NOTICE OF 2022 NZFFA AGM TO ALL MEMBERS

The 2022 Annual General Meeting of the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers will take place 09:30 SATURDAY 25 June 2022 at the North Canterbury Fish & Game Offices, 595 St Johns Road, Harewood, Christchurch.

Please find below, links to the following:

1.  AGM Agenda
2.  Unconfirmed Minutes of the 2021 AGM.
3. Current List of Club Contacts

We apologise for the relatively short notice but would ask the club committee to communicate with members at the earliest opportunity and encourage submission of remits to the AGM.

We need to hear from all of you – what we are doing right, what we could do better and where you think we should be focussing our limited resources.

We are also asking for nominations to the executive.  This is a voluntary position with no obligations other than a passion for freshwater and sports fishing advocacy and being a keen and effective communicator.  We are always on the lookout for help in providing pieces for our newsletter, running campaigns, writing to central and local governments and submitting on a range of consultations relevant to freshwater.  Please forward your name to secretary@nzffa.com if you are interested in being a part of the NZFFA executive.

All Members are encouraged and most welcome to attend. If you are attending then please RSVP to secretary@nzffa.com.

David Haynes

Secretary & Treasurer
New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers
Ph: 03 546 6051
Mob: 0272 351 833

Email: secretary@nzffa.com
Web:www.nzffa.com
FB:www.facebook.com/NZFFA

Editor's Note:

Welcome to the March/April issue. Sadly not enough material available last month to justify publication. Several of our regular commentators are still away hunting and/or fishing.

As always though, if you have any contributions you feel would be of interest to other Members, please send  them through to editor@nzffa.com

Could be a letter to the editor, or perhaps and article from one of your own Club newsletters.

Looking forward to your help with April's edition.

CASTING FOR RECOVERY
by David Haynes

On Sunday 24 April I was privileged to volunteer as a “guide” for one of the attendees at the Casting for Recovery weekend, held at Owen Valley Lodge, near Murchison.  The proprietor, Felix Borenstein, has opened his doors to this event for the past few years, offering a quiet retreat where women, all of whom have or are recovering from breast cancer.   Sally Robertson, the powerhouse behind CfC retired that same weekend, after ten years of selfless service.

The weather held out for us all and whilst only one fish was caught for the whole group, we all had a good time exploring the local rivers and streams.  What a wonderful example of what people can do in their own time and for the reward of helping someone.  To top it off, one of the attendees was the legendary Dame Lynda Topp

Some Fishing thoughts

Be patient and calm—for no one can catch fish in anger. Herbert Hoover

If I fished only to capture fish, my fishing trips would have ended long ago. Zane Grey

The best time to go fishing is when you can get away. Robert Traver

A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at work.  Author Unknown.

 An angler is a man who spends rainy days sitting around on the muddy banks of rivers doing nothing because his wife won't let him do it at home.  Author Unknown

The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.  Babylonian Proverb

Little Wet Flies Have Been Forgotten

by Tony Orman

Years ago nymphs were unknown In tackle shops you could buy dry or “little” wet flies and also wet fly lures (e.g. Parson’s Glory) as commonly used in Taupo, Rotorua and some South Island lakes.

Today you can rarely buy the little wet flies in tackle shops. It’s strange because the little wet flies are still very effective.             With wet flies, there are basically two categories -  the winged style like the Greenwell’s Glory or Red Tip Governor as I used in the 1950s and the soft hackled wingless patterns such as the March Brown or Partridge and Orange. 

The latter I refer to as spider patterns.

The spider patterns can be deadly in various sizes and under differing circumstances. The fly fishers among the early British settlers coming to New Zealand brought their wet flies and spider versions. Captain G D Hamilton in “Trout and Other Sport in Maoriland” published in 1904 suggested just five flies. Three were winged, the other two were in effect, spider patterns.

The spider ones were:-

Number Four:- Spider, black hackle, tied with brown silk body put together with brown silk. “Easily seen when the water is clear and low and kills well then.”

Number Five:- Spider, brown partridge hackle, hares ear body put together with yellow silk. “Very killing when the water is  clear and low, among high conditioned and shy trout. Used as a tail fly, this is perhaps the most reliable of the whole (five) particularly among large trout---.” 

