The analogue by the way in stillwater 'gear' fishing for species such as large mouth bass in north American, is what those chaps call fishing 'flooded bushes'. As the bait fish shoal and gather inland as the reservoir water level rises and pushes across what is normally 'dry land'. The bait shoals go in search of food as well as cover and protection in the flooded vegetation. And baitcasting anglers perfected something called 'flipping bushes'. Winter steelhead fishing is on moving water, but as Ed points out winter steelhead has everything to do with adaptation by an angler, to what happens when water levels rise. To the point at which the fish occupy these margins. What skagit anglers are doing (as a gear angler would see it), is they are flipping and pitching in the bushes. And similarly (where one can bring 'the Kelly Galloup' of it all into this woven narrative), essential to 'flipping and pitching', and to skagit line casting to winter steelhead is the weighted drop of the lure, in close proximity to fish where the are positioned. Flipping and pitching bushes, pioneered years ago by Dave Gliebe from California, is a reactionary bite strategy. Like 'streamer' fly angling is, which is what Kelly often talks of in his seminars. So actually, active retrieve and skagit tactics for winter steelhead are connected in ways that are less than obvious.

I've had to learn how to fish using a bait caster, braid and some leaded jigs, in order that I can train my Dad how to use one. He's caught more salmon than most I've known, with single and two handed rods, but 'age is undefeated'. He's not interested in anything that takes work any more.

Wish I’d caught that on video!!!

@AprilVokey well I was actually hoping to see you catch one as there seem to be a few in that hole and the guy fishing with you hooked 3 I think 🤔 while at the start was just enjoying watch you both fish which was impressive in the conditions. Look forward to seeing you next adventure back here

What I've discovered (when Jeff talked about the heat shrink at connections), I've created a lot of single handed line prototypes. To have a line prototype and cast it on grass, one can use connections that won't even be strong enough to really hold a fish under strain. But prototype or invented lines with connections that are strong enough for simple test casting on grass, and doing overhead casts can be use. I like to use wide open grass spaces, and pretend that some hedgerow or edge, or tree line is my river bank that I'm fishing towards (when shooting some of these prototype lines, you endeavor to test them in tight quarters for shorter distance casts as well as distance casts). And that's where running line selections, running line diameters do matter. With the shorter distance cast, the cast part of it is over quickly, the line lands on the water and you're fishing. So in my case I was trying to invent or design my ideal 'active retrieve' line for a given single handed fly rod. Where you're running line becomes to thin, and head length too short, fior smaller casts (where by definition line handling is important, because with short distance casts you are 'fishing' super quick after that shorter cast, you need a running line that can handle well in your fingers). Equate 'running line' in that circumstance to how bait casting anglers think of reel 'gear ratio'. Gear anglers want reels with different gear ratios, to suit different baits and presentations.

My point is, is that a weird thing happened in test casting prototype fly lines (and on purpose you'd not bother at all to build the prototype lines to have permanently built connections between compinent parts of one's prototype line). The connections needed to be strong enough only to test cast with, on water or on grass. I could physically break my line connections with my hands. As long as the prototype line held together long enough and well enough to test cast with, you could weigh your components separately and together, and 'log' this data. And then test a selection of prototype lines using different single handed rods. Make no mistake, this is not a fast activity, be preparedfor a lot of boring, laborious and scientific or engineering math type of work. It's time consuming. But what it did was to enable me for once not just to imagine different types of line for my single handed rods, but to 'experience' them on a limited trial or test basis. What was shocking to me about this research, is that line, rod and individual caster are three set variables. And if you altered any one of those variables, a balance that had functioned a minute ago, could be lost a minute later.

For example, I had an eight foot rod, and an eight foot six inch rod. Both of these rods were marked 'eight weight'. Both rods were from the same maker of rod, same rod product line. Yet, the eight foot rod was softer action and 'worked' with certain lines, . . which the eight foot six inch fly rod, in the same product line from the same rod maker, could not cast (the 8 ft 6 inch rod could almost throw ten weight RIO outbound saltwater lines, not quite but almost). My eight foot softer action rod could throw a seven weight full floating line with ease. Single handed fly rods are like tuning forks, . . there's a specific line 'build' (and I only discovered it, or finally believed this by building prototype lines), . . that can make that single handed fly rod work perfectly. And if you can away from that magic balance of things, a bit to the left or to the right, you lose this balance completely. It's like tuning a radio to pick up a radio station. One minute you're hearing static noise, the next second you can hear a radio broadcast. You turn the dial too far and you get noise again. This really shocked me. Because I've developed a very personal 'casting technique' from fly fishing for Atlantic salmon over decades with single handed fly rods. If I give a single handed rod and line to another person, who doesn't cast like I do. Chances are, the right balance of things for another person could be different to me. This kind of gob-smacked me. Unless I'd built those line prototypes, and undertaking grass field and plenty laborious water based testing hours of casting, I would nkt have believed this was so. I would have been far less selective about rod, line or casting technique. Than what I know now is possible. The other variable is 'the fly' as mentioned, as we also have big flies, and small. All of it matters.

