Taking the Plunge - A Beginner’s First Trip
When I first joined the Kapiti Fly Fishing Club, I'll admit I was nervous. Despite attending the Women on the Fly workshop in Turangi in November, the thought of heading out with experienced anglers had me teetering on the fence. But thanks to Hugh's encouragement and patient explanations about what to expect, I decided to take the plunge—quite literally.
Last Wednesday, I joined Hugh, Graham, Wayne, Ruth, and Hamish for a day on the water in the Manawatu. We started at Oringi Bend, then made our way around to the Gravel Extraction site, and finished up at Honey House. The locations were beautiful, and the company was even better.
As a complete beginner, I knew I'd need help, and the group delivered in spades. Graham and the others were incredibly patient as they helped me set up my gear, untangled my numerous casting mishaps (note to self: practice, practice, practice!), and offered constant encouragement.
There's something humbling about watching your line create abstract art in the air when it's supposed to be gracefully landing on the water, but everyone just smiled and helped me try again. Graham gave up a lot of own fishing time to help me.
The highlight of my day? Netting my first fish—even though Graham was the one who caught it. Then came an even bigger thrill: I hooked my first fish! Granted, Graham had cast the line, but hey, I'm counting it as progress. One day, I'll cast AND hook AND land one all by myself. But first, I need to master the art of keeping my line from resembling a bird's nest.
The support and encouragement from everyone on Wednesday was genuinely heartwarming. This club isn't just about fishing; it's about welcoming newcomers and helping them fall in love with the sport. If you are on the fence like I was, I can encourage you enough to give it a go. Yes, you’ll make mistakes. Yes, you might feel a bit out of your depth at first. But the group truly wants you to learn and enjoy—and that makes all the difference.
The next day, I invited a friend over for dinner to cook up one of Wayne’s fish (thanks Wayne). I am no goddess in the kitchen, let alone make a trout dish that is worthy of the catch! It wasn't until we sat down that I realised it was Thanksgiving Day, (even though it’s not really a NZ thing we celebrate). But it was fitting. It really did feel like a day to be grateful for new experiences, patient teachers, and a welcoming community that's helping this beginner find her way, one tangled cast at a time.
See you on the water!
Anja
Last Wednesday, I joined Hugh, Graham, Wayne, Ruth, and Hamish for a day on the water in the Manawatu. We started at Oringi Bend, then made our way around to the Gravel Extraction site, and finished up at Honey House. The locations were beautiful, and the company was even better.
As a complete beginner, I knew I'd need help, and the group delivered in spades. Graham and the others were incredibly patient as they helped me set up my gear, untangled my numerous casting mishaps (note to self: practice, practice, practice!), and offered constant encouragement.
There's something humbling about watching your line create abstract art in the air when it's supposed to be gracefully landing on the water, but everyone just smiled and helped me try again. Graham gave up a lot of own fishing time to help me.
The highlight of my day? Netting my first fish—even though Graham was the one who caught it. Then came an even bigger thrill: I hooked my first fish! Granted, Graham had cast the line, but hey, I'm counting it as progress. One day, I'll cast AND hook AND land one all by myself. But first, I need to master the art of keeping my line from resembling a bird's nest.
The support and encouragement from everyone on Wednesday was genuinely heartwarming. This club isn't just about fishing; it's about welcoming newcomers and helping them fall in love with the sport. If you are on the fence like I was, I can encourage you enough to give it a go. Yes, you’ll make mistakes. Yes, you might feel a bit out of your depth at first. But the group truly wants you to learn and enjoy—and that makes all the difference.
The next day, I invited a friend over for dinner to cook up one of Wayne’s fish (thanks Wayne). I am no goddess in the kitchen, let alone make a trout dish that is worthy of the catch! It wasn't until we sat down that I realised it was Thanksgiving Day, (even though it’s not really a NZ thing we celebrate). But it was fitting. It really did feel like a day to be grateful for new experiences, patient teachers, and a welcoming community that's helping this beginner find her way, one tangled cast at a time.
See you on the water!
Anja
Kids Fishout Weekend 2025
It’s called it a “Kids Fishout” but it was at least as much fun for the oldsters as the youngsters. I was only free on the Sunday and was given the role of photographer in the morning and intermediate fisho in the afternoon. So I snuck around photographing all the different rigs our expert fishos were using to ensure a respectable catch rate so that when it was my turn I could demonstrate the sort of expertise that was on show in the morning session. Fly rods were in evidence, plus the spinning option, complete with floats for the uninitiated, alongside nets worthy of kingfish capture.
