Bella Bella tries her paw at fly-fishing

You already know that bears love fishing. In fact, several of my roommates are fishers!

 

Last August, I wrote a post about fishing for salmon in British Columbia. My guide then, Mike, showed me a method called “trolling” that uses gear called “downriggers.”

In New Zealand, I recently got to see yet another neat way that humans try to catch fish. It’s called “fly-fishing.”  

 

You use a fishing rod and reel to cast a lure called a “fly” into the water, where fish might be tempted to bite at it.

The lure is called a “fly” because many fish really like to eat flying insects that land on, fall into, or fly too close to the water. 

 

In fact, lures can look like anything a fish finds tasty: little crustaceans (like shrimp or crawfish), worms, baby insects, minnows, leeches, or various other creepy-crawlies. Lures can even just look weird enough to make the fish curious!

 

Lures can be made out of feathers, fur, tinsel, plastic, thread, rubber … you name it.

 

Some fishermen keep lures handy by sticking them in their hats! Here is my friend Barney showing off his collection.

 

Now, it takes a lot of skill and patience to cast flies properly. You can’t scare the fish with any sudden noise or splashing, and you have to fool them into thinking that they really should chomp into your lure. Once a fish is hooked, you have to play it carefully so that it doesn’t get away until you’ve reeled it in. Then you either keep it to eat, or let it go to fight again another day – a kind of fishing called “catch-and-release.”

 

I went fishing on the wild Tongariro River, near the town of  Turangi on the North Island. The Tongariro River flows into a really big lake called Lake Taupo.

Because I didn’t know anything about fly-fishing, I went with an experienced guide who helped me all along the way. His name is Marcel Ryda, and he is the head guide at a company called Riverway General Store and Outfitters.

 

Here Marcel and my buddy Dave are choosing a lure to tie onto my fishing line.

 

I learned a lot about how to cast the line into the water by watching other fishers.

We had to cross the rushing Tongariro to get to a good fishing spot. The current was so strong in places that we all needed walking sticks to keep our balance!

 

Here I am with my own walking stick.

 
 

We were hoping to catch rainbow and brown trout. We saw some of these fish swimming in the water, but they were either too shy, or maybe not hungry enough, to chomp our lures. It was still really beautiful and peaceful to spend a day fishing on the river.

 

I saw some kayakers paddle by, and then a group in a Zodiac inflatable raft!

 

 

Later in the day, we rode in a big boat onto Lake Taupo itself.  

There, Dave successfully caught a beautiful New Zealand trout … by trolling, with downriggers!

 

Allow me to add that the fish was delicious.

 

Photos and story © S. Clouthier