# Outdoors > Fishing >  2016 Opening Day

## kiwijames

Who's got big plans for 2016/17 season opening day? 1st October being on a Saturday certainly helps those of us who struggle to get out of the office.
Locally I was hoping to get out up one of our headwaters but that looks pretty slim with the rain forecast. 
Does anyone else have anything exciting planned? Always thought I should try the upper Mohaka up around Oamaru again. Went once out of shear luck and it was beautiful with a good count on fish.

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## P38

@kiwijames

You may miss opening weekend mate

Rains still raining, Rivers are still rising, might take awhile for them to come right.

Cheers
Pete

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## Dchild

Be heading to the Rotorua lakes, should be good

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## hotbarrels

:Wtfsmilie:  So when did that happen?????  I thought opening day was the first Saturday in May!!

Bloody hell, I need to get the decoys out and paint them, get the mason bees out of the caller, load some more ammo, check the outboard on the dingy, prep the maimai ........
So much to do in such little time!

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## Dundee

Some lucky buggers are in with a chance to win 10k :Wtfsmilie:   I will be fishing our local river if it clears up,no money in it for me.


10k ‘green tag’ trout now ‘out there somewhere’
Somewhere in one of three Rotorua lakes is a fish that can net you $10,000 – and “all you have to do is catch it…”
Fish & Game officers say they’ve “done the hard yards” getting ready for the Fish for Gold promotion which puts a $10,000 prize up for grabs as the new fishing season gets underway on October 1, 2016.
Fish & Game Officer Mark Sherburn says the 30 green tagged fish at the centre of the promotion were released last Wednesday in bleak, cold and rainy conditions.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact that the 30 green tag fish have been put, ten apiece, into lakes Tarawera, Rotoiti and Okataina.
“It was quite an operation that involved transporting fish in our live trout truck and the transferring them to our runabout, into an oxygenated plastic tank, for the trip out into the lake.”
But Mr Sherburn says that “naturally we won’t be giving out any further details of the release places, but let’s just say you won’t catch one sitting at home!.”
Anglers will know immediately if they catch one, he adds, as the green tags are prominent and the fish are healthy specimens around 35-45cm long.
Numbers on the tags correspond to prizes contained in sealed and numbered envelopes and one of them contains the grand prize of $10,000. 
The other envelopes each contain a $200 tackle or voucher prize, “so every qualifying angler who returns with a Fish for Gold green tag will win a prize, even if it’s not the big one.”
Mr Sherburn says anglers and families who are planning to fish any of the three lakes from opening on, are urged to “enter and have a go” as they have nothing to lose and entries are completely free
“There’s still time to enter as entries don’t close until September 30 and although we are only accepting the first 1200 entries, we are still some way off that figure.
“Our hope that Fish for Gold will stoke up the fun and excitement factor, and build some suspense around ‘will I catch a 10k fish?.’ ” 
Mark says that because the October 1 Opening Day falls on a Saturday Fish & Game expects a strong turnout of fishers, especially if the weather plays ball.
“Our officers and helpers will be out in force as usual”, he says, “and we traditionally talk to around 1000 anglers on the three most popular lakes – Tarawera, Rotoiti and Okataina”.
FURTHER INFORMATION 
Fish & Game Officer Mark Sherburn 
Tel 07- 357 5501

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## bomber

Just another normal day on the river down here..like @P38 says need a few good days with no rain 

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## kiwijames

> @kiwijames
> 
> You may miss opening weekend mate
> 
> Rains still raining, Rivers are still rising, might take awhile for them to come right.
> 
> Cheers
> Pete


Still got Taupo and Rotorua as options and Im not on call so could do a trip up North. Been meaning to try Flaxy and Wheo canals too so could be an option?

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## kiwijames

> Just another normal day on the river down here..like @P38 says need a few good days with no rain 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk



Our rivers don't normally look like dairy shed run off.

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## veitnamcam

Where is the Nelson lakes release and prizes?

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## kiwijames

> Where is the Nelson lakes release and prizes?


By licence numbers and angler hours Tasman district qualify for 0.04 trout.

You're welcome  :Wink:

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## veitnamcam

> By licence numbers and angler hours Tasman district qualify for 0.04 trout.
> 
> You're welcome


Exactly! why buy a licence when you get nothing for it!

