoyable.

A Million Dollar View

It certainly has that effect on those of us who have been on the Black

Forest trips. There are few things more inspiring than raising your head

for the next cast and finding Aoraki and his brothers in the centre of your

view. Roll on the next club trip booked in for the first weekend of

December.

Cheers

Rex

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some environmental issues you may want to check out:

http://www.fishandgame.org.nz/newsitem/govt-plans-will-wreck-river-

protection

http://www.fishandgame.org.nz/newsitem/excuse-pollute-appalling

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/132983/commissioner-

wants-longfin-eel-fishing-suspended

11

OTEMATATA TRIP

The Otematata Holiday Park and Lodge was a good place to stay, they are

presently redecorating and painting the place as it was starting to get a bit

run down. One of the attractions was a swimming pool which Dave

Palmer had a go at, and described it as cold, as it’s solar heated and until

we arrived they hadn’t had much sun. I took the day off so that I could

beat everyone there but as usual my dad Norm Parkyn beat me there along

with my brother Brian and his wife Amber (even though they got lost).

Also on the trip were Rex and Janet, Sheredyn and Graeme, and Gavin

Condor. Otematata has a lot of opportunity for fishing different spots as

you have the Ohau canals, Lake Benmore, Aviemore, the Waitaki and

Ahururi, just to name a few.

Most of those who went caught fish. Rex caught a four and half pound

Brown from Lake Ohau and also seven Rainbows. Dave Salisbury caught

a Brown Trout, two and half pound, which we ate at the Saturday night

barbecue. Norm caught a pan size trout, Graeme caught two pan sized

Salmon, Dave Palmer caught 2 brown trout, three and half pound, and

Gavin Condor 12 two pound trout. So that just leaves Sheredyn and

myself, perhaps we need some more fishing lessons.

The weather was good and only started turning cold on the Sunday. A

few went over to the pub to watch the game on TV after the barbecue. Rex

and Dave S went dumpster diving on the Sunday looking for Rex’s

camera which we thought we might have thrown out with the rubbish after

the barbecue. I just supervised. Luckily it was in the back of his car

which he found later. A very enjoyable weekend.

Shirley Salisbury

12

Unclaimed mail to:

2/43 Eastling Street

Bishopdale 8053

Christchurch

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the letters and articles in this newsletter are the

authors’ own and not necessarily those of the Editor or The Christchurch Fishing &

Casting Club Inc