The spider pattern tied in small sizes such as 14 and 16 can be very effective in steadily moving currents or even in slow glassy pools. Little wet fly fishing is quite subtle and requires a deft touch. It pays to cast across the current, even slightly upstream, landing the fly gently.  Assuming you are right handed (left handers reverse it), after casting, immediately get contact with your fly by pointing your rod just above the water in the direction of the fly and tightening the line but not pulling it. I get the line between my thumb and forefinger of my hand around the rod with the left hand, holding the loop.

Little wet fly fishing is all about touch.Tighten at the slightest touch.  Good sized browns take very softly and gently. Concentrate and focus as your rod follows the fly around.

You can fish the little wet flies upstream as you would a nymph.      

It is significant that Captain G D Hamilton regarded his spider pattern of a hare fur body and brown partridge hackle as the most effective of his choice of five.      And since little wet flies are today difficult to find in tackle shops, tying up a spider pattern is probably the simplest trout fly there is in terms of construction.  Basically the spider is a floss silk or lightly dubbed body with a sparse soft hackle.

That’s it! 

Nomads of the Tide - Sea-run Trout

by Zane Mirfin

Sea run brown trout are an important and often under-rated fishing resource in the estuarine influenced waters of New Zealand. This is an abridged version of one of Zane’s fine articles, this one on "sea-runners".

Sea-run trout are an enduring enigma of the New Zealand freshwater fishing scene. Ignored, under-rated and under appreciated by most licence-holders, they provide consistent sport for those prepared to put in the time and effort to learn and understand their habits and behaviours.

Anglers and scientists have always debated whether sea run trout are a separate species to brown trout and this debate is still going on within New Zealand.

There is clear evidence of brown trout being caught at sea off the New Zealand coast. 

Sea runners can grow to some impressive sizes with 20kg fish possible. South American sea run fish at Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina are regularly caught in the 10-15kg range. One of best photos of a big New Zealand estuarine fish is from Rex Forrester’s 1979 book, Trout Fishing in New Zealand, with a fish very close to 9kg (20lb) from Southland. McDowall (1984) features an 11.25kg brown caught in the Oreti River, Southland. 

John Hayes and Les Hill,, in their book, “The Artful Science of Trout Fishing”, note that “much of the best sea run brown trout fishing is to be had in New Zealand’s most southern rivers, such as the Oreti”. This is because “in colder climes the fish forsake the cold rivers for the relatively warm ocean and its greater food resources”. As Hayes notes: “One thing is certain: while at sea or in the estuary, they grow extremely fast.”

Brown trout are numerous around river mouths, estuaries, lagoons, and the lower tidal-influenced reaches of rivers. The best time to encounter them in these places is always during the spring and summer when seasonal food sources, such as whitebait, mullet, bullies, smelt, crabs, immature flounder, and other small crustaceans, are in abundance.

Abundant Food

Trout will live in estuarine waters all year, but they are most common when food is in abundance. Smelt and whitebait can be prolific as they congregate on their annual spawning runs and enable trout to put on significant weight and condition in a short space of time. Trout from estuarine areas, to be known henceforth as sea runners, can be great fish to eat. Prodigious girths, orange fillets, and clean, hard flesh characterise sea trout. Baked, grilled, fried, or smoked, it can be delicious. 

Be responsible with your killing, some areas I fish are popular with anglers and certain individuals can easily kill more than their share, especially if they fish night after night. The sea runner resource is not unlimited.

Most fish are not huge and are commonly 1-3kg. Anything larger than this is a real trophy from my experience. 

I have never been as successful on sea runners as I would have liked, but, hey, isn’t that always the way. 

Glory and Failure

I’ve fished for them all over the South Island, in Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast, North Canterbury, Central South Island, and even Fiordland. During this time, I have had moments of glory and days of dismal failure. Often, this is because of the nature of the beast, but also what makes fishing for sea runners so much fun. Part of the challenge is their unpredictable nature, the environment they inhabit, and patiently waiting for that next savage hit to send the adrenaline levels soaring into the stratosphere.

