Finding the Best Fly Fishing Spots by Boat
Kiwi ingenuity at its best
11 January 2010
You know how you are always looking for more water, better fishing, less people and the usual wants of the average fly fisher person? Well, we decided to take matters in hand.
It all started when we figured out that there is a lot of water that is rarely fished because you can’t gain access except by going up the actual waterway. We looked around but couldn't find a suitable boat. So Ross the prospective owner and Dave the “can do” guy and me the “she’ll be right“ guy, decided to build one from scratch. So we started a list:
- Had to carry 3 guys
- Had to have shallow water capabilities
- Had to be tough as boots
- Plenty of space.
We ended up with a plan from the US that apparently is very standard there but not at all here. Trouble was it was a plan for a plywood boat and we wanted an alloy boat. So, off to the CAD program guys to convert it from paper to CAD and then into alloy. Sounds easy but it’s not.
With the conversion all done we could now get it cut out. 10 days before Christmas, in Auckland, some how Dave got this done. How, we are still guessing.
We had another minor problem. We only had 3.5 days to assemble and weld the boat as Dave had to be back in Auckland on Sunday night. It usually goes something like this around here. Ross will say, "we can’t build this thing in 3.5 days. Dave will say, "yep, we can do that, it will only take 3 days. I end up saying, “yep don't worry, she’ll be right” as I didn't hear the start, and away we go building madly.
You know, its nearly impossible to work at home without some nosey parker poking his nose in and wrecking the progress. The trouble is that Ross had bought a flash new jet powered outboard and you just had to show anybody around this astounding new thing and the greatest boat to ever grace a New Zealand river.
After 3 days, not 3.5, it was literally in the water. Ross keeps telling us the things he worries about usually don't happen because he has worried about them. So what if there are a couple of bits not on it.
All we had to worry about now was our eyeballs getting dry, as we couldn't blink due to the speed of the thing. And, not sitting in the front casting seat as this causes a minor imbalance and makes the boat tip over the wrong way when turning.Oh, one more thing, I just checked a few pics of US rivers, and they don't seem to have big rocks poking out like our rivers, but she’ll be right!