BUT… For some reason the fish weren’t obliging in the way that was expected. Perhaps the journey from the nirvana of north to the butt end of the south gave them pause for thought. Whilst they showed a vigorous response to handfuls of fish pellets, nothing that was offered by way of a vegan option was taken.
I sympathised. A couple of days earlier I’d been performing in Logan Brown event and, along with my colleagues, was treated to lunch as well as a significant amount of liquid refreshment of the vinous kind. The main courses were Hapuka, Lamb or Cauliflower. No-one at our table went for the cauli.
As the day progressed our experts could be seen huddling in corners comparing strategies. Evidently the clouds were too low, the novices (that’d be me) were scaring the fish, a drain was blocked, and the wind was in the wrong direction. We set to and did our best to raise the cloud cover by blowing plenty of hot air from both ends. Having taken on board the overheard intel I decided it was time to put it into practice. I rigged up a 7 wt rod with a 9 wt line and a heavily weighted budgie on the end.
It didn’t take long before my student was casting like a pro. The only thing he wasn’t immediately perfect at was the direction. The half a dozen experts and their acolytes were a wee bit grumpy when his line, budgie and all, had to be disentangled from the lines he’d covered.
Sometimes valour is not as effective as discretion, and as I’d spotted a much larger lake just around the corner, I decided my budding world champion deserved a bigger target. Strangely, he didn’t seem to be that interested and wandered over to where the occasional weed affected rod bend was in evidence. Undeterred, I gave myself a good warm-up, false casting for a minute or so until I had at least 15 meters of fly line outside the rod tip. Nothing.
I retrieved the fly and an impressive amount of bank-side vegetation from the budgie. This time I reverted to the time honoured Tongariro technique; chuck as much line downstream as possible, pull it tight then load the rod on the backcast. This should be worthy of a few beers in the pub I thought.
And it was. Fish on! I yelled at the assembled company that I needed some kid to help me land this monster and my acolyte decided to investigate the veracity of my bellowed shout.
Fish successfully landed, the experts gathered around to admire its vivid colouration only to be interrupted by said spotty youth advancing with a large rock. This was one fish that didn’t get away. Given that I’ll be spending most of the summer harvesting fat rainbows along with the occasional brown from Taupo and Rotorua I figured his family would enjoy the results of the largest fish caught that day and will forever be singing my praises.
If any members have yet experience the excitement and the camaraderie of a fishout day I can thoroughly recommend it.
Gregory Squire - Author
BUT… For some reason the fish weren’t obliging in the way that was expected. Perhaps the journey from the nirvana of north to the butt end of the south gave them pause for thought. Whilst they showed a vigorous response to handfuls of fish pellets, nothing that was offered by way of a vegan option was taken.
I sympathised. A couple of days earlier I’d been performing in Logan Brown event and, along with my colleagues, was treated to lunch as well as a significant amount of liquid refreshment of the vinous kind. The main courses were Hapuka, Lamb or Cauliflower. No-one at our table went for the cauli.
As the day progressed our experts could be seen huddling in corners comparing strategies. Evidently the clouds were too low, the novices (that’d be me) were scaring the fish, a drain was blocked, and the wind was in the wrong direction. We set to and did our best to raise the cloud cover by blowing plenty of hot air from both ends. Having taken on board the overheard intel I decided it was time to put it into practice. I rigged up a 7 wt rod with a 9 wt line and a heavily weighted budgie on the end.
It didn’t take long before my student was casting like a pro. The only thing he wasn’t immediately perfect at was the direction. The half a dozen experts and their acolytes were a wee bit grumpy when his line, budgie and all, had to be disentangled from the lines he’d covered.
Sometimes valour is not as effective as discretion, and as I’d spotted a much larger lake just around the corner, I decided my budding world champion deserved a bigger target. Strangely, he didn’t seem to be that interested and wandered over to where the occasional weed affected rod bend was in evidence. Undeterred, I gave myself a good warm-up, false casting for a minute or so until I had at least 15 meters of fly line outside the rod tip. Nothing.
I retrieved the fly and an impressive amount of bank-side vegetation from the budgie. This time I reverted to the time honoured Tongariro technique; chuck as much line downstream as possible, pull it tight then load the rod on the backcast. This should be worthy of a few beers in the pub I thought.
And it was. Fish on! I yelled at the assembled company that I needed some kid to help me land this monster and my acolyte decided to investigate the veracity of my bellowed shout.