The 'push' for me, which influenced me to go through this torture, as opposed to just 'going fishing' and being contented, was pro competitive bass anglers. Who often are like golfers on a golf course. Pro bass anglers bring fifty rods and reels, and narrow selection of rod and reel down to a dozen rod and reels for competition. The first obvious thing I learned was river bank wading anglers can't carry a lot of rods. It's not possible to carry that amount of weight more than a few hundred yards (as far as a pond or river pool to do test casting, but no further). So, the other variable is size of river, and water conditions (if water is high, shorter rods and shorter casting may be advantageous). So what I learned having multiple lines and multiple rods, is you cannot carry them all. But you can select one or maybe two rods at the vehicle parking area. Simply leave the rest behind, and having arrived at a river to fish. One is not limited to only selecting a fly lure to tie on. One can choose between different rods and lines, as well as between flies. What it made me realize though, is why Czech nymph systems of fly fishing were invented. Why? Because using small portable boxes of Czech nymph flies, you can change fly weights and target different depth ranges in fishing. The Czech nymph system gives one maximum variability of presentation, and maximum portability combined. The Czech nymph equivalent for streamers does not exist. Except in 'boat' or kayak angling, or some platform to fish from where one can physically accommodate multiple rod, line and bait combinations laid out on a boat deck.

Ironically, a platform which seems restrictive. That is saltwater fly fishing from a pier or jetty platform. Is not that bad. I watch coastal saltwater anglers, and then throw heavy spoons to reach out to fish when the tide is out far. They drop that tackle as the tide approaches and throw one ounce and half ounce jerkbait lures. To target fish as tide nears. And for high tide they may change to soft plastic or top water thrown a short distance, when the fish are almost at one's feet on the shorelines. That in fly fishing terms from a shoreline jetty or such platform. It equates to two handed fly fishing, which is dropped to partake in heavy single handed fly fishing. And you finish using short range fly fishing near the shoreline and breaking surf edge. The advantage of the saltwater jetty as a platform, is you don't have to move position and carry rods. The water and fish move towards you, and you need different tackle anyhow to cater for different distance and depth ranges. Ditto for beaches in saltwater (you'd simply put three rods into three rod stands on the beach and wait for tide to creep towards one). This us where 'Switch' rods would fit in too (the Switch is a lot like that middle distance, ounce down to half an ounce jerkbait lure throwing). The skagit for the longer distance spoon throwing, where fish are out there. And single handed for when fish are literally under your rod tip, and you need to work baits are close quarters better.

Bass After Dark did a recent episode on Crayfish and the hundred or so different species of that freshwater food source throughout the American continent. In reference to the waders, washing up liquid treatment by guides at end of each fishing day. It was gob smacking to learn a bit from the freshwater biologists on an important food source such as crayfish (I think that clouser minnows etc would happen been a good imitation for this food source, or flies like Kelly Galloup featured lately on lake fly fishing, the Denny Rickards types of patterns). Kelly himself did emphasize something else on source of food in rivers, talking to Andy Mill of late on the Mill House series. Western rivers and lakes, and the presence of the midge populations in them. Which kept trout in a feeding behavior through the darkest of winter days. Kelly compared it to Michigan where he'd never seen that. The 'Bass After Dark' crayfish species biologist explained something about smallmouth bass behavior and scientific divers under water (Kelly did a lot of diving underwater with trout), the smallmouth bass figure out scientists are diving on a mission to collect crayfish samples, and they try to rob the samples underwater from the biologists.

Todd Castledine's fish tank feeding examples with bass too demonstrated the aggression levels of these feeding bass, Todd did a series on the subject. He's developed a plethora of different baits (a crankbait type of lure again, Kelly would have studied conventional lure types such as the crankbait, is yet another crayfish forage imitator). And the 'Bass After Dark' freshwater biologist went into some detail on the part of the lifecycle where crayfish grow, and discard the older calcium hard shell amour (leading to yet another 'soft plastic' convential bait imitation used to simulate that stage in the crayfish life by the gear anglers who flip and pitch the shallow water regions, for foraging bass). So angling for full time resident fish species is all about this understanding of food source (even say, in adapted 'two handed' rod fishing styles like 'Trout Spey' angling). Out here on these moon scape kinds of rivers though, that is the one single thing one can be certain about. There is no place for 'crayfish' or food of any description to hide in. Which is why these rivers work as Chinook fisheries. The only option or alternative to fish living out here, on the moonscape, is to run to the saltwater, and then try to run back again using the ice flow water. All the best.

