It was 19 February 2022 when we jumped into the raft and floated down the Rangitaiki River on the hunt for trout. Andrew and I spent a day here in the canoe 25 January last year. He started nymphing then transitioned to a dry fly and dropper then to just a small dry fly. He told me he only landed a half dozen or so fish for the day but it was the best day of fly fishing in his life. You can read the story here.
Today was going to be a little different. We were starting with a cicada dry fly and planned on using nothing else all day. We also were going in a raft instead of a canoe. And for some strange reason, Blair came along too. The weather was wet to start and gradually cleared throughout the day.
Actually, Andrew's brother was supposed to come but had to cancel at short notice due to complications with the Omicron outbreak. So I figured we should take Andrew in the raft anyway just for fun. Andrew had no idea what he was in for but was soon leading the banter.
It was a slow start as the cicada was not getting much attention. For the first time this season the cicadas were not getting savaged. So I tied an elk hair caddis dry fly as a dropper behind the cicada. It worked but the cicada got just as many takes.
Andrew got to try a new technique fishing dry flies down stream from the raft. Sometimes you just have to adapt. As you can imagine, you need to pull back on your cast to get a drag free drift away from you. Don't get me wrong, the trout definitely take on the drag but ideally you want a dead drift for as long as possible first.
Then we switched to a bead head nymph dropper and that worked very well, especially at the first large side stream and spring creek. Both of the large rainbows took the cicada and both broke off after huge runs. That was a highlight of the day.
Andrew and I went off for a stalk while Blair cooked sausages for lunch with a spread of chips and dip and fresh fruit to munch on. It was a nice touch so I guess it was worth taking him.
The next spring creek was pretty much the highlight of my season and no doubt, Andrew's too. He broke the first one off, dropped the second, missed the third and after a lot of patience and persistence, hooked and landed the fourth big brown trout. An elk hair caddis did the deed. Unfortunately, he dropped it in the creek before we got a still photo. The video shows it all.
Andrew reckoned he landed a dozen trout this time which was a pretty good effort. I wonder if Andrew will say this was his new best day fly fishing ever? Until next year, we all had fun and did some serious fishing without taking it too seriously.
