1

Wally with his 26.5 lb Canal monster (Rainbow trout)

featured in his account of fishing the Tekapo canals

2

Some photo’s of canal monsters, see Wally’s

story inside

3

These are the new office bearers and committee elected at the AGM for the

coming year. Welcome to the newcomers and thanks to the incumbents for

supporting the club once again. (Area code for Rotorua is 07)

PATRON Joe Fleet 347 8661

PRESIDENT Larry Ware 348 0388

VICE-PRESIDENT Nigel Wilkinson 349 0336

SECRETARY Charlotte Wilkinson 349 0336

TREASURER Wade Fleet 345 9913

CLUB CAPTAIN Piet Otto 350 2200

COMMITTEE Terry Wood 345 5587

Gavin Corbett 357524

Dave Parr 3483255

Tanya Stern 357 2573

Wayne Woodward 357 2573

WEBSITE WEBMASTER Eddie Bowman 3485652

NEWSLETTER EDITOR Roger Bowden 348 7816

TROPHY MASTER Neal Hawes 3481734

SUB-COMMITTEES (conveners)

KIDS’ FISHOUT Terry Wood 3455587

A-Z SCHOOL Wayne Woodward 357 2573

ACTIVITIES (Trips) Larry Ware 3480388

(Flytying) Roger Bowden 3487816

SOCIAL Piet Otto 3502200

LIBRARY Tanya Stern 357 2573

BUILDING Terry Wood 345 5587

Please feel free to contact any of the above if you have any queries, comments or

items you may like to discuss. Our email address is rotoruaanglers@gmail.com

Visit our website on www.rotoruaanglers.org.nz

Remember, Roger Bowden is always grateful for any contributions to the magazine.

(email rogerbritta@orcon.net.nz or post to 3 Rostrevor Place)

Thank you for your contribution to our club and we hope you have a very successful

season.

Larry Ware President

EXECUTIVE & COMMITTEE 2014/2015

4

Well I cannot believe how fast this month has gone, I feel like I wrote my October report just last week. The Halloween Pot Luck dinner was very successful and I congratulate those that dressed up / down for the occasion , this was followed by a great club night with several new members signing up - please continue to make sure our new members feel welcome on the Friday nights as they are the future of the club. We have just finalised the Events Calendar and have made some changes to it - larger photos and to make it easier to write on , as usual there will a colour version available for purchase. I have not had any feedback on the Rotoehu trip , the weather was not that good so it may not have happened. The 3rd trip to the Ruakituri was successful for the 6 club members that attended, I was the only "bunny" on the trip and very much appreciated Han's knowledge of the River - boy he is a fit 70 plus - a real mountain goat on those rocks. This trip proves separate in-week trips can be successfully run -this was the 3rd trip that club members went on and fished the Ruakituri since opening week. Please if you want to organise these extra trips let us know , spread the word on Friday night - there are always members able to get away mid week and share costs, most away trips can only accommodate 4-6 Anglers which is the perfect number for most rivers. When the Calendar comes out please go through it and check the dates and mark them in your diary and organise yourself to attend well in advance We have not designated the Rotorua Lakes trips so we can change the destination to suit weather conditions etc. Please, we need trip convenors for these local trips so again put your hand up and be known. See you Friday night El Presidente Larry

5

Ruakituri Trip 3 November 2014 Han picked us up from home and we were on our way by 0730, we met up with John,Reg,Nigel and Charlotte for coffee (and breakfast for some) at Opotoki. Apart from a brief stop to buy oranges we arrived at Tuahu Station at 1.00pm after a windy drive thru some truly beautiful NZ country side. After unpacking everything at the cottage we split up and hit the water -Han and I went downstream where we were on papa rock and immediately started landing very feisty Rainbows and Browns which gave my reel a big work out .The day was fine and sunny but the wind was getting up so we headed back at 6.00pm for an early evening. The next 3 days were beset (on and off) by very windy conditions, at one stage I felt so unsecure on the Papa rock shelf I headed for dry land. We were even treated to hail and thunder and lightning on one day however we all managed to keep fishing. The fish were so feisty that my reel's drag eventually gave up and went into free spool - I have never had a birds nest in my fly line before so I spent a morning watching Han jump from rock to rock like a mountain goat, and taking photos. I have never encountered a River with 4 very distinct physical conditions -from smooth Papa Rock shelves , very, very rocky/large boulders ,a smooth canal like section , and then what I would call a normal shingle river. I got a big fright when the Papa rock above me broke away from the cliff and caused a mini avalanche about 30m in front of me , I got out of there fast. We were very lucky that we did not have heavy rain until the last night so the river remained fishable all week and we almost had the whole valley to ourselves. We all caught plenty of healthy fish. This was my first trip to the River and the tales of hard fighting Rainbows and Browns are true as my reel found out the hard way, I definitely have unfinished business with the Ruakituri River. Cheers Larry

6

It was a very successful trip back to the Tekapo Canals.