One thing the biologist guest mentioned was the Alabama State, about diversity of food source. Literally a hundred separate species of crayfish in that one State, all with different adaptations to environments (he did briefly mention rivers in Arizona, the Grand Canyon too, which I know the 'Trout UnLimited guests on the Anchored channel lately did talk about). It turns out, in parallel with native, non- native in terms of trout populations, . . that down at the lower level of forage and food source, a whole entire story unfolds across the continent, to do with native, and non- native crayfish movements. The biologists of these freshwater habitats have to imagine and understand what is happening at different levels in this hierarchy, at the same time. Not just the top of the pyramid. What has never been done for these migratory fish river environments, . . what has never been done, is to bring a freshwater biologist from Alabama (100 species of crayfish), to a New Zealand, or to a British Columbia. Why? To simply shock them, when they literally see how sanitized, how devoid of underwater life activity these river environments can be. And further to this point, . . again, biologists from richer, more diverse, food richer habitats should come to British Columbia. Why? To figure out what exactly is supporting smallmouth bass populations which spread across these system, or even resident rainbow trout populations. Those resident fish species are nature's answer to a problem of where the forage base down at the bottom of this pyramid has changed dramatically. To a point to where the habitat can sustain resident populations of bass, trout etc. Iceland as a country is unusual in that respect, as it has rivers and habitats which do it all. Support large resident brown trout, and other systems which don't. In close geographical proximity. The reason why biologists from Florida, Carolina or Alabama never went to the Pacific northwest region is simple, there was little to no overlap in terms of research required. The modern time however, suggests somewhat that this is changing, or it has changed. There are few of those barren, remote, sanitized and clean Chinook New Zealand kinds of habitats remaining. Or a lot less than before.

Not glaciers feed that color is the river clearing after rain up the back. That's the perfect color you see in the video for salmon. The rivers get very clear in the height of summer

@@LarryBlue55 The south island east coast rivers can vary from day to day, they can be unfishable one day and that beautiful blue, as the river drops, but if there's no rainfall on the Southern alps for 2weeks, you can find yourself fishing water so clear you can see the bottom in a 15ft deep hole! But one down pour on the alps and the river resets itself, it's part of the learning process, knowing where and how to fish around incredibly varied flows and conditions. This sometimes means changing rivers, to find fishable conditions, then returning a few days later once conditions have improved.

I am curious if there is a great number of Chinook Salmon that migrate your rivers and how many migrate and the Month of season.

@@LarryBlue55 unfortunately our heydays of good salmon runs and big salmon are a thing of the past. Most of river now only have around 1000 go up to spawn. From November to April but different rivers have runs at different times. We are only allowed to keep to salmon a season. And they are very small fish alot average around 6 lbs

Definitely. It was extremely tricky with a lot of work for (possibly) a fish. I'd do it again because it's so special and makes me feel at home, but it's certainly not the best fit for someone hoping for numbers (Alaska is a better option for that). NZ is just so, so, so incredible.

@AprilVokey you'll get good one one day, just got to one the right bit of river on the right day 👍 Neil's word is literally GOLD, if anyone has done the hours its him 👍

Hi April, I'm heading to South Island to chase trout at the end of Jan 2025. Would love to give the Chinook a try. Is a 7 or 8 wt good? Would also love to try some spey. Any recommendations? I believe you are the guest speaker at the Sydney Fly Rodders Christmas Party this year so hopefully see you there. Lachlan

@@lachlanmaple4868 whilst doable I would not recommend a 7weight single handed for salmon in NZ , lightest I would recommend is #8, but you'll be better served with a #9 weight or #10weight. If you're talking Spey rods, it depends on the river, whilst I've stopped salmon with a 6weight spey on the Waimakariri (I was actually targeting trout) if you fishing the Rakaia think seriously about an 8weight, whilst the average size of NZ kings is down on other years, if you hook a 20lb+ fish your going to feel "under gunned", especially when fishing the big salmon rivers in higher flows. Hope that helps.

@ Thanks so much. I’ll obviously need some beefier rods for my trip!

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