Winter, HYPER-LOCALLY Focussed

Trout Fisher copy deadline was today but I went fishing instead! Accompanied by my friend Rob Blackbeard from the Nelson Trout Fishing Club we headed over the hill into Marlborough and rainbow trout country. On the drive over we talked about our collective fishing seasons and concluded that while times and resources have changed, we are still out there catching trout on the fly because we enjoy it. We’d both had some stellar fishing, with Rob ranging far and wide, and my season largely spent fishing and exploring closer to home on local water.

Covid, political imperatives, and human-induced behaviours have certainly changed many aspects of our lives, the major one for me as a fishing guide being the significant loss of income. As a result some of my gear is looking a little worse for wear but I did more recreational fishing than I have in years, albeit closer to home and often, by focussing on hyper-local locations. This season I just went fishing for numbers and really relished catching trout for enjoyment’s sake.

HYPER-LOCAL FISHING

In general, local lowland waters appeared to be pretty much abandoned, access tracks overgrown,