Well Larry was back again 1 April 2021. The forecast was for heavy wind, heavy rain and hail Larry only had this day as he had family coming for the Easter weekend. That man cannot get enough trout action. Last time out, he landed 59 trout, mostly on a spinner. This time he wanted to float from below Matahina Dam down to Te Teko on the Rangitaiki River. It is a stretch that I fish maybe once per year and many years ago Larry did quite well on it.
We started in the tail water of the dam. Larry was into his first rainbow within minutes. The fish here are smelt eaters and quite fat. Their body shape is like an American foot ball and distinctly different from the trout above the dam. He hooked six, landed one, broke one off and lost the rest on a spinner. We carried on down stream.
It is a large river here, easily navigated and best fished with a spinner in most places. I would recommend it to novice paddlers as a place to get some experience. We floated and Larry casted. He picked up quite a few rainbows and lost most of them. By the time the day was done, he had broken off four trout; that was very unusual of him but indicative of the quality and size of the trout there.
We spent some time targeting rising fish with caddis imitations. This was not Larry's day with a dry fly. It was quite windy and it rained much of the time.
Larry wanted to serve baked trout for his family so we killed the two in the photos. They were both fine fish. We did not keep count but Larry probably hooked 50 fish.
The next morning I got up and packed my orders. It was the day before Good Friday so I reckoned I should go look for a deer before the weekend warriors showed up. I took the canoe to Lake Matahina and found some recent sign. Of course, I fish there throughout the summer so I have a good idea what is happening on the edges. There was a little deer sign but bugger all this season in general.
If you have been there you will know the landscape is quite vertical. I found a shrub that had been recently thrashed and looked up at the bluffs. The wind was wrong so I went well upstream to walk around and get the wind in my face. Way up on the top of a ridge a deer jumped and trotted right to left. Within one second, I raised my bow, swung and pulled the trigger. It was much like jump shooting a duck. I ran up to find the spiker down and quickly finished him. Every deer is a trophy to me.
When I moved here from Canada 20 years ago, I was an accomplished bow hunter and brought all of my gear here. When I realised there was no season for bow hunting in NZ, I sold all of my bow hunting gear. My shot gun is my bow and from time to time, I use it effectively. Buckshot with a full choke is how I roll.
I hung the deer up in the notch of a tree. The next morning, Dan and I went back with knives and back pack. We cut it up and packed it out. I must say the meat was so much cleaner doing it this way and there was nothing to throw out.
Leg muscle groups, back straps and eye fillets are in the fridge for a few more days. The rest was frozen over night then minced this morning. Seventeen 1 kg packs were made and frozen. Now what to do with all of the venison I have in the freezer from last year? First world problems, eh?