Kayak fishing Taupo (NZ) Trout
A kayak caught landed trout - happy with that.
A long time between Drinks
Perhaps I am one of the unluckiest trout fisherman in New Zealand. Trout are fickle fish, they can monster flies or lures when the mood suits them. However, they seem to spend most of their time sulking in the depths ignoring everything and anything that is thrown to temp them. My bad luck at Taupo over many, many years is mostly a result of fishing at Christmas time. The height of the New Zealand summer (supposedly) when the days are long and the surface water warm.
These are conditions when trout are most likely to be sulking in the cooler depths. First thing in the morning, there is a bit of trout action nearer the surface where I might have a chance . But I am not a 'morning person'. Thus my Taupo Trout fishing efforts have been mostly confined to late afternoon/dusk ... when trout are most likely to be taking a Siesta.
Waitahuni - lining up in the 'Picket Fence'
I have mostly confined my efforts to 'harling' - trolling flies behind a boat. But one memorable evening I joined the line (19 abreast) at the 'picket fence' at the mouth of Waitahanui River just south of Taupo Township. Now that was an experience. I wondered why everybody was wearing hats? Being young and naive at the time and with a head of hair and attitude, I initially guessed all those other dudes were old and bald [Now, many years later that came around and really bit me on the butt ... never be rude about old people because one day you will be one].
I was using a borrowed split cane fly rod and was being very careful with my casting and was holding my ground with my fellow fishermen standing shoulder to shoulder. I got there early with only a few of us to enjoy the evening as a long hot day turned to dusk. As evening drew on, more and more people turned up. Mostly with hats. Then along came a big guy. He was loud by his actions - he didn't walk, he stomped. Mr Loud joined the line a couple of guys outside of me. If my casting was timid, but accurate, Mr Louds fly casting was brute force and no style. Whap, Whap, Whap .... "Ooops sorry" stated Mr loud as he retrieved his fly from the hat of his nearest neighbour. Whap, Whap, Whap .... "Ooops sorry" as Mr Loud retrieved his fly from the hat of his nearest neighbour on the other side.
.... MMMMMMm that is why they wear hats - the chance of being hooked in the ear from a stray fly cast was sometimes "Very high".
In self preservation, I shuffled along the line a 'safe'?? distance away from Mr Loud.
The evening was slow and one dude on the outside of the line actually hooked a fish. But I was using wet suit long johns and was starting to get cold. Since I was not catching fish and the novelty benefits of just being there were wearing thin ... it was time to call it a day. I guess what really did it was that I could see trout (admittedly small ones) swimming around my feet! But none would cooperate by hooking up on my expertly presented fly lure .... what has a person got to do to catch one of these trout beasts?
A break through of sorts
Local advice of 'harling' with a down rigger (the trout line is clipped to a quick release, attached to a lowered lead cannon ball-looking device towed behind the boat) helps get the lure down to the cooler depths where all the trout are spending most of their time. And an early morning effort, finally resulted in my first trout after about 20 years of casual height of summer effort.
Until now that was my only Taupo trout.
About 6 years ago, I bought a locally rigged fly reel with a length of lead line ( another way to help get the fly deeper in the water). Admittedly I reckon I did get a few half-hearted takes, but no fish during my many pleasant but unproductive evening paddles.
This year (Christmas 2011/2012) with accommodation 2 minutes walk from the Lake Taupo shore meant that I could pretty much fall out of bed into the kayak and go. This facilitated a string of 0600 hrs early (for me) starts and finally a drought breaker: a trout a day for three days in a row and now, after all those years, NZ trout fishing has a new enthusiast.
A 'random dude' boats a trout - that was enough to inspire me to get yet another trout license and give trout fishing yet another go
On the first day of this seasons Christmas holidays, I went for a paddle with the 'boys'. The lake was glass calm and it was good to be away from the trials of work and out and about on the water in some fresh air. We came across a dude in a sit-on-top kayak with his rod loaded up. I paddled over and watched the drama and took a snap as he boated his fish.
