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TROUT FISHING WITH MAURICE RODWAY - Weekly Column: January 18, 2002
 Southland, New Zealand

Birthday presents

The day of his birthday was sunny with a strong breeze from just east of south - all that was left of a week of cold easterlies that trout anglers hate. The sun was more important as it illuminated trout cruising amongst dark weed beds. While the water was clear, a cloudy sky made them all but invisible.

Two friends accompanied him to the river. Both were learning new skills about trout fishing. One still had to keep the back cast higher and out of the long grass. The other had to resist leaping headlong into the water and grabbing the splashing fish on the other end of the line, and that a rabbit must not be chased unless the command to do so was given.

In a field of high summer grass the scent of rabbit was strong. However, by the time the party saw their first trout no unscheduled chases had occurred. The fish was just a brown shadow moving slowly on its own. Wavelets from the wind blurred its outline but it altered its depth, rising to where a hastily cast fly had just pitched. The first fish belonged to the birthday boy, who had long ago learned how to avoid two metre high grasses on the back cast, and how to cast a small fly close enough to a trout to grab its attention but not so close that it was frightened.

The second fish we saw was from a higher bank, out over dark weed beds. The dog watched with great restraint and the young angler cast a fly to land a metre from the trout. It turned and cruised purposefully towards it. A slight opening of its mouth signified that it had taken the fly. A rapid strike and the fish was on. When it was released it swam slowly away. Thereafter followed three more fish from the same shoreline and all within 200 metres of each other. Each time the trout was seen, cast to, hooked, then landed. The teamwork varied each time. The old caught one, then the young. The interested onlooker maintained her composure each time.

After an hour five handsome trout had come to the bank. The tall grass, the bank side thistles, the cool breeze and a feeling of deep satisfaction eventually persuading all of us that it was time to return home. 

Birthday presents wrapped in paper express love and appreciation but intangible presents wrapped in a fresh wind and cloaked in sunshine are of no less value. When they are accompanied with an enthusiastic friend or two, wanting to share the capture of a trout, they are destined to last forever.

Maurice Rodway
Southland, New Zealand                           E-mail: mrodway@southlandfishgame.co.nz

Article © 2002 Maurice Rodway, All Rights Reserved.

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