Yikes, that was brutal! Don’t know if I want to do that again. Tough trip. Dry-flies blowing upstream! Tough low-light conditions for sight-fishing. A lot of walking. Many days it was just a long hard slog: 10 miles plus. And in spite of our effort few fish were spotted. There simply weren’t that many opportunities. I think I averaged less than one quality chance per day. I saw less fish than in past seasons. Terrestrial fishing was almost non-existent. Maybe the summer just wasn’t consistently hot enough in the regions that I fished? The angling was best when the sun was out. However, “blue sky” days were rare. Most of the time it felt more like winter than summer. In the end, I caught a few good brown trout on dry flies. Four of the best were spotted on a high plateau river that I’ve fished in the past. It is “known” water but receives less angling pressure than some of the other rivers I was on. Here are some photos…
most days water had a wind-shop
rare still morning
roman throwing line
roman in the wind
trout on dries 
Good looking fish though. I guess even NZ isn’t a sure bet. I still need to go.
Jim: No it is not a sure bet and i think weather is King! One day got up and drove 3 hrs to a river that had some bug life and had fished well 3 days earlier. The night before the drive it rained. Got to the river mid morning and it was blown out….by the time I found clear water in the region it was late afternoon….a day pretty much gone! that’s fishing.
Thanks for dropping in.
bob
Bob, as Jim said, some quality fish. I’d be happy with just one, especially after six weeks of no fishing.
One glaring omission from the photos is a snow shovel.
Les: If you made the long journey to the South Island and financial commitment believe me you’d want more than one fish! Pt. taken, “six weeks of no fishing”. Your spring creek will be happening soon…No snow shovel photos…but it did snow a few nights I was there. Thanks for dropping in. I check and see what you’ve been up to: blog.
bob
Hi Robert,
That’s too bad about the weather and water conditions on your trip. I guess you just never know what to expect until you get there. While you were away, I was thinking how you were doing down there. It sounds like you got lots of exercise, with all that walking. The browns in your photos are great looking fish. I really like the spotting pattern of the one in fish photo #7. They are very intense and sure stand out. The color version of the photo must look nice, too. Thanks for sharing your story and photos.
Vic: Sent you the color shot of brown #7. Special fish…no hook marks, untouched! Caught it on high plateau river on a rare sunny day. Climbed a cliff to spot it. Dropped down, got in position then wind started which probably made my cast more stealthy as fish was in the middle of a slow pool and wind riffles probably helpful. It took me downstream to next pool. Had to negotiate (crawl under) an electric fence during the fight. An electric brown! Thanks for dropping in and comment. Hope all is well.
robert