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## P38

@kiwijames

Head for Rotoiti, Tarawera, or  Okataina ..... You could be $10k better off  :Have A Nice Day:  

Fish for Gold


And take some Islay single malt for @Gapped axe  :Thumbsup: 


Cheers
Pete

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## Gapped axe

Intend to paddle board for the first part of the morning then jumping on clients boats for Whiskys/I mean fishing. I don't range over this day just enjoy myself with friends and clients. The night before I'm pretty busy with drunks. illegal fires, guys who think there're tough, the odd idiot in a  boat, not counting domestics, and opportunist thieves . So roll on Saturday morning.

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## kiwijames

> Exactly! why buy a licence when you get nothing for it!


Odd logic. Have yet to get a free lottery ticket by getting rego on my truck either  :Sad: 

Maybe visit F&G website to see what I get for MY licence. 
Im pretty happy at that, plus I get to fish at around $2-3/kg for fresh fish. YMMV

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## kiwijames

> @kiwijames
> 
> Head for Rotoiti, Tarawera, or  Okataina ..... You could be $10k better off  
> 
> Fish for Gold
> 
> 
> And take some Islay single malt for @Gapped axe 
> 
> ...


I don't share Islay whisky, and I prefer something a bit more stimulating than lolling around on a boat dredging for trout.

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## P38

> I don't share Islay whisky, and I prefer something a bit more stimulating than lolling around on a boat dredging for trout.


Then I suggest you take some good looking babes with you ......... Won't be much lolling around happening then.  :Wink: 

And if there is its sure to be stimulating  :Have A Nice Day: 

Cheers
Pete

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## veitnamcam

> Odd logic. Have yet to get a free lottery ticket by getting rego on my truck either 
> 
> Maybe visit F&G website to see what I get for MY licence. 
> Im pretty happy at that, plus I get to fish at around $2-3/kg for fresh fish. YMMV


You get roads bridges and traffic lights for rego on your truck, you get released fish and managed fisherys and apparently up to a ten grand prize for your licence fee.

You say Tasman has a low licence buy up I say of course it is low! There is no stocking no competitions why the hell would you buy a license ? To fund somewhere elses fishery you may never visit let alone fish?

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## Dundee

> Our rivers don't normally look like dairy shed run off.


Ours aren't named after shit dog :Grin:  And our water is drinkable :Psmiley:

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## BRADS

> Ours aren't named after shit dog And our water is drinkable
> Attachment 56446


Bro your river is the most polluted in the southern hemisphere last time i checked.

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## Dundee

> Bro your river is the most polluted in the southern hemisphere last time i checked.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


Downstream from the towns and cities maybe

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## P38

> Bro your river is the most polluted in the southern hemisphere last time i checked.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


Heart stoppingly polluted in fact 

So much so that a Man would almost be afraid to cross it  :Wink: 

Cheers
Pete

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## Gapped axe

Do what P38 says, and take some refreshments for old GA

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## P38

> Do what P38 says, and take some refreshments for old GA


And some babes  :Have A Nice Day:

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## veitnamcam

> And some babes


Jeeze this trout fishing is really getting into rich mans sport now!

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## Gapped axe

yup and some of those to, I will take them fushing.

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## bomber

> Bro your river is the most polluted in the southern hemisphere last time i checked.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk


Grows plenty of nice trout tho...no problems drinking out of it up from the Te Apiti Gorge 

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## kiwijames

> So when did that happen?????  I thought opening day was the first Saturday in May!!
> 
> Bloody hell, I need to get the decoys out and paint them, get the mason bees out of the caller, load some more ammo, check the outboard on the dingy, prep the maimai ........
> So much to do in such little time!


Posted in the Fishing section for a reason

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## hotbarrels

> Posted in the Fishing section for a reason


Who searches the forum by 'section' .......... I always hit the 'new posts' button and read them all ...........  :Have A Nice Day: 
PS: In case it wasn't obvious, I was taking the piss, at my own expense.  :Thumbsup: 

The Mohaka up around the Oamaru is a stunning piece of water.  We used to river raft it every year, flying into the Oamaru by fixed wing and lug all our gear down to the river, spend 10 days rafting, shooting and fishing our way to the bridge on the Taupo Napier road where we would pull out.
Last time in there a fair few years ago I was stalking a trout with the fly rod and had my rifle over my shoulder [just in case].  The rifle was hindering me so I took it off and put it on the river bank.  I kept stalking and presenting a fly to the trout, ending up standing in the middle of the river.  Heard a splash behind me, turned around, and bugger me but 3 hinds were crossing the river no more than 40m behind me.  Fly rod in hand I watched them cross the river and disappear into the scrub on the other side.  Turned back to the trout and he had disappeared as well.

