My regular fishing trips have tended to form a pattern. I arrive at my destination, hunt down the local tackle store, listen to a lot of Blarney and walk away with a myriad of doubtful flies. My latest trip, however was an exception to the rule. I’d worked up enough Brownie points for a week’s trip to the Anglers Eldorado, New Zealand. Internet fares also left enough change in the pocket for a few Johnny Walkers for a restful evening in front of the fire. Destination: home of the experts in the Blarney, Blarney Lodge, Rotorua. Hosts Pat and Helen O’Keefe were fantastic. Both Pat and Helen have a wealth of knowledge on fly-fishing and evening talks by the fire are all tales of trout. Accommodation is first class with all bedrooms beautifully appointed, including full en suite. The Deluxe suite also features a spa. Helen has added her magic touch to all aspects of the lodge from decoration to her mouth-watering meals. She prides herself in her New Zealand dishes and serves them with wonderful New Zealand wines.

The newly built Blarney Lodge is decorated with lots of fishy items, including museum pieces and Pat’s fly fishing trophies. These displays are worth a visit if you are in the area. The Lodge is situated on the shores of Lake Rerewhakaaitu, so I didn’t need to crawl too far to catch a fish.

With several Lakes and prime rivers all close by we got right into the fish on day one taking a good haul of fighters at Lake Anawhenua. Pat’s unique style of fishing on this lake included fishing drop-offs for the mudeye feeders, searching for rainbows using loch style fishing and a bit of midge fishing thrown in for good measure. And that was just day one. A whole new meaning to the term ‘learning curve’.

Evening two included one of Helen’s magnificent New Zealand meals followed by a session on the tying bench. The scotch, desert and warm fire had to wait. Rain had fallen and the rivers were rising. Naturally, bead head nymphs would be on the trout’s menu this time of the year. Pat ran through the basics on the tying, then proceeded to explain how the trout could be at varying depths in the water column searching for food. The trick is to find at what depth the fish are and this depth changes from run to run. Varying the depth can be achieved by building flies at different weights. The problem of knowing how much weight is attached to each fly is overcome by colour-coding the nymphs with different coloured thread. The lightest nymph in the range is a Tungsten bead on number 12 hook marked by a black thread. The following fly has a Tungsten bead and three wraps of lead with a marker of red thread. Next in the series is tungsten bead with a full layer of lead and a marker of brown thread. The heaviest nymph in the range has a tungsten bead and one a half layers of lead and green thread marker. 

As a dutiful guide Pat has at his disposal, a box full of all the possible variations of nymphs, which cater for all the possible stream variations. I tied that night, and snuck my scotch into the tying room just to make the experience more enjoyable. The Blarney Lodge tying room is magnificent and has a great outlook over the Lake. Pat had already upset me by this stage by saying that they could see the Spawners on the lake’s edge from this point - and this was only six weeks ago.

It goes without saying that Australian Anglers visit New Zealand for their magnificent rivers. My images were of wild south island boulder and shingle rivers. Our winter in Australia was one of drought, not much fishing but I did manage to read one of the Lord of the Rings books (well, I tried to at the least). I resigned myself to watching the film instead. My images of the Rotorua regional rivers were ones of misty beautifully fern-covered streams.

No doubt, Pat was wonderfully equipped for all sorts of fishing. His four-wheel drive bobbed up and down over pine needle-covered paths. Huge half-fallen pines and ancient ferns formed a canopy over the tracks. Every now and then there was a thud and I half expected a Hobbit to scamper off. The track stopped at which stage it was necessary to peel through the ferns to get to the river close by. Blessedly, New Zealand has no leeches or snakes. It is actually a pleasure to climb over wet mossy, logs to get to the stream and the eerie mist lasted all day.