Fish successfully landed, the experts gathered around to admire its vivid colouration only to be interrupted by said spotty youth advancing with a large rock. This was one fish that didn’t get away. Given that I’ll be spending most of the summer harvesting fat rainbows along with the occasional brown from Taupo and Rotorua I figured his family would enjoy the results of the largest fish caught that day and will forever be singing my praises.
If any members have yet experience the excitement and the camaraderie of a fishout day I can thoroughly recommend it.
Gregory Squire - Author
Fishing in Argentina - Presentation by Strato Cotsilinis
Taupo Fisheries Guide
Greg du Bern & Gordon Baker's presentation on how to fish the Taupo Fisheries - Tongariro, Tauranga-Taupo & Hinemaiaia.
Take a Kid Fishing Weekend - November 2024
What a great weekend. The assistance we got from our members made it memorable for so many kids. We estimate that we had over 300 plus kids through on the 2 days. My thanks go to all who came and helped. I don’t want to name names, but you know who you are. Your participation made the event a roaring success in my book. The smiles on the kids’ faces as they landed that fish were something to be seen.
The weather was kind – well it didn’t rain, did it. But it blew – so hard that it was threatening to lift the gazebos into the big lake when that squall came through on the Sunday. And it was from the south on Saturday, and boy it was cold. We could see the snow going down on the Tararua’s. Brrrrr. And that made fishing a lot harder. But we, and the kids, persisted. I know that some were there for 2 hours, but their persistence paid off eventually. Others got a fish on their first cast.
But however it worked out, the kids had a ball, the parents had a bigger one - when the fish was landed, and then the cleaning of the prize capped it off with certificates to boot. Wonderful!
Thank you to all that helped on the day, and our especial thanks go to the outside help we received:
The weather was kind – well it didn’t rain, did it. But it blew – so hard that it was threatening to lift the gazebos into the big lake when that squall came through on the Sunday. And it was from the south on Saturday, and boy it was cold. We could see the snow going down on the Tararua’s. Brrrrr. And that made fishing a lot harder. But we, and the kids, persisted. I know that some were there for 2 hours, but their persistence paid off eventually. Others got a fish on their first cast.
But however it worked out, the kids had a ball, the parents had a bigger one - when the fish was landed, and then the cleaning of the prize capped it off with certificates to boot. Wonderful!
Thank you to all that helped on the day, and our especial thanks go to the outside help we received:
- The Charities who funded the purchase and delivery of the fish – Pub Charity and NZ Community
- Trust, and Eastern Fish & Game who supplied them.
- Matt Kaverman and the others at Wellington Fish and Game for their help with making the event happen and their equipment – gazebos, rubbish bins, fish cleaning table etc. that made it so easy for us.
- Hunting and Fishing Otaki who took all the bookings.
- Otaki New World for providing us with drinks and fruit for the kids.
- Graham Winterburn and his team from Winstones, especially Mouse, Phil and Aaron who made sure the lake level
- was raised, the area was accessible, and the long grass mown.
- Winstone’s quarries who actually shut down quarry operations on Saturday so we could have easy access.
- And once again, a huge thanks to our members and their partners who helped make the weekend a huge success.
Wellington Fish and Game Region Regulation Review 2024/25 (August 2024)
At the August club meeting, Dr Matt Kavermann (Senior Fish & Game Officer at Wellington Fish & Game) talked about the changes that are being considered and promoted that will be made to the Fishing Regulations across NZ. Matt has a PhD in vertebrate ecology and has wide experience in research and wildlife management.
This is a BIG DEAL – a real opportunity for you to be directly able to give your views on changes that will have a direct bearing on the future of our fisheries. Please contact President Graham Evans if you wish to be part of a club sub-committee that will formulate a response to the proposed changes. ([email protected] )
This is a BIG DEAL – a real opportunity for you to be directly able to give your views on changes that will have a direct bearing on the future of our fisheries. Please contact President Graham Evans if you wish to be part of a club sub-committee that will formulate a response to the proposed changes. ([email protected] )
Fishing in the Eastern region - Matt Osborne (July 2024)
Matt Osbourne of Eastern Fish & Game talked to us about the opportunities including access to fish in the Eastern region around Rotorua, together with issues that the organisation is facing. Matt is a very keen fisherman and hunter, and he knows the area intimately. Scroll through Matt's slides below for information on access points, the hatchery, threats and opportunities.
Click here for the Ngongotaha Hatchery Liberation Tables
All trout released from the Ngongotaha Hatchery are marked with either a fin clip or a plastic tag. The table shows the number of fish released each year in each lake, and the associated mark or tag the fish have. The fish are spread around the lakes at a number of different release sites.