We got down to Twizel late on Tuesday and fished Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

and for a few hours on Saturday morning.

The first day was largely spent on reconnaissance, although we did fish a bit in the

Ohau C canal where we caught the fish last year.

What we were looking for was some water that would be suitable for fly fishing.

We have yet to see anyone fishing the canals with a fly rod. Bait fishing (with the

Pams shrimps for bait) and soft baiting are what everyone seems to use on the canals.

I had a fair idea that fly fishing would be successful in the canals and all we had to do

was find some suitable water and work out how to fish it.

I was fairly sure if we got that sorted we would catch some fish and as it turned out I

was right.

We found a bit of water down the bottom of the Ohau A canal, immediately above

the salmon farm that I liked the look of and we fished that on Thursday.

Ohau A runs from the spillway out of Lake Ruataniwha and joins up with the Pukaki

canal.

There were some really big browns lying along the edge, but they are just like those

browns in the lower Tongariro (but much bigger) that just lie there and won't take

anything.

The bait fishermen in our team caught a few smallish salmon on Thursday, but

Charlie and I stuck it out with the fly rods.

I just used the same rig a I use on the Whakapapa. A lightish bomb (about half the

weight of a Tongariro bomb) and a small natural nymph like a pheasant tail on about

a 12 ft leader.

We both had a few takes on Thursday that didn't hook up, then I broke off a very

heavy fish before finally getting one to the bank.

This was a long fish as you will see in the photo, but it was bloody big. It was a

mending hen, so was returned without being weighed, but we reckoned it was over

15 lbs and possibly bigger. Don't ever let anyone tell you the canal fish don't fight.

That's bullshit. Every fish we hooked fought like buggery. The big ones took at least

15 minutes to get in and that one ran right across the canal and bloody near spooled

me. We fished until we couldn't see the indicators any more and as Charlie was

winding in, one had a go at his indicator as he was dragging it back across the

surface.

The next day we went back and had a few more encounters in the morning and I

broke off another very heavy fish, but we didn't get anything to the bank. After lunch

we went up to the spillway at the top of Ohau A.

Here is an account that my good fishing friend Wally has kindly allowed me to share

with you on his recent trip to the Tekapo canals.

7

It was bigger and faster water up the top, in fact it reminded me a lot of some of the

bigger pools in the Tongariro, so that's what I used. A good old Tongariro rig. Bomb

with a glo bug and pulled out quite a nice fish, but only about 4.0 kg.

Later in the afternoon we went back down to the bottom of the canal. There was a

guy soft baiting where we had been fishing and he was just landing a 19.4 lb rainbow

as we arrived. Not long after that a bloke that was soft baiting on the other side of the

canal hooked a big fish. The women with him took off her boots, then waded out and

netted it. We were a bit far away to tell exactly how big that fish was, but it was big

and definitely over 20 lbs. Not long after that Charlie started to get into them. First an

average fish and then the stunning 13.5 lb fish in the photo. One on the bomb and one

on the pheasant tail.

I had another break off on huge fish that left a massive swirl on the surface as it

departed with my whole trace. I had been using the loop in the leader system to

attach the indicator. It must weaken the nylon, because this is where it was breaking

off on these very heavy fish.

We thought a bit of night fishing might be the way to go. I decided to use that

intermediate line that you got for me and set up. I thought a good plan would be to

swing a lumo/black marabou combination across the current and along the edge.

Charlie used a floater with a doll fly/Kilwell No 1 combo and started to get into

them. Not particularly good fish, rainbows up to about 3.0 kg and a nice fat little

brown about the same size (the only brown we caught)

It was a nice dark still night and I decided to go down closer to the salmon farm and

was quietly fishing my way down the edge when I had the take from hell followed by

a massive splash and my line just took off into the pitch blackness and kept going.