Sea runners are active fish and can turn up pretty much anywhere, especially after dark. On larger rivers, you will have to fish wherever you can get at the river. Where the first major rapid around or above the tidal push occurs is always a great place to encounter sea runners, as this is a natural trapping area for ascending baitfish, such as smelt, whitebait, and mullet. Trout will also be present near heavy cover, such as willows, snags, or holding in deeper channels and undercuts. In smaller rivers, certain pools will always hold more fish than others due to any number of factors, including depth, current, inflowing creeks, or springs. There is no substitute for experience and time spent on the water.

Unpredictable

Sea runners are notorious for being present one week and gone the next. You can be doing everything right, but if no fish are present then the catching will be lean. Don’t give up, try again next week.

Floating lines will often work well, especially if you can hear or see fish working the surface. Bow waves, swirling, and jumping fish are sure signs to fish the surface.

Trout will take a swinging fly, but I prefer an active fishing method, giving the streamer fly plenty of movement. However you fish the fly, be prepared for some savage hits and screaming reels. 

Deep nymphing likely ripples and currents with Hare and Copper and bead head nymphs can also be effective during quiet daytime periods.

 Perennial fly pattern favourites are the Matuka series with black, olive and yellow Matukas (Parsons’ Glory / Dorothy/ etc) being favourites, but rabbit lures, killer style lures, woolly buggers, bucktails, or whatever you want to throw at them, will all work. Try streamer flies, using plenty of krystal flash, weight, dumbbell eyes, even glass rattles, if the fishing is slow. It can make a difference.

Spin Fishing

Use strong tippet, the fish don’t care! I prefer 4-6kg nylon when streamer fishing.

Spin fishing is a great way to cover a lot of water, especially in larger rivers. It can save a lot of frustration with casting woes and is a great way to get younger anglers keen on the sport. Any number of lures will work, but lures with black and gold probably out-fish everything else. I also like to use a Silver Toby, Rapala lure, or a small silver ticer with a red plastic tag when in tidal waters to imitate small silveries and other baitfish.

Zane Mirfin - "Sea runners are notorious for being present one week and gone the next." 

Carbon Farming with Pines Bad for Environment
The following press release of the Environmental Defence Society was made in February last year when the “price of carbon had soared to over $60 per tonne.”. The price of carbon is currently at $76 per tonne.

The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) is calling for an urgent reset of New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme because of the way it is driving a massive expansion of carbon farming across landscapes. The price of carbon has now soared to over $60 per tonne.

“Vast swathes of the countryside are being bought up by foreign companies for conversion to large scale pine plantations, principally driven by the increasing price of carbon. This is a perverse and unwanted outcome driven by short-term expediency,” said EDS CEO Gary Taylor.

“It is important to sequester carbon but it’s also important to continue sustainable farming and food production on suitable land.

“Pine forests provide poor habitat, are a biosecurity and fire risk, produce massive slugs of sediment that pollute rivers, streams and estuaries at harvest and degrade landscape values at an industrial scale.

He described it as “a  blinkered response to the need for short-term sequestration”. There is need for a home-grown solution to the conundrum. Many of the large-scale conversions are foreign investors whereas most Māori landowners are looking to indigenous forests as the preference.

Biodiversity Crisis

A robust response to climate change is important said Gary Taylor. However there is a biodiversity crisis as well, internationally and in New Zealand. 

In New Zealand there are over 4000 native species of plants and animals at risk of extinction. 

“That is another crisis that cannot be ignored.”

An enlightened approach is needed. Where land is converted to forests, there is a need to incentivise permanent native forests which will sequester more carbon over time than exotics, restore lost habitat, lower fire, and biosecurity risks, reduce sediment runoff and significantly enhance landscape and biodiversity. Native forests are New Zealand’s unique solution.

Tragedy

To prevent the tragedy of many thousands of hectares being lost to plantation forestry, there is an urgent need to join-up policy solutions which embrace climate, biodiversity and food production imperatives.

“The way to do that is to either adjust the ETS settings to create a premium price for natives or create a parallel incentive program to create a hybrid biodiversity and carbon farming package. There is an urgent need to make progress here.”