Corina Jordan, CE Fish & Game NZ Presentation March 2024
Corina is an experienced and very keen fisherwoman and hunter with a strong drive and high
intelligence, passion and qualities that put her in a very strong position to lead Fish & Game NZ
(F&G) into the new era. That was my assessment of her presentation to the Club.
Corina opened by setting out the status of Fish & Game in New Zealand, with functions conveyed
under the Conservation Act 1987 “to manage, maintain and enhance sports fish and gamebirds
and their habitats throughout the country”, noting that this model is unique in the world as it
requires F&G to manage a public resource for the benefit of all present and future New
Zealanders. She noted further that F&G receive no public money nor financial support from
Central or Local government - funding comes entirely from licence fee of around $10m each
year.
There are many issues facing the fishing/hunting fraternity and they are getting more difficult
both from public attitudes and from regulatory positions. Corina gave us a quick summary of the
issues and made us more aware of what the future could hold, especially if action is not taken
now to preserve and enhance what NZ has to offer.
To assess attitudes and determine where F&G should focus, she has conducted a survey of
how New Zealanders thought about the roles of F&G. The results of that survey, together with
the findings of the ministerial review conducted in 2021 has led Corina, together with her team,
to develop a new organisational strategy for the 5 years from 2023. That strategy is intended to
provide a strengthened fit-for-purpose organisation more connected to stakeholders and Manu
Whenua, to protect and enhance freshwater fish and game, their habitats and values precious
to all New Zealanders.
The other very exciting, obviously from her perspective, but to me also, outcome was the
implementation for F&G to ‘Tell our story better”. This campaign focuses on the “Rewild” theme
and many of you will have seen this in operation in the press and other media, telling the F&G
story.
She concluded by thanking us and all anglers and hunters for being such a significant part of
the conservation effort and looked forward to contributing to F&G and hence all of us building
the foundation for an enhanced future for the organisation and the sport we love.
I would summaries by saying that we should be grateful that F&G is in such good hands. Corina
is passionate about the interests of anglers and hunters, with first-hand knowledge of the issues
facing us, and her presentation demonstrated her people skills and incisive, decisive thinking.
Graham Evans, President
intelligence, passion and qualities that put her in a very strong position to lead Fish & Game NZ
(F&G) into the new era. That was my assessment of her presentation to the Club.
Corina opened by setting out the status of Fish & Game in New Zealand, with functions conveyed
under the Conservation Act 1987 “to manage, maintain and enhance sports fish and gamebirds
and their habitats throughout the country”, noting that this model is unique in the world as it
requires F&G to manage a public resource for the benefit of all present and future New
Zealanders. She noted further that F&G receive no public money nor financial support from
Central or Local government - funding comes entirely from licence fee of around $10m each
year.
There are many issues facing the fishing/hunting fraternity and they are getting more difficult
both from public attitudes and from regulatory positions. Corina gave us a quick summary of the
issues and made us more aware of what the future could hold, especially if action is not taken
now to preserve and enhance what NZ has to offer.
To assess attitudes and determine where F&G should focus, she has conducted a survey of
how New Zealanders thought about the roles of F&G. The results of that survey, together with
the findings of the ministerial review conducted in 2021 has led Corina, together with her team,
to develop a new organisational strategy for the 5 years from 2023. That strategy is intended to
provide a strengthened fit-for-purpose organisation more connected to stakeholders and Manu
Whenua, to protect and enhance freshwater fish and game, their habitats and values precious
to all New Zealanders.
The other very exciting, obviously from her perspective, but to me also, outcome was the
implementation for F&G to ‘Tell our story better”. This campaign focuses on the “Rewild” theme
and many of you will have seen this in operation in the press and other media, telling the F&G
story.
She concluded by thanking us and all anglers and hunters for being such a significant part of
the conservation effort and looked forward to contributing to F&G and hence all of us building
the foundation for an enhanced future for the organisation and the sport we love.
I would summaries by saying that we should be grateful that F&G is in such good hands. Corina
is passionate about the interests of anglers and hunters, with first-hand knowledge of the issues
facing us, and her presentation demonstrated her people skills and incisive, decisive thinking.
Graham Evans, President
2023 Take a Kid Fishing Day
The highlight of the month was our Kids Fish-Out Day at Otaki’s Winstone Lakes over the weekend of 18/19 November 2023. We had 124 kids’ names on the list for Saturday, and another 30 or so on the Sunday.