This was a very strong fish and it went all over the canal with me following. I

couldn't do much with it, but got back a bit of line when I could, which the fish just

took again whenever it wanted to and every now and again there was a great

wallowing and splashing on the surface somewhere way across the canal. Charlie

was fishing further up the canal and was some way away from me, but he had heard

the commotion and thankfully turned up with the net. By then I was starting to get a

bit of line back and finally got the fish into headlight range. I knew it was big, but

was unprepared for what I saw in the light. There was this massive big humped back

rainbow, which Charlie finally managed to net. and in fact it weighed 26.5 lbs.

I didn't fish the next morning. I lent my fly rod to one of the other guys who had only

bought bait gear. Charlie finally hooked one of the huge browns that we had been

seeing regularly, but it was only on very briefly. He had broken off the tip of the

hook on the nymph (a size 14 pheasant tail) on the road when back casting.

Then he hooked another horse of a fish and played it for over 15 minutes before

losing it at the net. The trace broke between the bomb and the bottom nymph. This

fish was way bigger than mine - definitely over 30 lbs.

The bait fisherman had been fishing down the bottom of the canal and reported that a

bloke fishing opposite them in the Pukakai canal had caught a 27 lb rainbow.

We detoured into Timaru on the way back to Christchurch airport to drop the big fish

off at the taxidermist , so it will be on display for you to have a look at when I get it

back.

8

BEACHED!

It was a wonderful day for fishing with our camper parked right alongside the Ohiwa

Point harbour about 2pm.

Then, here came the afternoon’s entertainment; pods of pilot (where did that name

come from?) whales were bobbing right in front of us with the incoming tide,

heading up the harbour. We snapped pictures from afar until suddenly David spotted

one whale right near the sandy beach. Racing long, he took a picture of the whale

from two metres away. About twelve others, with their noses touching, were

surrounding the beaching whale, so near the shore.

A cell phone call from a passerby to Doc brought immediate response. A helicopter

(press we presumed –it made the evening news) circled overhead. Soon, spectators

gathered on the beach (the Ohiwa Parade road was later closed because of whale-

watchers hindering the volunteers) and numerous rescuers prepared their task while

still more “pilots” were bobbing up the estuary.

So, the rescue began. Many skiffs circled the water trying to herd the whales (as the

tide turned) back to the open sea. One volunteer entered the water and turned the

beached whale back towards the channel, the bar and the open sea. Bed sheets were

called for to drape over the whales and keep them moist.

Cliff Soanes with his boat was part of the rescue operation and later that evening

filled us in. One of the whales appeared to be injured as its head was mostly bobbing

above water (its body vertical) and the rest of the pod was apparently keeping watch

and trying to help. A small army of helpers in boats on each side of the pods herded

them down the harbour and into the bar where, sadly, a number of whales beached on

the sides. A big clean-up was taking place on Thursday 6 November. Another fisher

in his boat outside the bar the previous day, also saw the pods.

Needless to say, we didn’t catch any fish

Sue Robertson Sue @ Fisher22

9

Bill Tevendale, Flyfisherman

With the recent passing of my long time fly fishing buddy and very close friend, the

Tongariro will again be a safe haven for trout.

Bill Tevendale loved that mighty river like no other, we fished together in many

places as he taught me everything I know about the mysterious rainbow and brown

trout that frequented the ever changing pools.

Bill had the knack of spotting fish and intuition of choosing the correct fly that

would entice them to sample the meal set before them, in a manner that very few

have.

Bill was born in Scotland and married a young girl and very sweet lady there,

together they made New Zealand their home.

Bill wasn’t just another fisherman, Bill was a real champion, quiet, humorous, and

humble, with a real twinkle in his eye.

He never pushed himself on others and shared everything he had and knew, he was a

generous man, selfless, unrelenting and passionate.

Bill is very sadly missed Graham Carter

10

Fly tying

The next fly tying night will be on Monday night 1st December at 7 pm.

The theme will be Rubber legs for nymphs and streamers These can be a deadly

addition to any fly and may just entice that big

cunning fish to strike. It is however a little tricky

until you know how. We will tie a typical nymph

pattern with the addition of rubber legs and a woolly

bugger with the addition of rubber legs also.

All materials will be supplied and vices etc.

available if you don’t have your own yet.

