Fly Fishing with the AFAC: “You can’t miss it”

Once upon a time, I spent one of the most memorable fishing trips together with the Auckland Freshwater/Fly Fishing Angler’s Club (AFAC).

AFAC

In 2015, during my time in New Zealand, I was landlocked in Auckland due to the language school I attended. In order to get to know like-minded people and because I am an advocate of fishing in company, I joined the Auckland Freshwater/Fly Fishing Angler’s Club. The AFAC offered me the opportunity, to explore rivers on their monthly trips and meet many astute fly anglers from whom I learnt a lot. If you want to know more about fly fishing in New Zealand check out this post here!

The Ride

This trip brought the club to the north-eastern part of the North Island about a 5 hour drive from Auckland. Given the distance, we stayed for 3 days. However, how to get there was not as straight forward. We had organised carpools to travel together and I met another new member, who was originally from the U.S. He picked me up and it soon became apparent that our political views did not match exactly to say the least, so I opted to circumvent this topic to have a pleasant drive.

Fishing Trip November 2015

Neither of us had been to this place before, hence we both had no clue where to go. We managed to find the wide gorge, through which the street led. Yet, it was beyond us to find the right turn. Arriving at a dead end surrounded by forest, there was a small sailing ship, which looked totally out of place. Next to it there was a tiny hut, where I knocked at the door asked for advice to find the farm stay. The old man told me the directions and added: “You can’t miss it!”

Eventually we reached the main hut of the farm stay, where most of the other anglers had already arrived. After a brief casting session, we went to another hut to deposit our belongings. According to Ian, president of the AFAC: “You can’t miss it.” Well, we did.

Returning to the main hut, we split into groups to go fishing. After a brief instruction with the local guide, we agreed on meeting down by the river, which we could not miss. Nevertheless, we somehow took the wrong turn or did not drive far enough and ended up at another river above the confluence. Slightly disillusioned about my lacking ability to understand the NZ directions, we just went fishing and had a blast.

Auckland Freshwater/Fly Fishing Anglers Club (AFAC)

I seriously struggled a lot with the directions given in New Zealand, nonetheless I am looking forward to going back again. Furthermore, I really loved the camaraderie among the members of the AFAc regardless of the age difference and me not being a Kiwi. The fishing was great, and I even received some flies as a present for catching the largest fish of the trip. Moreover, I was introduced the very first time to European-nymphing by a fellow angler, called Philip, who caught an impressively huge number of trout.

Thanks to the AFAC for such a memorable trip, which I would not want to miss.