Like many other New Zealand anglers I have been fascinated with using a Spey rod for trout. I first got interested in 2012, when one of my favourite pools in the tuki always had fish rising just out of reach of where I could wade and hit with my usual 5wt evening rise rig. I could catch fish if I was willing to wet wade and get wet up to my neck, but early season that was a bit cold.
Without really knowing much about Spey I bought a Winston BIIx 11 foot 7 weight. I didn’t really learn to cast with it, and also never really took it down to the river mouth in the summer chasing Kahawai.
A few years later when Trout Spey rods became more common I purchased a Winston Micro Spey 5 weight, a rod that I have learned to cast tolerably well though not as well as I would like.
There are two scenarios I intend to fish more, Sea Run Browns at the Tukituki estuary, and while waiting for the evening rise to start on favourite pools on the Tuki.
The Sea Run Browns in the Tuki can gain prodigious size, with a fish of 27lb found dead about 50 years ago, and a 23lber found dead in more recent times. I have seen one fish that looked to be in the 20lb range – it was in a spring fed backwater with all the big fish seeking cool water in a hot summer, and was double the width of all the other fish in the backwater.
I’ve never deliberately targeted sea run browns successfully, though I have caught a few over the years when just fishing normally. My biggest is about 8lb, a fish that took in a spring fed backwater when I completely missed target with the cast and put a #16 hare and copper about a metre away from him. He saw it, tore towards it and hammered it, then headed out the backwater into the main river with me jumping in following him.
The lure of big sea runs attracts a few dedicated anglers to the Tukituki estuary, though I have never met them. I just know them by repute, mainly from a friend who lives near the estuary and spots them making two handed casts from his deck.
The other scenario I have been using my 5wt Micro Spey is waiting for the evening rise. As soon as the river clears in the spring there is a mayfly hatch in the evening, and I will almost certainly be fishing if the river is clean. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting and waiting for the wind to die off and the fish to rise, usually talking to clients while waiting.
This season I want to use the periods before the evening rise starts more effectively, fishing a Trout Spey while waiting for the rise. This series of posts will explain how I intend to fish and how it all works out.
Trout Spey | Trout Spey Background | Trout Spey Gear | Trout Spey Lines | Trout Spey Flies I Proven Emergers | Trout Spey Flies II – Wee Wets & Soft Hackles |Trout Spey Flies III Traditional Streamers | Trout Spey Flies IV – Fly Durability |Trout Spey Casts | Understanding Spey Casting