SWMBO’s Shopping Trip to England
(Last post in TRM’s special UK series)
So we hope you enjoyed the brief look at the fishing in UK. We need to learn from the old country to appreciate what we take for granted in NZ. Above and below are more typical images of an attractive private fishing pond in a farm setting – Northgate at Wychnor, north of Lichfield. If you look closely you will note the wooden jetties – fishing stands. On a weekend most of the stands were taken up with keen as mustard anglers trying their luck from dawn to dusk. Compared to typical NZ river fly fishing, it appears incredibly boring, but then they do not have any other options. Many ponds are not much bigger than farm dams. A local angler advised 99% of the farmed carp from Wychnor are under 3 lb and the biggest he had heard of from here was 12 lb. Cost is “about” $12 per stand per rod. The usual bait are maggots. Similar stocked dams and flooded quarries promoted as exciting fisheries are all over the countryside. Some of the Northgate RULES make interesting reading too:
RULES
All persons using the fishery must hold and produce on request a current EA rod licence.
All persons using the fishery do sa at there own risk.
All persons using the fishery must pay the daily baliff.
No children under 16 years of age will be allowed to fish unless accompanied by an adult.
The hours of fishing will be generally dawn till dusk; there will be no night fishing.
Car parking will only be permitted in the allotted areas.
Toilet facilities are provided and must be used.
Any land or building away from the immediate vicinity of the water will be deemed out of bounds.
NO DOGS
NO UNAUTHRORISED VISITORS
No one will have access to the fishery without authorisation from the owners.
All fishing tackle must be suitable for carp including landing nets, WHICH MUST BE USED AT ALL TIMES.
NO Keepnets with the exception of matches.
All fish must be returned to the water with care.
No fish shall be taken away from the water.
BARBLESS HOOKS of size 10 and smaller must be used, Checks will be made and anyone breaking this rule will be removed from the fishery, Barbless hooks are available from the owners. (they do check)
BAITS
No bulk ground baits, no nuts, no bloodworm or joker, Cat meat and boilies as hookbait only.
Propriety ground baits can be fed from a feeder or catapult.
Waste materials, line and hooks must be disposed of in the bins provided.
Anyone abusing the above rules will be removed from the fishery.
We reserve the right to refuse any individual to fish the pool without specific reason.
So we should count our blessings… To ensure free NZ river access and existing fishing rights in wild fisheries are maintained for the future, continued vigilance is essential by all anglers. New Zealand’s wild rivers, freshwater fisheries and tourism and TRM inmates are under constant threat by dams for power generation, irrigation for farms, by environmental destruction and more proposals to reconsider trout farming. Now the inevitable political message – You can become a supporter of wild rivers – google the Wild Rivers website. This initiative is supported by 8 conservation and outdoor recreation groups including the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers and Fish and Game New Zealand.
Still more correspondence received on TRM’s special UK edition – the following is typical:
G’day Ross, Just picked up your English reports. Welcome home! You both might like to know that P… was born and raised in Ashbourne, not far from the Dove, and we were married in the 12th century Ashbourne church. We know all the locations shown very well. The largest fish I have seen was 1.5 lbs. They do come bigger but mainly in stocked dams! Did you get to Scotland – real fishing up there! etc…
So TRM are delighted to rekindle old memories. We reiterate the real purpose of relating so much about SWMBO’s shopping trip to England – to remind fishos just how fortunate we are to have such good access to such wonderful affordable wild trout fishing like the Tongariro. Long may it remain. By now we suspect you may, understandably, have had enough of Her shopping trip images, so normal daily transmission on TRM inmates’ fishing experiences in the mighty Tongariro will resume on Monday.
Q&A’s start tomorrow:
Tomorrow we have the first in TRM’s Question & Answer series.
But SWMBO, bless Her, has added another twist. On your behalf She has requisitioned the services of not one, but two professional experienced fishing guides. She will send your tricky questions to each of them quite independently. There is good reason for this too, apart from Her love of controversy. Fly fishing has never been regarded as an exact science but more of a recreational art form, or for many a more spiritual experience (Hi Malcolm, Stuart, John, etc.). As such, there is usually no single correct answer to many of the perplexing issues sent in by readers. As the guides will prepare their answers independently, it will be interesting to see how much they vary. For this reason SWMBO has also deliberately chosen one guide who, rumour has it, is about twice the age of the other, so She expects a totally different approach and reply to many of the problems that TRM inmates have. Watch this space… it will be fascinating.
The latest NEW ZEALAND TROUT FISHER magazine – issue 121 – has as their feature article “TREMENDOUS TONGARIRO” on Page 10. If you have not been to Turangi before this covers all you need to know about the history of the river, winter runs, tactics and techniques, flies, and most importantly – accommodation… almost as comprehensive as TRM’s website. An excellent quarterly publication which you really should subscribe to.