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## P38

> Who searches the forum by 'section' .......... I always hit the 'new posts' button and read them all ........... 
> PS: In case it wasn't obvious, I was taking the piss, at my own expense. 
> 
> The Mohaka up around the Oamaru is a stunning piece of water.  We used to river raft it every year, flying into the Oamaru by fixed wing and lug all our gear down to the river, spend 10 days rafting, shooting and fishing our way to the bridge on the Taupo Napier road where we would pull out.
> Last time in there a fair few years ago I was stalking a trout with the fly rod and had my rifle over my shoulder [just in case].  The rifle was hindering me so I took it off and put it on the river bank.  I kept stalking and presenting a fly to the trout, ending up standing in the middle of the river.  Heard a splash behind me, turned around, and bugger me but 3 hinds were crossing the river no more than 40m behind me.  Fly rod in hand I watched them cross the river and disappear into the scrub on the other side.  Turned back to the trout and he had disappeared as well.


I'd love to do a trip like that.

When I was a teenager we flew into Boyd an drafted down to kuripaponga.
That was an awesome trip too.

Cheers
Pete

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## hotbarrels

> I'd love to do a trip like that.
> 
> When I was a teenager we flew into Boyd an drafted down to kuripaponga.
> That was an awesome trip too.
> 
> Cheers
> Pete


My dad had one of the very first AVON river rafts imported into the country 40 years ago through the AVON agents at the time, just before river rafting in NZ took off.  I can remember that it cost almost as much as a new Kingswood in the day.  Had a 1,000kg pay load so as you can imagine, you lived like kings for 10 days.  Even took real spuds with us instead of flaky potato, and a cast iron camp oven!

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## bigbear

i didnt bother to get a licence this year. sort of glad i didnt with the rain we getting on the east coast at the moment. the river down the road from where i live will be out for weeks now another heavy rain warning for as tonight

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## kiwijames

> i didnt bother to get a licence this year. sort of glad i didnt with the rain we getting on the east coast at the moment. the river down the road from where i live will be out for weeks now another heavy rain warning for as tonight


They do last a whole year. Don't give up just yet

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## veitnamcam

> i didnt bother to get a licence this year. sort of glad i didnt with the rain we getting on the east coast at the moment. the river down the road from where i live will be out for weeks now another heavy rain warning for as tonight





> They do last a whole year. Don't give up just yet


Yea you gotta pay for James's releases and prizes  :Grin:

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## kiwijames

> Yea you gotta pay for James's releases and prizes


Yep, going to fish the Napier end of lake Tarawera  :Wtfsmilie:  Looking for a big prize.

You should fish the Nelson end of Lake Okataina.

No releases here bro (except Tutira, which is fucked again from eutrophication). All self sustaining, and still a world class fishery (not unlike a number of rivers and streams around Nelson).

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## kiwijames

> Yea you gotta pay for James's releases and prizes



Oh, and I've been a licence holder for the last 30+ years. I have the right to moan, unlike someone else.

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## veitnamcam

> Oh, and I've been a licence holder for the last 30+ years. I have the right to moan, unlike someone else.


That there attitude is exactly the problem with Fish and Game and to a lesser extent but still the same the NZDA  :Slow:  :Slow:  :Slow:

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## kiwijames

> That there attitude is exactly the problem with Fish and Game and to a lesser extent but still the same the NZDA


You lost me there.
F&G and NZDA should function completely out of their own pockets to assist people who choose to not support them?
Or is it that I expect the organisations I pay for, and vote for councillors to represent me is unfair on those who choose just to sit on the sideline and whinge?

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## Gapped axe

Used to do hunting and Fishing trips in the Upper Mohaka for clients in the early eighties. Great fun and lots of fish, not so much deer as the Chopper were flying then. The odd wild sheep though and a shit load of goats. Fucking big eels as well.
Caught a nice 4 1/2 lb fresh hen last nite. sitting in lemon juice now and will be made into Ika Mata tonite. Orange flesh trout make's the best raw fish, as it has a good oil content.

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## Gapped axe

Also, I once ran an Oar boat from Rabbits bridge to the Te Hoe conference on a live goat catching session, that was not such a good trip as my pig dogs were stock proof. How ever we caught enough to make the trip profitable, but a oncer.  The Oar boat I also ran on the Motu. Visions of Grand Canyon rafting I guess.  My brother had spent a season working there and came back with the ideas.

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## JoshC

Lining up a nice wee bush river I know hardly gets fished for this opening. Had a f-up this morning, rod was in my truck and closed the door on it snapping it in two! Bloody expensive one too. Will have to go buy another today.