Good on ya Mate.
Here was evidence, that it could be done! So with that inspiration I was off to buy yet another local trout license and give it yet another go. At my traditional corner Taupo fishing shop, I bought a fishing license for a week which cost me about $35 NZ ... somehow that seemed cheaper than what I remembered licenses costing me in the past.
My fishing boat of choice - a hand crafted (by myself) Nick Schade Expedition Single
My fishing vessel of choice is my hand crafted cedar strip Nick Schade Expedition single https://picasaweb.google.com/112065917634892155187/ExpeditionConstruction. I finished it sometime in 2005 and it has done a lot of miles. I even paddled across Cook Strait https://sites.google.com/site/piratepetester/kayakingacrosscookstrait . The kayak is comfortable, stable but probably a little too fast for ideal Taupo trout trolling. But it did the job and swanning along in such a pretty kayak, that you made yourself carries a certain satisfaction that is hard to beat (even when you are not catching trout).
My fishing rig - a fly rod in a homemade rod holder
another shot of my homemade fly rod holder... that might make things a little clearer
The set up involves the "trouble maker" fly rod. My Mum bought me the rod one Christmas many years ago. I got it from the Wharehouse chain store and it was cheaper than chips. The "trouble maker" came as a kit including reel, line and a few flies. Originally the fly rod kit cost $99. But it was a half price sale and somehow that was reduced by half again because it was 'damaged stock' (I think the backing line was missing). So to cut a long story short the 'trouble maker' was purchased for the princely sum of $25.
That was a license to abuse it ever since as a sea/ocean fly fishing rod. The rod has caught all manner of fish. Little spotty wrasse can but up a fight of significance and our NZ kahawai have resulted in epic bent double rod battles that have left both the fish and me breathless.
For Taupo trout fishing, I use a fly reel that I purchased from my favorite Taupo corner fishing shop. It came pre-rigged with line, a section of lead line (to get the fly lure deeper) and backing = out of the box ready.
The rod is mounted in a home made rod holder modeled on a system that Rob Stewart (my fly fishing mentor) uses. Basically it is a backing length of wood (just visible either side of the black fly rod hand hold) mitred into a block of wood held under the deck bungies. The fly rod hand hold is tied to the backing with a loop of bungy which is slipped off the rod holder when a fish is hooked.
Rob Stewart's original system had a simple clip that held the rod neatly. However, the first time I hooked a kahawai on the 'trouble maker' the strike was so hard that the rod was pulled out of the holder, past my ears and was last seen floating on the surface of the water being towed by the hooked kahawai, up Evans Bay behind me. Not an auspicious start for the 'trouble maker' indeed it looked like my fly fishing career had sunk at the very onset. However, the 'trouble maker' was floating. So an immediate battleship turn and pursuit lead to recovering the 'trouble maker' and consequently the fly rod vs fish battle of the century. The knotted bungy system is crude, but holds the rod very firmly in place and slips off easily when necessary. The rod is tied to the holder by a safety line .... Probably not the brightest of solutions, but it does mean that I can deploy the line by building up a bit of paddle speed, remove the rod and rod holder as one piece and then flick out some line. I clip the rod and holder back under the deck rigging as momentum slows and build up paddle speed again and repeat - this is to ensure that the lead line doesn't drop the fly deep enough to be snagged (or worse still: pick up some weed and make the fly in-effective as a lure).
The yellow fish measure was vital since the legal take size limit for Taupo rainbow trout is a whopping 40 cm (15.7 inches) long ... the sort of size you just can't guess at.