Welcome to new family members :

Joe Taylor & Cathy Patterson (kama12@xtra.co.nz)

Ikuko Fukuda and her son Ryui (ikuko39195@gmail.com)

The President and Committee of the Rotorua

Anglers Association. wishes every member, their

family And friends a safe and joyous Christmas

period.

Enjoy this special time and tight lines for 2015.

11

With the purchase of any Full season Adult or Family Fishing

Licence, you have the choice of free Black Magic Cippers or a

Spinning Rod, Reel and line set at half price ie. $15 instead

of $30 Darryn and Janine Simpson

Check out the website for details of the Fish of the month competition !

10% RAA member discount with membership card.

A BIG Thumbs up to those members who have responded to the

call for articles for our Magazine!!!!

Sunday 7 December — Hamurana Christmas Fish, Picnic & BBQ

Friday 19th December—Clubrooms Christmas BBQ

Sunday 18 January 2015- First Fishing Trip, Picnic & BBQ Hamurana

30 January — Clubrooms BBQ

Friday nights—club nights 5-7pm.

12

My Cold Smoked Trout Method The smoking method that I use here has friends and wanna be friends coming back

for more. It is delicious. I acquired an old electronics cabinet from a second hand

shop for $30 which works brilliantly, but a steel locker or similar would also do a

sterling job. I find that hot smoke tends to be very difficult to manage the right

smoking/cooking ratio. Too hot and you burn the fish. Too much smoke tends to taint

the fish with an unpleasant acrid chemical flavour. You can be hours out with my

system with everything except the final baking and still achieve a fantastic result.

My cabinet (left) has a sloping glass insert (an old glass

door from a stereo cabinet) above the top tray (right). This

allows any evaporated moisture that

might accumulate on the glass to

drip away at the rear and stops any

moisture from dripping back onto

the item/s that you are smoking. A

big no no !

The stainless steel Smoke Generator (below) has a hopper with a wooden lid that

when full gives around 4 to 5 hours of smoke time using classic Manuka wood chips.

The wood chips are ignited via the hole on the lower side of the smoke generator.

The small nozzle at the rear attaches to an aquarium air pump via

a piece of surgical rubber hose. The air pump “chuffs” away

blowing air through the wood chips keeping them smouldering.

As the bottom chips turn to ash, the chips above gravitate down

to the combustion area. The smoke exit pipe that protrudes at the

front of the unit inserts into an appropriately size hole at the rear

of the cabinet at ground level.

As with the famous Rabbit Stew recipe “First Catch your trout”.

Method :-

Either open your cleaned fish or fillet your trout and apply salt and a bit of

brown sugar.

Leave to HANG (do not lay flat) over night or even well into the next day. (Salt

will prevent the onset of decay and the longer you leave it to hang (within

reason) the more moisture will be exuded from the flesh).

Place the fish into the Cold Smoker (again, I hang my fish) and smoke for a

minimum of 8 hours (I use the Smokai Smoke Generator see pic above

which I highly recommend).

13

After Cold Smoking, I place the fish/fillets into a hooded BBQ (I use a cooling

rack so the skin crisps up a bit). I have also baked them in the oven but it

does make the house smell of smoked trout for about a year !

Paint the fillets all over (flesh side only) with a mixture of ¼ tsp each of Mustard

Powder, Ground Ginger, Nutmeg, Cumin, Garam Masala, 2 tblspns Honey

and a dollop of either soy Sauce or preferably Ketchup Manis. Mix well and

paint the smoked fillets before baking. You can experiment with your own

paste comb. Perhaps Lemon Pepper, Rum, etc.

Bake the fish with the hood down at approx 175⁰ for approximately 25 minutes

or longer if needed.

Leave to cool and enjoy.

I vacuum seal mine and it lasts for ages in the fridge. Guaranteed Delish !!!!!

Woody 2

What pleasure has fallen to our lot! Yes, there was joy in the anticipation of the trip, in overhauling the equipment and supplying deficiencies. What zest in planning the trip and making engagements of guide and quarters. Long sketches of precious enjoyment could be read from the leaves of the fly-book, and certain flies seemed almost alive and anxious to drop into old haunts Author: D H Bruce in "Favourite Flies and Their Histories"

14

There was a very good attendance at the November Fly tying night where Phil T

demonstrated the Booby fly and how to make loos for your Fly line. He supplied all

the participants with a kit to enable them to make loops at their leisure.