The final part of a policy shift should be to tighten up the rules governing plantation harvesting. 

Sediment

Sediment is the biggest pollutant. Yet New Zealand’s present regulatory settings allow 19th century methods of harvesting – large-scale clear felling when other countries require coupe or compartmental harvesting to reduce environmental impacts. 

“A fix there would require commercial forestry to meet its full environmental costs and responsibilities and further shift the dial towards permanent natives with their vastly superior outcomes,” said GaryTaylor.

Gary Taylor - Pine forests provide poor habitat, are a biosecurity and fire risk, produce massive slugs of sediment that pollute rivers, streams  and estuaries at harvest and degrade landscape values at an industrial scale.  

The Perch is a Valued Sporting Fish – not a Pest

Opinion by Tony Orman

            A couple of years ago, Fisheries NZ has a discussion document open for public submissions, in which it was proposed to list perch as a “pest fish” –  contrary to the current legal status of perch as a “sporting fish.”

            Over the years there has been an on-going periodic moves to list perch as “pests.”

            I recall a couple of years ago I sat in a meeting where a draft Regional Pest Management Strategy was presented by some Marlborough District Council officers.

            It was almost bizarre - perhaps it was. For instance listed as a major threat was the wallaby. Now wallabies don’t exist in Marlborough. But there it was - wallabies a major pest threat, nt in reality but in a hazy bureaucratic day-dream..

            “Oh they could be if they got here,” was the response

            Yes the same might be said of rhinoceros, hippopotamus or cougars.

            It lends strong weight to the growing public opinion that New Zealand’s governments-central and local –  have been and still are in the grip of a “pest phobia.” But what caught my eye in the Marlborough District Council pest document under “noxious fish” was perch. I checked with Nelson-Marlborough Fish and Game.

            “Closest perch populations to Marlborough are West Coast,” came the reply. 

            There are no perch in Marlborough or Nelson.

            Besides perch were and are regarded as a sporting fish, an acclimatised fish under the jurisdiction of Fish and Game.

Ignorant Bureaucrats

            To place perch in a “noxious fish” category is ignorant and reinforces the “pest phobia” suspicion. 

            Problem is the “pest  phobia” activity gives rise to mis-spending of public money and a raft of bureaucrats all for a totally unjustified purpose.

            My first steps as an angler in the 1950s were on perch. They were in the Mangaone River that in those days flowed on the western side of Palmerston North and into the Manawatu River near Longburn. Today the curving course of the Mangaone of the 1950s is gone, destroyed by urban sprawl and straightening and channelising the once magical stream into a sterile ditch. 

            In the 1950s, my father and I used minnows, which we swung out on  greenheart fly rods. Sometimes we used worms. The perch were mostly small but I did catch two or three monsters of 1.5 kgs and more. Those big perch were usually solitary or in pairs, the smaller in shoals.

            The minnows we used were names not found in sport shops today. The Green Willesenden was a favourite but we also made minnow bodies from butterfly chrysalis hanging from tree branches.

Mr Crabtree

            As a boy I had a book written by a UK angling guru called Bernard Venables. In his book set out with text and “comic book” styled sequences of drawings, a Mr Crabtree  was shown teaching youngsters how to fish for UK species such as tench, pike, chub and others that included perch. Theart work was by Bernard Venables himself. The color paintings were great, so skilfully done, and I would gaze for long periods admiring the perch one, because those were the fish I angled for in the Mangaone.,

            The perch is a handsome splendidly coloured fish, with a defiant, pugnacious air about it.The bottom edge of the caudal fin is bright red-orange, as are the anal and pectoral fins. Several dark bands run down their sides. These features make perch easy to recognize.

            Like myself, many a boy was set upon the road to becoming a lifelong angler by catching a perch.

From Tasmania

            New Zealand perch were imported in the late 19th century, from Tasmanian stocks that before that came from England. They became well established in Otago and Southland, but also occur in many other parts of New Zealand, such as around Auckland, the Waikato and in west coast coastal lakes south of Taranaki, South Island’s West Coast, Canterbury, Southland and other places..

