Chapters

I almost booked my flight home. I had had enough. It was exhausting both physically and mentally. I had a messed up ankle, and drove around the south island a few times and missed the people that meant the most to me.

Would I do it again? Would I book that flight to head across the world to fish?

As trying as it was NZ has altered my way of fishing and the way that I think about fishing. I have been out a handful of times back here in Alberta and it just hasn’t held the same as what NZ had. Maybe there are other factors that have attributed to my lack of desire to wander around looking for fish, and it doesn’t have to do with what Alberta has to offer.

 
NZ you may walk all day not making a single cast. With the odd exception, you have to spot the fish before you make an attempt to catch it. You can apply those same techniques here in Alberta on occasion. The creeks that I fish do get clear enough to do so. My main fishing partner, and myself prior to heading overseas, do this to an extent. After a while fishing the same creeks, and the same type of creeks, you just begin to learn where the fish will be, so you don’t really need to apply the same degree of sight fishing to them.

Maybe my lack of enthusiasm, if you can call it that, right now is because I haven’t been able to put what NZ fishing taught me to use, but I don’t think that it’s the main cause. Maybe it’s the chapter in my life where I all wanted to do is rush home after work to go fish and come back just in time to find clothes to wear come Monday morning has ended.

I don’t have the need or desire to wear down my body to feel like I’ve been beaten up at the end of the weekend. Sure I still enjoy fishing. Nothing is better than being out on a stream, where the only thing that faces you is the next bend of the river, or the rush you get when fish you’ve been chasing all summer shows itself and begins to eat and you finally may have a chance to catch it.

In my experience, if you do something long enough and you spend every minute of your day occupying yourself with your passion, you may start to loose that passion. To appreciate your passion, sometimes you have to take a step back. Or maybe it’s just a matter of looking at it in a different light to regain that passion that you once had. I think I’m beginning to look at it in a different light. There’s no right or wrong way to go about pursuing any passion, if you love what you’re doing and how you’re doing it that’s all that matters.

I’m moving on to a new chapter in my life. I have the most beautiful women in the world in my life. She brings a smile to my face and a fullness to my heart that I’ve never experienced and I love her with all my heart. Soon we will be adding another, and I get to be a father.

Some may read this and think that Paige is pulling me away from fishing, which would be naive to think. I’m excited about my life and this new chapter, and I’m going to get Paige out fishing sooner rather than later! Will I take our kid fishing? Absolutely. I have every intention to get a backpack and go fishing with our kid in the back!

Flying Trout!!

Fish eating damsel's flying through the air!

  

(Hard to photograph!)

 

Spot the Trout!

Finally. A day that you see in the movies, and one you envision sitting back huddled in your little office waiting for 4 o'clock to come around so you can leave to head home.

I had clear skies, little wind and some willing fish. It seemed like everywhere I looked I saw a fish, and all nice.

One fish was sitting in 6 inches of water tucked in behind a rock. If it slid back four inches out of it's lie it's back started to breach the surface. I watched it for a while, not even attempting to make a cast, as it was pretty incredible to see a ~6lb trout sitting in such water. Eventually I slid into position; a grass clump 25 feet directly below him. I sat there on my knees and made at least 10 fly changes. In the end it decided it wanted to eat a little green beetle.

Being that it was in such skinny water, it didn't even have to move. All it did was slightly move it's nose up and suck my fly. I set the hook. The fish turns it's head, catches the current and heads downstream. I scramble to get off my knees, and the fish pops off. I was grinning ear to ear.

The next fish I worked for about an hour, and I finally had to give up on it as I couldn't get it to eat anything I had.

The very next run, I see a big fish sitting on the downstream side of a undercut bank. It moves and eats something off the surface. Perfect.

2 casts later I get the fly over it's head and it eats. One big jump and it's gone upstream. I'm almost into my backing in 30 seconds as it heads up the run.
Shit.
I finally catch up to the fish and get him under control…or so I thought. I go to slide the net under him and he decides he want's to fight some more. Back we go 50 yards downstream to where I hooked him.
I go to try and net him again. No luck. Off he goes downstream through the next riffle right to where I was working the last fish for an hour. Finally he decides he's done, and I can get him to the net.

Weighed in just slightly over 7 lbs. I let out a few fuck yeahs and did the odd fist pump.

When is Enough?

Is it the next bend on the river?
Is it the next fish you see or hook, even land?
Is it when you go to take a picture of the starting point of you long hike in to unknown waters and you roll your ankle so bad you are almost in tears?

Is it enough when you've been pounded in the face with 110kph winds for 7 hours straight?
How about when you finally see your 1st fish of the day and you go to make a cast and you get such a bad tangle in your line that it takes you 20 minutes to re tie and the fish is long since left?

It's enough when you've hiked in some of the most beautiful countryside you have ever seen. When you look down to watch where you put your next step and you only see a faint sheep trail and you think to yourself, "Am I the 1st person to walk this in the last century?"

Sure, I didn't catch a lot of fish (1 stinky rainbow) or even see too many (5), but it was an incredible day. The views that I saw and the solitude I had far outweighed and sort of fishing that could have happened that day.

Another Plug: Black & White Days

Dave and Amelia were kind enough to open up their door to me over Christmas and the last few days. We also managed to fish a few days as well and they made a write up about it on their blog.

Click here:
http://flyfishalberta.blogspot.com/2010/12/black-white-days.html?spref=fb

Escape from the Weather

Dave and Amelia had invited me up to Hamner Springs for Christmas. With heavy rain forecast for most of the entire West Coast, I decided to take advantage of that and drive my way up the east coast.

The weather was amazing for the drive up, and I got to see some really neat things along the way. It was one of the best drives I have ever done for sure!

We spent Christmas fishing a small tarn up in the alpines. We sight fished along the shore's for brown trout in the 3-7lb range. After lunch the wind had picked up and we decided to hike up a mountain that was right next to the lake. The view was amazing and we got a great view of 5 small lakes and a river that flowed through the valley.

The next 3-4 day forecast is not looking too good once again. There are advisory's to stay off the roads because of the gale force winds, and along the west coast there's projections of 50mm of rain per hour in some places. Along the east coast, most of the rivers have run dry, not leaving a lot of options open in the way of fishing for the next few days at least.

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas, and I miss everyone!

Mac's and PC's aren't compatibable (or I just can't figure it out), and my computer isn't cooperating, but I'll try to add some pics in the next bit!!

A Joker

A recent conversation I had when I was asking about some rivers in an area...

Old Man: Ya the Joker went up yonder, over a few jollies and took (some unpronounceable named road)
Me: What's a Joker?
Old Man: A Mate
Me: There's three roads right out front, which one takes you to that river?
Old Man: The one that goes yonder (makes a sharp right turn with his hand)
Me: What's a Jollie?
Old Man: A hill
Me: What was that last road called again?
Old: a;lshkdf;aoie
Me: Mind if you show me on a map?

A few things I've noticed so far in NZ:
- they keep their eggs unrefrigerated next to the dry pasta

- speed limits are suggestive, and it's not uncommon to drive 20 km slower (I fall in that crowd)

- black sheep really do exist

- they have farms to raise deer

- getting stuck for two hours waiting for farmers to move their sheep does happen
 

- it's obligatory to wave when you pass someone driving. It's very similar to how it is when you're boating.

- Canadians are usually nice, but NZ people win in that department. They are more than happy to share any information they have about their country.

- cows are more curious here than they are in Alberta

- Gorse and Lawyers bushes are brutal and you have to think twice about bush whacking to get to a creek but it can pay off