This years opening day for me was really a 1 hour dash out to a river, and back home again before the small(ish) kids woke up and demanded feeding. At 5:30 am it was only 3 degrees Celsius, with a light, but cold southwesterly breeze blowing off the tops which had been dusted with snow the day before.
No fish were spotted in the first pool that I visited on the Twizel, possibly because it was still pretty dark. At pool number two, a couple of amorous rainbows were chasing each other around the shallow run, while a more sensible fish had taken up a feeding position against the deep shelf entering the pool. He was keeping warm by nailing any submarine aquatic invertebrates that drifted past. I was feeling a bit cold (read here sluggish), so didn't bother changing to a nymph, and kept the biggest, dirtiest brown Humpy (a size 10 I think) you've ever seen on the line. This I unceremoniously crash landed onto the surface about a meter and a half opposite the feeding fish. Instead of diving for the deep, the fish saw an opportunity and chased the fly down stream 5 or 6 metres, before sucking it down greedily.
Ahhh, I do love the take. Still in his traditional post spawning shabby condition, the trout had the smarts to get a little bit aerial and shake the hook without too much trouble and headed for the willow clump. the two lovers on the far side had thought better of their antics with that sort of commotion going on, and also headed for cover.
There was time for one more pool, so I headed to the Fraser, separated from the Twizel by one paddock at this point. The first stretch that I laid eyes on immediately showed up 3 fish feeding on nymphs. Time was running short, so I made half a dozen flicks at the most likely looking candidate with a beaded pheasant tail nymph. On the 5th 'one last cast' the fine young brown whirled down and had a crack, but I was already in the process of flicking the ly out of the water when he turned, which confused the fish terribly, so it sulked off to the depths.
By now it was time go home and start on some pancakes for breakfast, and besides, I was still darn cold, so I was pretty keen to bail.
Overall, Opening day was a mixed bag in the Mackenzie according to most people that I talked to, there being more fisherman than fish on some stretches. When things warmed up on Sunday, a few more fish seemed to be on the feed, one of which came to the net above Lake Poaka in the mid afternoon during a family outing. Water levels look reasonably low, and dropping fast, and Didymo seems to be not too bad. here's hoping for a decent bit of rain in the alps over the next week or so to keep the rivers full for the near future.