            I’ve caught them in the Manawatu River, in ox-bow lagoons of the lower Manawatu such as south of Longburn, in the Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, Otago and Canterbury. I’ve caught them in the better trout rivers such as the Pomohaka, Manawatu, Ruamahunga, lower Taieri and one or two others. 

            Perch have firm white flesh, that is sweet eating. Perch are ideal sports fish for youngsters because they are relatively easy to catch. Most perch in New Zealand are about 1 kg in weight, but not infrequently bigger.

            Perch prefer slow-flowing and still-water habitats. 

Perch No Pest

            Are perch damaging to trout fisheries? 

            I doubt it. When I fished the Manawatu as a kid, perch were in the Manawatu and the Manawatu was chocker with trout, with incredible evening rises. And the Ruamahunga and Pomohaka where I’ve caught perch, are excellent trout rivers. The best evening rise I ever experienced anywhere, was on the Ruamahunga, near Gladstone.

            Many years ago somewhere about 1950, in response to angler claims that perch in Lake Maherangi, Otago, were eating trout, a study was done to examine the relationship. That became plural, i.e. relationships as shags entered the equation.

            Basically the findings were:-

§  Shags fed on perch particularly perch fry, tending to divert the birds away from trout.

§  Trout fed heavily on perch fry. Perch lay eggs in massive clusters on underwater debris and thousands of fry hatch.

§   Perch did occasionally prey on young trout.

            In a few words, overall trout benefited from a co-existence with perch.

Nonsensical

            In 2016 the authors of an Otago University “study” described perch as “invasive,” arguing they preyed on native fish such as whitebait. Now to me, that is absolute nonsense. Remember perch were introduced back in 1870. So they’ve had almost 150 years to evolve into the ecosystem and food chains, just as European humans and their associated sheep, cattle, potatoes and pumpkins, blackbirds and bumblebees have.

            In a few words, it’s now an evolved 21st century ecosystem.

            Perch here for almost 150 years can hardly be classed as invasive now.  But beware terms like “invasive species”, “predators” and “pests” are buzz words in some academic circles and certainly in the bowels of bureaucracy where often empires are spawned and jobs created around the “pest-predator” myths.

            I don’t know whether Fish and Game NZ and in particular the Nelson-Marlborough Fish and Game objected to the Marlborough District Council’s classification of perch as a “pest fish”. They should have. I would be disappointed if they didn’t!

Youngsters

            The perch is a great little sports fish and as stated earlier, especially for youngsters. Species like perch may become very important in the face of dwindling flows in rivers and warmer temperatures with the climate cycle.

            In the broader picture, it seems so misplaced that Fisheries NZ is dabbling into areas of ignorance and prejudice based on a “pest phobia”, when the New Zealand saltwater fishery is in a mess, beset with the market-force driven quota management system, (QMS) and it’s consequences of an industry plagued by corporate company domination, political party donations, fish dumping, poor surveillance of commercial boats (camera issue) and a ministry and succession of fisheries ministers beholden to the commercial corporate fishing industry. 

            The end result is over-fished stocks. The Ministry of Fisheries should be using its meagre talents to focus on the beleaguered sea fishery industry than demonising perch.

Blue Cod Bungling

            Here in Marlborough the Marlborough Sounds blue cod resource has undergone bureaucratic bungling, poor methodology in the “science”, ludicrous laws (slot rule) that destroyed tens of thousands of blue cod breeding females, discrimination against the recreational public and after seven years of undue harsh measures on recreational fishers, an almost complete lack of scientific research to ascertain management fundamentals as it where and when blue cod spawn.

            Meanwhile the NZ consumer pays $60 a kg for blue cod on Blenheim supermarket shelves.

            Other species are struggling with examples being severely depleted kahawai and tarakihi stocks while Fisheries NZ looks away and wants to set up species such as perch as a pest.

            It is a case of “Nero fiddles while Rome burns.”

            Fisheries NZ should be using its meagre talents to focus on much needed review of the QMS, shedding the shackles of corporate domination, reordering its priorities to where the urgent needs are and bringing sea fish to the consumer at an affordable price.

© Perch can grow to a large size.

