I cannot believe it is almost March. Weeks have flown by and hints of spring are already in the air. I do not dare say winter is over but a rising river has always been an indication of a season switch to me. I know we are still in for more snow and cold weather but I am okay with that. I recently got to experience one of my favorite features of spring—a raise in the water level beneath Cheesman Reservoir. Below there are some pictures from this trip that Cooper and I enjoyed along with various shots taken throughout this winter season, which may, or may not, be ending. I’ve always found winter fishing to have a what you see is what you get, type of approach so I’ve only included a brief caption with each.
Chris Smith can catch big fish on a 1 wt.
Cooper has been working hard on our new movie.
…and Cheesman can be nice if you pay your dues.
The fish from the previous post are circled above. For all I know there could even be more but these were the ones that I was able to make out. New Zealand is infamous for its low number of fish per mile but this pool definitely was an exception. For another view of the pool check out 1:11 into our New Zealand video (found under the “flicks” page or on the home page), this shot shows the one landed fish from the pool and was filmed just upstream from where the picture was taken. In the shot you can make out a couple of the other fish feeding towards the bottom of the screen as I am casting. This will always be a favorite pool of mine. Not only was it stacked up with fish, but our kiwi friend Gordy had a tent and a bottle of whiskey stashed under some fallen trees along the bank, earning it the name, The Camp Pool. Not to rub in how awesome this pool was but the picture below is of the upstream part of the Camp Pool—literally a section of river forever engraved in my mind and one that I promised myself I will return to at some point.
This is one of the most incredible pools that I have ever been so fortunate to fish. It was located in the backcountry of NZ’s South Island, where the key to spotting fish was finding their shadow’s first. How many fish/shadow pairs can you make out?
(Some extra zooming on the enlarged picture definitely helps)
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