A NEW LAKE

After fishing our big lake over summer from the bach, plans were made to visit one of the big fish lakes of the district next to us. One, once famous for the size and quality of its trout, had a diminished reputation these days, so in spite of many happy memories of nights catching large fish fly casting there, we looked elsewhere. The choices came down to two, both still renowned for large fish, but in the end we settled for the one with easier access and more accommodation options. This lake had a narrow outlet, then turned and ballooned out in to a wide expanse with far-off horizons. On the northern shore were a range of winding inlets, where narrow entrances wound back in to hills, offering magnificent shelter from every wind direction. On the other side was geothermal activity, with hot water seeping in to the sand of a beach and hot springs with pools that could be visited only by boat. So we looked for a weather window, organised some accommodation and made the journey across, taking the boat and sufficient tackle, fuel, food and equipment to last 3 nights, 4 days.

We pulled in to our accommodation and soon had the boat in the marina. Armed with maps and a little gleaned information, we set out the first afternoon on an exploring mission. After quite a long haul down the narrow winding lake arm we passed the end