He has also supplied this instructional article , Thanks Phil!

15

Sponsors of ’Trout of the Month’

Come in and meet our

Manager Brad Hill

who is also our

Surfcasting

specialist.

10% RAA member

discount with

membership card,

excluding items that

are already on a

special price.

16

Ambush on the Buller River by Gavin Corbett

Entering the Buller River on the previous high tide, the large shoal of whitebait had

travelled about one kilometre upstream from the mouth. It was the beginning of their long and hazardous journey. Two weeks out from opening day, they were at least spared the gauntlet of the scores

of nets that would soon line the river. But there was ,a far more immediate threat to their existence. Hidden by the riverside vegetation, I was witness to their peril. The shoal was travelling upstream in that fashion familiar to all whitebait fishermen. Hugging the bank, and in only a few centimetre of water, the shoal would flicker

forward a half metre or so, and then pause , perhaps drifting back a little before

pushing forward again. A sort of two steps forward and one step backward progress. From my vantage point, and with the benefit of Polaroid glasses, I could see the shoal

had formed at only a few centimetres wide, but it stretched back down river as far as

the eye could see. A long and flickering ribbon of premium trout food. Clearly visible, a large brown hovered a few metres out from the river bank,

shadowing the shoal . A metre or so downstream , another ,slightly smaller, kept station. In an almost leisurely manner each would attack the shoal, the water so shallow that

they were all but grounded in their pursuit of food. The whitebait would scatter in a flurry of panic only to regroup and push forward. As soon as the shoal had reformed, the trout would move in again. Not for them the

tiresome chase of individual morsels, they seemed content to wait for a more

concentrated source of food. The age old formula of energy expended for food gained, clearly evident. It was time to consider my strategy. Previous experience had taught me that the obvious choice, the Grey Ghost, would be

unlikely to succeed. With such an abundance of bait easily available, chasing down a single lure was a

choice that the trout was unlikely to make. I would need to present a more tempting and substantial meal, than a single

whitebait. Perhaps a large slow moving cock a bully might take their attention. I was rigged up with a slow sinking fly line and a short but sturdy leader. From my fly box I chose an olive woolly bugger and after double checking all the

knots, I crouched down, waiting my chance. The larger trout was not immediately visible but the smaller was still on station. The bait had formed up again, so I assumed the trout were both out in the deeper

water getting ready for there next raid. I cast well up stream, allowing for the line to sink and the fly to start swinging across

the presumed lie of the trout.

17

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Watch for the new Summer H&F catalogue With Great Summer Deals!!

Ask for RAA club discount with your card

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Email: rotoruahuntingandfishing@xtra.co.nz

Suddenly, the larger trout was there, clearly visible and swimming upstream toward

my descending lure. It must have swung straight passed him, because he suddenly stopped, turned in his

own length ,and pursued my lure downstream. Then the unmistakeable thump on the rod. The aggressive take of a hungry brown. The battle was short and one sided. A strong tippet, relatively shallow water, and a hook buried firmly in the roof of the

mouth meant that the brown was in the net within minutes. Even as it lay on the bank, whitebait was spilling

from its mouth, and when I gutted it minutes

later, its stomach was full of bait. White bait may have been its meal of choice, but

the temptation of a more substantial meal proved

its undoing. Before leaving, I peered into the river again. The whitebait were still streaming up the river.

The smaller trout was nowhere to be seen. The ageless flow of the river disguised the fight

for survival that had erupted only minutes

before.

18

“Look! See how it wiggles! Are those

really gills on that mayfly

nymph? Does that caddis larva live

under that rock?” Quietly, Joe and

Eddie are gathering people of many

ages and interests to see and to work

on the Kauaka Stream area, hands-on

learning about what makes a good

Environment. The Rotorua Anglers

Association contributes, and deserves,

and gets credit. Not a bad deal--

Phil Trautmann

Dave’s Smoked trout pate

Ingredients Hot or Cold smoked trout

Cream cheese,

Lemon juice,

Salt and Pepper,

A touch of Sweet Thai Chilli to taste.

Method Break the fish up into a food processor or blender (sans skin),

Cut the cream cheese into small cubes and add,

Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk up together.

Add the Sweet Thai Chilli last and in small doses as it will overpower the delicate flavour. Delicious on toast or crackers.

Mouse Fly

19

20 Ruakituri River, taken by Larry on the recent club trip