There are guides, and then there are GUIDES. Some will take you to a destination, others will show you a river and with some you might even catch a fish. Fortunately, Pat’s style is very professional and sets him apart from others. It is as is exactly as you’d hope for and this makes him unique. This is the whole fishing education package and starts from the basics such as tying and leader construction. Pats material of choice is Seaguar fluoro-carbon and runs a leader that steps down around five times. The leader consists of 8 kilogram butt section 90 cm long, followed by 90cm of 6 kilogram leader, 60 cm of 4 kilogram tippet, 60 cm of 2.5 kilogram tippet and finally a light 1.8 kilogram tippet approximately 120 cm in length. Each knot forms a type of ledger stopper for his indicator. The indicator is pure simplicity and floats upright all day long. It is made from a length of 4 cm polyester rope (Crazy Clints type) folded in half and tied off in two places. A fold of the fluoro carbon leader is fed through the indicator loop and folded over (see photograph). The indicator is able to slide up and down the leader and over knots. Pull the line tight and the leader is stuck fast. Short lengths of leader for shallow runs and pulled high up the leader for deep pools. The leader knots act as a ledger stopper. Two heavy Tungsten beads are used for the faster water and on the other end of the scale, on slower runs, Tungsten bead heads are used with an unweighted Nymph or Blarney Midge behind it.

Connecting the flies couldn’t be simpler. The point fly is tied on the bend of the leading (dropper) fly. No more tangles! Pat accommodates his clients by having leaders and flies pre-packaged, rolled up on lightweight polystyrene boards. If there is a bust-off or need to change rigs to a lighter or heavier combination of Nymphs, he has them ready for a quick change. No time lost as stream conditions change. Unwrap the appropriate set up, tie it on and you are back in business.

I had read a lot about mending the line in various magazines. That’s where a really experienced guide and teacher comes in handy. A winter’s casting session with Peter Hayes had debugged my pathetic casting and now Pat was showing me the finer points of upstream mending. The takes on these streams are phenomenal and occur in rapid succession and lead to many failures. The biggest cause of failure is mending the line inappropriately. Pat sticks to you like glue and continually reminds you to mend the line. This no doubt comes after he has explained to you the simplest, most effective way to mend the line. Both Peter and Pat explain everything scientifically. It is perfectly simple yet the physics behind it is obvious. After doing that perfect Ferrari cast, in the same motion, apply energy to the line only and flick it upstream immediately. This is in the horizontal plane and the line doesn’t get a chance to break through the surface tension and is easily flicked forwards without disturbing the waters’ surface. Continually flick the line as the leader and indicator travel downstream naturally. Restrain yourself from too much action as the upstream motion on the fly line can transfer the energy flow to the fly via the leader. Flick, flick, flick, mend, mend, mend and concentrate, concentrate, concentrate. As the fly travels downstream and towards you, retrieve the slack line, as you need enough contact with the fly to initiate a strike. As the fly drifts past, raise the rod to keep contact with the fly and maintain the natural undisturbed drift. Not top secret, but valuable information. Your guide continually reiterates all the little techniques that will create a better fisherman. It’s all about education.

Pat also shows you how to read the water, cover all the water close to you and then work out further and fan out. Obvious sorts of techniques but its all about getting back to basics. On one run, fish were no more than a metre off the bank, proving the importance of fishing the closest water first. These fish are resident wild browns and rainbows and they prove to be feisty so without tuition and technique management, a lot of fish can be missed. The takes can be subtle, lightning fast or definite. Only practise improves your chances.

By day 7, my guide was confidently no longer by my side, but I could sense that he was watching. He was checking out the fish lies in the next pool, only coming back to net the next feisty fish for me and take that memorable photo. A lifelong memory to cherish when I am too old to fish!

A guide needs to be able to help you with all aspects of fly-fishing including advice on safe stream crossings and avoiding known danger holes, particularly as the streams rise in level after heavy rains. A gentle hand and guiding staff helped avoid unwelcome swims in the rivers. Experience pays off in the end.

Well, I didn’t run over any Hobbits on my trip, just moved from one fabulous river location to the next. Each river had unique challenges, magnificent scenery and fantastic fishing. Pat was an exceptional guide, Helen a marvelous cook and the magnificent accommodation at Blarney Lodge only made the experience more memorable. I haven’t returned with any dodgy flies, just lots of Blarney, the memory of fantastic hospitality and a desire to get back there as soon as the brownie points build up again. The Hobbits will be safe for a while yet.

Steve Varga

Article courtesy of Flylife, Spring 2004