Anglers few, fish elusive, fun aplenty

MARTIN DE RUYTER/Nelson Mail

BROWN BEAUTY: Russell Hooper from Fairbourne Estate in Marlborough with a 2.3kg brown trout caught and released in the Wangapeka River during the One Fly fishing tournament in Nelson this week.

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The weather might be "murder" and the trout few and far between, but this year's annual One Fly fishing tournament has been a blast, says organiser Terry Duval.

The three-day annual fly-fishing competition, held in the region's rivers finishes today and as of this morning, the longest trout caught was a healthy 66cm long, said Mr Duval.

The competition is in its 15th year and attracts anglers from all over the world, but this year only 30 people are competing.

The lower numbers were partly the result of increased airfares which had deterred some American fly fishers, Mr Duval said.

Four anglers from Pennsylvania were due to fly over for the competition, but their flights would have cost more between Pennsylvania and Los Angeles than between Los Angeles and New Zealand, he said.

Fishing guides had told Mr Duval this year's fishing was "very poor" compared with past years. He did not know the reasons behind the low fish numbers, but said it might have something to do with weather patterns and breeding cycles.

The competition's aim is to catch, measure and release as many fish as possible over six hours, finishing at 5pm each day. Points are dished out for fish length.

At the start of each day, a single fly for that particular day and river must be picked, and this is the only fly that can be used for scoring points.

Anglers can choose to fish at the Motueka, Wangapeka or Wairau rivers and all trout are released.

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