Another useful doo-dacky - a kayak trolley
My home built kayak trolley is a back saver when it comes to getting your kayak to the water
The kayak trolley breaks down and fits down the hatch
My first kayak caught Taupo trout - the "wooly bug-ger" fly lure did the trick
Game on! Fishing on day one wasn't a great success. I got up early (0600 hrs) and launched the expedition single and deployed my line. My strategy was to go real slow and later on as the morning progressed I got bored and sped up. This was probably exactly the wrong way about it. I think the fish were shallow to start with and dropped deeper as the light got stronger and the day started to warm up.
Fish were breaking the surface all around me and nearby boats were landing fish. I would have witnessed at least four fish caught within spitting distance of where my fly lure was ... but nothing for little old me. When I finally retrieved my fly lure, at some stage it had hooked a piece of weed and would have been pretty unconvincing to even the stupidest and hungriest of trout. Better luck next day? ........
Darned right there was better luck next day. There were also fewer boats too for some reason. I pretty much had the place to myself. When I bought my trout license, I demanded two flies that are catching trout "Right Now". The shop owner recommended a "wooly bug-ger" which he reckoned he had caught several trout "just yesterday" and a similar fly (with a bit more shiney stuff) as an alternative. That was good enough for me and on Day two, it was good enough to catch a feisty little rainbow trout. He looked pretty small, far short of the 40 cm (15.7") legal size limit so I didn't even bother to measure him. He was released back into the wild with a woosh = he wasn't too much worse for wear after his show down with the 'trouble maker'.
A fishy tail - the sheen of the trout was captivating
Day two went a bit smoother - I was deploying the line with efficiency and settling into my early morning routine, meditating the 'meaning of life' on the calm and tranquil seas of Lake Taupo. They say a bad days fishing is better than a good day at work - and I think they might just be right. Again I seemed to have the place to myself and soon after starting, a strike had my reel screaming. At first the trout came easily and I presumed that I had caught another undersized fish. But as the trout came closer to the kayak it must have seen me and 'kicked up a stink' making several strong runs pulling off line.
Eventually I was able to 'boat' the fish in my hand, take photos .... and he measured up = a 'taker'. Breakfast for the day was secured.
Criminey, that was two trout in a row, it was all very exciting and although I did re-deploy my line, I am convinced that I had some how snagged the line somewhere on the stern of the kayak. I didn't catch any more fish that day, but I was content with my (relatively) outrageous success compared to all those years of not catching fish
This fat little critter put up a fight well above his weight
Day three I bagged yet another fish, again soon after starting. The plan was to catch a 'taker' and have it smoked and vacuum bagged by the local butcher to take up to the folks in Hamilton. Fish number three hit hard and fought like a demon stripping line, relenting as I reeled him in, only to make run after run stripping line back to where we started. It was quite a battle and I was convinced I had hooked up my biggest trout yet.
However, when I got the feisty little trout to hand, he measured up a bit short of the required 40 cm.
I was happy to release him back to the depths to grow a bit - good on ya mate.
I didn't have a fishing net - this guy had a fully automated trout 'retriever' system
I have a number of scoop nets, but forgot them. Given my past history of NOT catching trout, that didn't bother me at the time. In the end, you are always intimately close to the water in a kayak and I had no trouble catching the fish in hand when they got close to the kayak [what was that they say about a bird in hand being better than a bird in a bush?]. I certainly didn't loose any fish as a consequence of not having a net. Arguably a net might mean you could release the trout with less handling, but if the lure gets tangled you will definitely have to get "hands on" and then some serious damage could be done to the fish.
This dude had a fully automated trout retriever system in the back of his sit-on-top kayak. On the other side was an electric motor. Sometimes, to quote the immortal words of 'Jaws' the movie - you just "need a bigger boat" ????
In his defense, with a camo-green boat and dark green clothing, the fully automated 'retriever' system was the only way you could see the boat on the water, especially when he was close in, near the shore.
What is the moral of the story?? .... I guess:
Never give up
get local knowledge and gear
Catching any fish from a kayak is exciting
give it a go .... kayaks are multifunctional
Happy Fishing
Pete