RE: [VFB] NZ Report - a little long

[Deborah Duran]

I accidentally deleted the trip report can someone resend it to me please? Thank you. Deb   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ian Mitchell Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 6:21 AM To: vfb@troutnet.com Subject: RE: [VFB] NZ Report - a little long   Thanks for the report Michael. I think I mentioned when you were going to take an 8weight rod if you were fishing Lakes (or the Tongariro or did  I forget to say that..). Pretty hard to tame those big fish in that water with a 5 weight... Lessons in big fish.. do not despair.. I lost the first few I hooked... The big fish in NZ will find out all your weaknesses as an angler. Here is what my kiwi mate taught me which helped a lot. (he kept telling me but it wasnt until I had a few bust offs did i really learn...) 1. Always use fresh strong tippet... Minimum tippet strength for the Tongariro would be 6lb . 2. Check your leader and knots regularly. (After a fish, or snag,or  every 15 - 20 mins..) 3. Don't be afraid to apply a lot of pressure to the big fish (see rules 1 and 2..) 4. You do not need a net to land big fish... if you have a nice beach it is safer to beach them 5. Carry a BIG net (I prefer a folding one) .. I lost too many fish with my small net...couldnt get them in to it.... 6. Dont let a fish get too far below you... (see rule 3... ) if it heads downstream .. follow... 7. Dont over tighten drag... have it tight enough to prevent overrruns.. unless you have a large abor reel.. the effective drag increases as the line runs out.. ie drag increases...   PS glad you had some fun.. PPS Best tippet material is a good quality flourocarbon or Maxima nylon... NZ streams can be quite abriasive due to volcanic sand... this puts lots of little nicks in your nylon... the cheaper tippet materails especially double strenght ones fail quickly in these conditions..