Fly Tying

Rainbow Warrior Nymph

Here’s a pattern from the US which should go well on rainbow trout in the Tauranga-Taupo, Tongariro and other Taupo rivers. And rivers like the Rangitikei, Waiau, Ruakituri etc., The Rainbow Warrior despite its flashy looks, works well for selective  trout it is said and of course for feeding pocket-water fish too. 

This pattern is easy to tie and very effective. 

The Warrior's flashy body and red thread hot spot don't imitate anything in particular, but that is a good thing. Fish can mistake it for many food forms. 

Creator Lance Egan says "The bottom line....don't worry about "why" fish eat it. Just be happy they eat it. Tie a few for your nymph box and I'm confident the Rainbow Warrior will be productive enough to keep you tying them.”

The pattern is:-

·         Hook: TMC 2457 Caddis Pupa, Nymph Hook - 16
·         Thread: UTC Ultrathread 70 Denier - Red
·         Bead: Plummeting Tungsten Beads - Nickel - 3/32" (2.3mm)
·         Tail: Nature's Spirit Ringneck Pheasant Center Tails - Natural
·         Body/Wingcase: Pearl Tinsel - Large
·         Thorax: Wapsi Sow Scud Dubbing - Rainbow

Safe Wading Hints

The Tripod Theory

A wading staff is an indispensable piece of equipment when wading conditions are difficult, giving you a vital, third point of support. You’re a tripod!The third point of support will make all wading easier by letting you maintain two points of contact while one foot is making a stride. A wading staff may make the difference between staying dry and falling in, and lowers your anxiety level during difficult wading.

Go slow 

This has broader implications than you may think. It obviously includes being careful while wading, but also encompasses taking time to evaluate current conditions and particularly to evaluate conditions when you are visiting unfamiliar rivers or locations.        When entering the river and moving through the water, make your moves slow and controlled to minimize the risk of falling. With experience "slow" will become much quicker, but wading is always slower than traveling on dry land and as the hazards become greater your approach demands greater caution.

Stand firm 

Create a wide base to stand on when you are on a slippery surface. Widen your stance so your feet are shoulder-width apart; flex your knees to lower your center of gravity. 

Slide

 Learn to shuffle your feet and, as with other athletic activities, never cross your feet. This stance will seem foreign and awkward in the beginning, but practice will make it feel natural - besides, you will have great reinforcement to use this advice when you fall in because your feet are close together or you lose your balance with your feet crossed.

Between

Step between boulders, not on them. I find that placing my foot in a secure foothold among cobbles or boulders is most secure when I stand on my arch,  rather than the ball of my foot. Visualise that you are securing your foot in the junction between rocks so the boot heel holds the foot from sliding forward and the curve of the arch holds the foot from sliding back.

Back Off 

 If it becomes too deep or swift to proceed, back out, very slowly. To turn and present your body full on to the current can result in a dunking so back out carefully using your wading stick.

Go with the flow  

This recommendation is aimed primarily at efforts to cross a stream. It’s easier and safer to move at a slight downstream angle with the current than move directly across or against the current. 

A wading staff is indispensable

Postings From the Website

Some of our more recent posts from the website (see https://nzffa.com)

The Federation's  Executive:

President: Peter Trolove (Rakaia)

Treasurer: David Haynes (Nelson)

Secretary: David Haynes (Nelson)

Committee:

Steve Gerard (Central South Island), Andi Cockroft (Wellington), Larry Burke (NZ Salmon Anglers), Zane Mirfin (Nelson), Brett Bensemann (Otago), Casey Cravens (Otago), Colin Taylor (Nelson), Grant Henderson (Auckland), Rex Gibson (Canterbury)

Life Members, Tony Orman, (Marlborough), Sandy Bull (Gisborne), Ian Rodger (Auckland) and Ken Sims (Manawatu) are automaticaly on the committee

Co-opted:  Alan Rennie (North Canterbury)

Disclaimer

The opinion pieces and submitted articles are provided for your interest and information. They do not necessarily represent the views of all of the Executive members but are seen as vital to promote active debate around the issues that fit the aims and objectives of the Federation.

If you have not already done so feel free to comment on any of the articles on our website. The discussions always open up many valid points.

Please feel free to circulate this newsletter around club members and friends.