The pure delight of catching a first fish was wonderful to both see and hear, both for the kids and their parents/carers. Once caught, it was gilled and gutted by that stalwart Peter Butt – he hardly had a break all day! Then they were given a certificate to hang on the wall and brag about, a recipe sheet, a Fish & Game mag, and the fish all wrapped up ready to take home and cook.
So a very big thank you to all those who helped during the 2 days especially:
• Leigh Sirett of Otaki Hunting & Fishing and his staff who managed the bookings for us
• Pub Charity & NZ Community Trust who sponsored the provision of the fish
• Wellington Fish & Game – and especially Matt Kavermann, who helped us get the funding and provided the stuff we needed to run the event
• Graham Winterburn of GWRC who assisted with the pond management and access
• Gary Edwards of Winstone Aggregates who made the road in much more friendly
The pure delight of catching a first fish was wonderful to both see and hear, both for the kids and their parents/carers. Once caught, it was gilled and gutted by that stalwart Peter Butt – he hardly had a break all day! Then they were given a certificate to hang on the wall and brag about, a recipe sheet, a Fish & Game mag, and the fish all wrapped up ready to take home and cook.
So a very big thank you to all those who helped during the 2 days especially:
• Leigh Sirett of Otaki Hunting & Fishing and his staff who managed the bookings for us
• Pub Charity & NZ Community Trust who sponsored the provision of the fish
• Wellington Fish & Game – and especially Matt Kavermann, who helped us get the funding and provided the stuff we needed to run the event
• Graham Winterburn of GWRC who assisted with the pond management and access
• Gary Edwards of Winstone Aggregates who made the road in much more friendly
Taupo Fisheries Guide
Greg du Bern & Gordon Baker's presentation on how to fish the Taupo Fisheries - Tongariro, Tauranga-Taupo & Hinemaiaia.
July 2022 Club Night - Fishing The Lakes and Rivers of Rotorua
Wayne Butson shared his knowledge on fishing the lakes and rivers of Rotorua. It was packed with a lot of valuable information, some of which can be found in these slides.
Lockdown Fly Tying Challenge Winner
We have an overall winner for the Lockdown Fly Tying competition. Well done to Wellington tier James Rankin and a great big "Thank You" to the great team at Taupo Rod and Tackle. Please support them, they are neat guys and have a great range of tackle both in store and online.
TJ and his trophy trout
February 2020 Club Night
Come and join us at our Monday 24th February Club night and hear club member Tane Moletta give us a talk on “How my freshwater fly fishing improved my sea fishing”.
Kapiti Fly Fishing Club have a number of members who actively participate in the fast growing sport of Salt Water Fly Fishing. It will be a fun night!
Kapiti Fly Fishing Club have a number of members who actively participate in the fast growing sport of Salt Water Fly Fishing. It will be a fun night!
Exploring Lower Ruamahanga River
Few club members took two Takacats to the Ruamahanga on 9 Februrary 2020 for a fun day exploring the river. One got a monster (haha) Kahawai and another lost a nice brownie.
We don't just fish backcountry rivers and some of us just love exploring.
Come join us!
We don't just fish backcountry rivers and some of us just love exploring.
Come join us!
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Fun Night and Casting Clinic
KFFC members met on the evening of 27 January 2020 at the Otaihanga Domain for both casting tuition and a New Year get together. Lots of lies were told and new friendships formed.
With expert tuition from both Gordon Baker and Tony Jacques our members got huge value for minimal cost . Fly fishing is all about being "Out there doing it". Fresh air, exercise, fun, friendship and it's so good for the Soul. Some say it is the New Yoga.
With expert tuition from both Gordon Baker and Tony Jacques our members got huge value for minimal cost . Fly fishing is all about being "Out there doing it". Fresh air, exercise, fun, friendship and it's so good for the Soul. Some say it is the New Yoga.
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Club Trip, Wairarapa, December 2019
We didn't see a rise all day, but a solid 4lb brown happily inhaled blowfly imitation today, while exploring new waters in the Wairarapa.
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Club Trip, Retaruke, November 2019
Great weekend away with great mates fishing the Taranaki region literally the back off beyond. The Blue duck station and Retaruke river was stunning.
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Winter Fly Tying Sessions
I had heard that I could " add a bit of red in the thorax" so I did but I also added a metallic abdomen. Crikey, when will I stop adding stuff? Anyway The Kapiti Fly Fishing club does lots of exciting stuff, including running Winter Fly tying sessions. If you want to learn to tie neater ones than mine then join up and book in.
Size 18# and 16# little black dries.
Size 18# and 16# little black dries.
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