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## kiwijames

> Lining up a nice wee bush river I know hardly gets fished for this opening. Had a f-up this morning, rod was in my truck and closed the door on it snapping it in two! Bloody expensive one too. Will have to go buy another today.


Was going to "like" that until I read you snapped your rod.

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## oraki

[QUOTE=Tussock;520797]Central South Island. No Fish n Game to speak of, trout, salmon, ducks absolutely everywhere else in good numbers.

Agree. There's no fish or game in CSI. So all you newbys and out of towners, just move on to somewhere else. The rivers have Didymo, if the water is even flowing, the lakes are stagnic cesspits............
Move on nothing to see around here
That should see me set up for opening nicely

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## kiwijames

[QUOTE=oraki;520896]


> Central South Island. No Fish n Game to speak of, trout, salmon, ducks absolutely everywhere else in good numbers.
> 
> Agree. There's no fish or game in CSI. So all you newbys and out of towners, just move on to somewhere else. The rivers have Didymo, if the water is even flowing, the lakes are stagnic cesspits............
> Move on nothing to see around here
> That should see me set up for opening nicely


Isn't one of our members a F&G councillor for Southland.

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## Dundee

[QUOTE=kiwijames;520898]


> Isn't one of our members a F&G councillor for Southland.


 @Mike H

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## Dchild

Best we got today was 60cm jack on Lake Tarawera

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## Boaraxa

Hi guys 
Opening weekend , fizing with excitement round here/school holidays off to the shop on Friday to get a couple of new rods, gear , licence etc thought we where all set got over to the pommy Friday arvo & shock horror the river was turd brown !! yet we haven't had barely enough rain to wet the drive in 3 weeks so opted for another plan carried on north for the clutha , really nice place to camp though there was plenty of lightning & thunder way in the distance didn't worry us to much though as we had enough time to light the fire cook tea & get some milk worms , pluss plenty of fish were rising rite infront of camp , the girls were at me to put the rods in but iv gone soft these days "didn't want to break the rules" so we settled on a few bourbons instead & went to bed.

Alarm set for 7 woke upto no rain or wind but very disappointed the river was dirty still the girls wernt to worried still having fun so cooked breke , tossed the lines in but I wasn't surprised that we had no bites so I suggested we go back to another spot downstream that mite not be flooded (sidestream) so the youngest started winding in her rod & bingo a fish grabed it ..only small but it was her first so we were very pleased  :Have A Nice Day: .
next we setup in the side creek that was running clear managed onemore a bit bigger than the first & the bonus was it was the other daughter that caught it so all was well in the world again  :Thumbsup:  .

Hope everyone else had a good weekend.Cheers.

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## veitnamcam

Milkworms?

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## Boaraxa

> Milkworms?

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## veitnamcam

> Attachment 56684


fatties!

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## JoshC

Our opening went good. Started by taking a mates two boys out for a hunt, shot a couple of spikers. Then fishing a nice piece of water that rarely sees fishermen. I managed 5 between 3 & 5lb and Tim nabbed 8 between 1 & 4lb for the day. Weather was primo.
















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## veitnamcam

> My new worm harvesting technique is to short an electric fence into the ground then pick them up.


you dont even need to do that when it is nice and wet like it is at the mo, bury a garden fork into the ground upto the hilt and jiggle the handle backwards and forwards gently. Works suprprisingly well.

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## kiwijames

> Our opening went good. Started by taking a mates two boys out for a hunt, shot a couple of spikers. Then fishing a nice piece of water that rarely sees fishermen. I managed 5 between 3 & 5lb and Tim nabbed 8 between 1 & 4lb for the day. Weather was primo.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cut it out. Still bloody raining here ☹️

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## JoshC

> Cut it out. Still bloody raining here ☹️


We've had a ripper Spring in Southland so far. Got a couple of thunder storms and isolated showers in weekend but before that around six weeks without rain. Great doing stuff outdoors weather 


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## Sparrow

Ultimately some team work led to this one firstly, he walked the 3 1/2 K to set up camp with a pack on in some pretty sticky stuff, i hooked it he played it with a lot of grunting for a good 5 minutes before handing me back the rod before yelling i'm going to get the net and taking off, the most aggressive heart stopping display of netmanship followed before i could calm him down enough to slip the net under her.  I have never enjoyed catching a trout as much as that one or heard " its a good fish eh dad" repeated as many times as much in an hour. He caught a small one by himself in the morning and was good enough to let me net it for him.Unforgettable

