A more careful approach…
Robbie Mcphee and myself have a similar physical approach to a river. We go hard all day and try to see as much country as we can, fishing as we go. On the rivers where the going is difficult with obstacles such as boulders, gorges, cliffs and whatever else we tend to take them on without much thought. Big jumps, risky climbs and generally launching ourselves at the obstacle is the order of the day, especially if there is a fish in sight. Every day has it’s tumbles and we usually have a bruise or a scratch at the end of the day. On Saturday, as Robbie launched himself into position to take on a fish, he slipped and banged his knee, just like he did “100 times before”. He knew he did some damage but continued. We climbed over a steep hill to access more water and by the time we got back down the other side Robbie’s knee was a lot worse. We continued, but not for much longer. The pain became too much to bare so we had to get out. We had to climb to a nearby road and by this time the pain was excruciating. I went and got the truck as Robbie waited for me in a cave and tried to stay warm on a cold and wet day. By then walking was all but impossible. I took him to A&E in Gore where he was x-rayed. No brake. That was almost a week ago and he and his doctor are still trying to figure out the problem. I’m going to take a lesson from this. Less jumps, My knees are still good but not perfect so I’ll try to keep them that way. I will generally take more care on the rivers. That’s the plan anyway.
Day 1, Fishing with Robbie. A red letter morning! Heaps of fish out feeding and we caught 13.
Day 2, Fishing the secret dam with Kevin. We had 7, Some amazing moments with superb fish.
Day 3, Fishing alone. I wanted to see what Robbie and I missed out on on Saturday. I had 8 but only one after where we finished.
Another weekend has just landed and I have no plan as yet.. Beer maybe.
Ronan..
- I was running a little late but had to stop to photograph this..
- Robbie into the first of the day..
- Off the mark..
- The fish were out, hard on the fin..
- A solid fish blind from a deep eye..
- 5.5
- Robbie’s first day of the season!
- One for Robbie on his chartreuse rubber legs
- I had 20 for the long weekend… but I caught this one 3 times! Before and after lunch on Saturday and again on Monday afternoon. I thought he looked familiar so i took a pic which proved my suspicion..
- Lunch time!
- Well bent into a good fish..
- After this Robbie’s knee gave him hell after an earlier fall..
- In excruciating pain, he climbed out to a nearby road..
- I drove him to A&E in Gore.. Its not broken but whatever it is , it must be pretty serious.
- Day 2.. The secret dam.. Kevin had this fish and a few others.
- At least 6lbs of perfection..
- This fish was one of the fattest I’ve ever caught!
- On Saturday, Robbies injury cut the day short. I wanted to see what the river had to offer farther up. Not much as it turned out!!!
- This fish was hard out nymphing just below the surface..
- 3rd time unlucky!
- Beautiful water but few fish…
- A healthy clutch of duck eggs!
- I had 8 of these on day 3. I walked about 18ks return.
- Plenty history around Otago…
- A great place to be alive!
- What a pool! Deep and dark.
- Not many fish here but I didn’t care..
- I got pretty close to a couple of deer on the way out.. The reddish colour in the right foreground is a deer too.
- They stopped to look back at me before disappearing into the bush..
- A big day. I left it all on the river!!