Adventure Magazine

Koranga River
There are not a lot of women fly fishing – is there a bias?
Depends on where you are in New Zealand, Taupo has a lot of
women fishing. I think Taupo fishing club is 40% women which is
the largest proportion in NZ we think. I don’t know why more women
aren’t into it - it’s accessible, and a lot of women like fishing in general.
We have definitely seen an interest growing. I run a fly-fishing
tournament in Turangi each year it’s exploded to 40 anglers this year
when we started with about 9 friends.
Fly tying: surely it is cheaper to go buy a fly than make one, why
make the effort? In sports fly fishing barbless hooks are used, and
you can’t buy flies with barbless hooks, so I was kind of forced into
fly tying! But it does improve your angling- if you go somewhere and
you think you need a heavier nymph for a certain situation, you can
go home, tie them up and have them in your fly box for next time. I
think tying your own, you are more aware of the flies you need, their
weights, and even different hooks for certain situations.
What advice would you give anyone who is keen to learn to fly
fish? Join a club and meet people and learn how to fish the water you
want e.g., fishing small streams in the Waikato is going to be different
than fishing the Tongariro. Where are you going to fish you meet
people and often go with them.
Is there anyone on YouTube you follow and suggest that other do
too? I’m pretty focused on learning competition-style fishing so watch
a few competition anglers e.g., Tactical Fly Fisher, and smart angling.
For fly tying you can’t go past Davie McPhail and his lovely accent!
On the Tongariro with the kids
In terms of fly fishing what do you wish
you knew when you started that you know
now? I think I would say to someone sit back
and watch and ask questions. Watch someone
catching fish and ask them what technique they
are using, what gear they are using, and what
kind of water suits their gear. There are different
techniques to suit different types of water, which
can be confusing at first, but once you get it, it
opens up a lot of fishing space for you!
If there is one piece of equipment under
$100 that you would not be without when
fly fishing? A cord which attaches to my fly
box and to my vest, so all of the flies I have so
carefully tied, will never be lost down the river.
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