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## puku

> Attachment 56746Ultimately some team work led to this one firstly, he walked the 3 1/2 K to set up camp with a pack on in some pretty sticky stuff, i hooked it he played it with a lot of grunting for a good 5 minutes before handing me back the rod before yelling i'm going to get the net and taking off, the most aggressive heart stopping display of netmanship followed before i could calm him down enough to slip the net under her.  I have never enjoyed catching a trout as much as that one or heard " its a good fish eh dad" repeated as many times as much in an hour. He caught a small one by himself in the morning and was good enough to let me net it for him.Unforgettable


Awesome man, good memories for time to come. And a bloody nice fish to boot

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## Dundee

I had a flick but still dirty today. :Grin:

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## Boaraxa

Hi guys 
Opening weekend , fizing with excitement round here/school holidays off to the shop on Friday to get a couple of new rods, gear , licence etc thought we where all set got over to the pommy Friday arvo & shock horror the river was turd brown !! yet we haven't had barely enough rain to wet the drive in 3 weeks so opted for another plan carried on north for the clutha , really nice place to camp though there was plenty of lightning & thunder way in the distance didn't worry us to much though as we had enough time to light the fire cook tea & get some milk worms , pluss plenty of fish were rising rite infront of camp , the girls were at me to put the rods in but iv gone soft these days "didn't want to break the rules" so we settled on a few bourbons instead & went to bed.

Alarm set for 7 woke upto no rain or wind but very disappointed the river was dirty still the girls wernt to worried still having fun so cooked breke , tossed the lines in but I wasn't surprised that we had no bites so I suggested we go back to another spot downstream that mite not be flooded (sidestream) so the youngest started winding in her rod & bingo a fish grabed it ..only small but it was her first so we were very pleased  :Have A Nice Day: .
next we setup in the side creek that was running clear managed onemore a bit bigger than the first & the bonus was it was the other daughter that caught it so all was well in the world again  :Thumbsup:  .

Hope everyone else had a good weekend.Cheers.

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## veitnamcam

Milkworms?

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## Boaraxa

> Milkworms?

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## veitnamcam

> Attachment 56684


fatties!

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## JoshC

Our opening went good. Started by taking a mates two boys out for a hunt, shot a couple of spikers. Then fishing a nice piece of water that rarely sees fishermen. I managed 5 between 3 & 5lb and Tim nabbed 8 between 1 & 4lb for the day. Weather was primo.
















Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## veitnamcam

> My new worm harvesting technique is to short an electric fence into the ground then pick them up.


you dont even need to do that when it is nice and wet like it is at the mo, bury a garden fork into the ground upto the hilt and jiggle the handle backwards and forwards gently. Works suprprisingly well.

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## kiwijames

> Our opening went good. Started by taking a mates two boys out for a hunt, shot a couple of spikers. Then fishing a nice piece of water that rarely sees fishermen. I managed 5 between 3 & 5lb and Tim nabbed 8 between 1 & 4lb for the day. Weather was primo.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cut it out. Still bloody raining here ☹️

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## JoshC

> Cut it out. Still bloody raining here ☹️


We've had a ripper Spring in Southland so far. Got a couple of thunder storms and isolated showers in weekend but before that around six weeks without rain. Great doing stuff outdoors weather 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Sparrow

Ultimately some team work led to this one firstly, he walked the 3 1/2 K to set up camp with a pack on in some pretty sticky stuff, i hooked it he played it with a lot of grunting for a good 5 minutes before handing me back the rod before yelling i'm going to get the net and taking off, the most aggressive heart stopping display of netmanship followed before i could calm him down enough to slip the net under her.  I have never enjoyed catching a trout as much as that one or heard " its a good fish eh dad" repeated as many times as much in an hour. He caught a small one by himself in the morning and was good enough to let me net it for him.Unforgettable

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## puku

> Attachment 56746Ultimately some team work led to this one firstly, he walked the 3 1/2 K to set up camp with a pack on in some pretty sticky stuff, i hooked it he played it with a lot of grunting for a good 5 minutes before handing me back the rod before yelling i'm going to get the net and taking off, the most aggressive heart stopping display of netmanship followed before i could calm him down enough to slip the net under her.  I have never enjoyed catching a trout as much as that one or heard " its a good fish eh dad" repeated as many times as much in an hour. He caught a small one by himself in the morning and was good enough to let me net it for him.Unforgettable


Awesome man, good memories for time to come. And a bloody nice fish to boot

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

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## Dundee

I had a flick but still dirty today. :Grin:

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