Hutt Valley Anglers Club - New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...

iver but it has a lot of willows and other foliage. It was a goodplace to learn how to case accurately otherwise it was going to bean expensive day.My favourite river is the Aorere. I fished this river with my uncleand dad. It is a great river, starting in the Heaphy Track anddraining out into the Collingwood township. If you want to fish ariver and not see a soul for days this is the river for you. It has alot of fish over 5lb and fish over 7 — 8 lb are not uncommonespecially during the whitebait season. Most fish I caught werearound the 4 — 5 lb mark, usually in the dark.I have always used light line, used small lures and love fishing ingin coloured water, so moving to fly fishing is a naturalprogression. While I have enjoyed spin fishing, to me catching atrout on fly is the ultimate challenge and is something I've alwaysbeen keen to try.In early September I Googled fly fishing in the Hutt and I found theHVAC website and saw that the club offered cast clinics. I rang upIan Lawson who asked me to come to a casting clinic the followingSunday. So I went along and Ian took me though the basics. Ihad the following week off work, so Ian offered to take me for morepractise and then on the river.In the past 6 weeks I have been out with a few club members andattended meetings. I have also been out a number of times on myown to hone to my skills. While I have not caught anything yet, Iam learning a lot and enjoying the experience. Catching fish is theaim, however there are other things that I think are very importantand at times can be overlooked.1. Fishing with mates: fishing with people who love it and get thesame buzz from being on the water. It is hard to explain to a nonfisho, it is something that only comes with getting out there anddoing it.2. Anticipation: Each time you go out, or every time you cast thatfly, it could be the one. For an experienced angler it could be thedouble figure fish, or in my case catching any trout on a fly. To methese are the things that bring you back. I am in the verybeginning, but the anticipation of the next time fills me withoptimism and is the drug that propels me on to catch my first fish22Hutt Valley Angling Club Incorporated — December 2013