Fishing with David Lambroughton

Early last week, after a stint working at a hazelnut farm on the North Island, I caught a bus to the town of Turangi on the south shore of Lake Taupo.  I had initially planned to stay one night with the option of extending my visit if the fishing was good.  However, immediately after arriving, I met a guy named Mark at my hostel who is also fly fishing here in New Zealand.  Mark guides salmon fishing in British Columbia, and his boss had put him in touch with fishing photographer David Lambroughton.

Check out David's site at http://davidlambroughton.com/  David's work has appeared in all major fly fishing magazine publications, catalogs, and he is well known for his annual fishing photography calendar, which I encourage people to check out on his site.

An hour after arriving in Turangi, I was checking out the river levels with David and Mark, and we had established a rough plan to fish together the rest of the week.  The best part of traveling is the way that these things can work out, especially within the brotherhood of fly fishermen.

Mark and I fished 5 days around Taupo, 4 of them with David.  We hit rivers of all sizes, from spring creeks to wide rivers flowing into Lake Taupo.  Mark and I both ended up 'modeling' for some of David's shots, and I am proud to say that some of them came out quite well. 

Spring Creek fishing our first day with David

Yes, it is filled with trout

   

We caught fish, though I have no photo proof, and it was fun to sight fish again and land some nice rainbows in the 3-4 pound range and a nice brown that weighed 5. 

Running North

After leaving Queenstown, I hitch-hiked north to Mount Cook Village.  Weather in the area is unpredictable, so I planned on spending a couple of nights there.  I found a campground, and a prime spot given to me (amazingly enough), by the same German girls who had taken my picture while fishing a couple weeks before.

I got my weather window the following day, and spent a bunch of time outside and also at the Sir Edmund Hillary Museum.

 

I left Mount Cook, via hitching, and stayed a night in Lake Tekapo.  The town is small, and known for the old stone church built by the lake edge.

I then made my way to Christchurch.  The city center has been ruined, and is a mix of total ruin and ultra-modern development, as the central shopping district is now made up of stacked shipping containers filled with shops and cafes.  It will be interesting to see how the city rebuilds over my future fishing trips.

After visiting a friend outside Christchurch, I continued north to the town of Kaikoura.  The land mass comes to a steep shelf near the shore here, so ocean life is prolific along the coast here.  In the morning, one could watch dozens of Dusky dolphins playing along the beach.

I did find an opportunity to do some fishing in a coastal ditch near there, and was surprised to catch a few small sea-run browns amongs the trash in the creek.

                                       

After leaving Kaikoura, I worked on an amazing vineyard in the Marlborough region with a family I now consider friends.  After initially planning to only stay 3-7 days, I stayed 10, and was relieved to have a private room and bathroom (!!!!) to myself.  Janet's cooking was amazing, and I hope I can visit again someday.

Time to go to work with the grapes

Woops sorry.  Netting grapes

After leaving the vineyard, I went to the North Island and helped with the hazelnut harvest near Otaki for a couple of days. 

Alpacas at the hazelnut farm

Removing hazelnut husks

 

                                                                                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Update

When people send me links for their travel blogs, I kind of expect them to be regularly updated.  That said, I now find myself having not written here in almost a month (!).

Since my last posting, I've hitch-hiked and taken a couple buses from the bottom of the  South Island to the top, seen Mount Cook, possibly broken my right foot, caught some sea-runs out of a garbage ditch, and worked on an amazing pinot vineyard.  I left the South Island today, and am headed north to Otaki on the North Island tomorrow morning to work the hazelnut harvest for a couple of days.

In a couple of days I hope to be in Taupo, and will upload some pictures and stories when I'm at a computer again.

James Wish-he-B. Fishin