Ed and Joe's first session on the Fly!

Had a great day on the river with Joe and Ed from Flordia! We spent the afternoon casting on the lawns of Huka Lodge, one of the worlds premiere retreats. We went over the basics of fly fishing and why we do it! An hour of casting instruction and the boys were ready for their first trip up the river. They picked the casting up really well, and I was feeling good about the river mission.

The fishing the last few weeks has been a little challenging with low clear rivers and spooky fish. I was hoping the little bit of rain we had would help put a little color in the river. So much for hoping, when we arrived at the river she was still pretty low and clear, but we did manage to find a few fish to eat the fly. Came across a pool that had 5 nice Rainbows holding in it. Joe started getting drifts and after a few minutes got a couple of hookups and both spat the hook, Bugga! Keep going mate their still in there. After a fly change we connected with a nice 3lb Bow and Joe and I were rapped. He could believe how hard a Taupo fresh run rainbow could pull. He did well to land it as the hen took off like a freight train down the river, when we caught up I scooped the fish in the net and let out a deep breath. YES!

As we were only out for a half day, we needed to get a move on as we were running out of time to get Ed into one of these beauties! I got them blind fishing in a likely spot and I went hunting, crossed the river and came out on the cliff to spot another pod of fish in the emerald pool below. I got Ed into position, as I watched the fish from above. Ed started getting good drifts right off the bat, This was looking promising. After a few good drifts the line came tight but we were on the rock. Ed manages to pop it off and continued on. A few more drifts and i could see the flies going through the zone, as the indicator dipped under I yelled YUP! and we were in only for a brief moment as the fish spat the hook, again Bugga!

Well we needed to get moving as we were already in triple overtime! Cheers to the fellas for being a pleasure to guide, and I bet this is just the start of their fly fishing adventures, as they live in Florida for cryin out loud.