Spring is normally an unreliable time of the year in regard to weather conditions and river levels. But already this year is feeling different.

Carl McNeil of Wanaka delivers a long cast to a cruiser on the edges of Lake Hawea

For me, for the first time in a few years I'm really looking forward to the summer's fishing ahead. I've already had a few nice days chasing recovering fish along lake edges and with the settled weather I'm pretty sure we're going to be in for a great opening on the rivers.

Spring's a great time for targeting recovering fish along lake margins

With the changes in the worlds economy over the past two years there are not many of us who haven't had a lot to take our minds of our fishing, enough at least to stop us from really enjoying a day on the water. I'm not trying to get into a financial debate here. The underlying comment is really, spring is here and we are in for a great summer ahead. If you're reading this from the northern hemisphere then I suggest you plan yourself a winter holiday downunder and book one of our great guides to give you an experience of a lifetime. This is going to be the year!

Misty spring mornings are hard to beat, stick to dark indicators that show up in the shine

One thing is for sure it's time to air out the waders and make sure your tackle is all in order for another great New Zealand summer.

Even early season fish are happy to look up for a dry fly if it's presented well, so make sure your casting is on the button

Here are a few thoughts about how to get your kids into fly fishing without driving yourself or them nuts.

1. Time frame

Make sure when you head out, it's only for a short time frame. A dawn to dusk rampage won't have them coming back for more. Make sure the time is kept to just a few hours and that you are always active and engaging.

Mike and Matty Davis spend an afternoon on a lowland river.

2. Comfort

Ok, so you might be the comando warrior who can fish in any conditions to get the results, but for your kids to enjoy themselves they are best kept warm, dry and happy. So with that in mind pick a fair weather day to start them off and make sure they have enough warm clothes to get them through the session.

Matty Davis - Warm, happy and "out there doing it"

3. Easy River

Choose an easy river to fish, somewhere preferably where the current isn't raging right up against the bank and where it's easy to walk. A lowland river will most likely be a better choice than a high gradient high country river.

Many lowland rivers offer easy access along with great fishing.

4. Explain what you are doing

As fishermen it's so easy to take the little things we do for granted. When you're teaching someone else to fish, it's critical that you explain everything in a step by step manner so they understand exactly what you are doing.

It helps when your dad is one of the countries leading fly fishing instructors.

5. Fish one rod between you

The best way to fish together is to share one rod between you. That way you can work as a team spotting fish, getting the right drift and then playing and landing and photographing your prize.

By fishing one rod between two you can often enjoy the experience even more.

6. Find some suitable tackle

Kids require rods with smaller handles and a shorter length to enable them to cast effectively. A rod like the new Airflo Brookie at 7'9" will be easy to handle and will make the whole fly fishing casting experience more achievable and fun.

Designed for kids ......... but perfect for anyone looking for a rod with slimmer handles and a smooth casting blank.

I get asked about Spey casting a lot these days and there is certainly and upweling of interest in this great part of the sport now here in New Zealand. The problem most anglers have is where to start. So here's a few pics and a few thoughts where to start with Spey rods.

If you didn't get a chance to see the articles I wrote on the topic for Fish and Game Magazine last year then you can check them out here;

Dealing with Double Handers Part 1

Dealing with Double Handers Part 2

Firstly where to start? I'm of the opinin that if you have the money and are really wantign to get into Spey casting then it's a good idea to bite the bullet and buy yourself a true Spey rod. For New Zealand a rod between 12'6 and 14' for a #7 or 8 line is perfect. These rod will handle big trout and salomon whilst still having enough feel to enjoyably fish for smaller trout around the country. The rod I fish is a 13'6 #7 Scott T2H, a slightly cheaper alternative (and also a nice rod) is the Scott A3 13' #8.

Full Spey Line, Skagit or European? There are really three different types of Spey casting and Spey lines. Without going into it here (read the articles for a full break down) what I recommend is that if you really want to learn properly how to do all of the casts well then start with a full floating Spey line like the Airflo Delta Spey. Then when it comes to fishing I tend to use and recommend a Skagit set up. What you do is put a running line onto your reel and then loop onto this a Skagit head. The skagit head is floating and only 24 feet long. The idea is that that Skagit head sits back in a D-Loop and loads the long rod. Off the end of the Skagit head you then put either a custom cut tip (which can be shortened to suit the water you tend to fish) or a sinking Polyleader.

Here's a pic of me casting a 13'6 Scott T2H on the Tongariro with an Airflo Skagit line. Note the wedge shaped D-Loop loading the rod.

The foward cast shoots through, note the bright green skagit head is easily carrying the heavy 200 grain custom tip with a clean and steady loop.

So what's a Switch Rod? A Switch rod is simply a rod that can be cast either single hand or two handed. Ie you can Switch from single to two hand. These rods are generally 10'6" to 11'6" and are a good introduction to two handers. In NZ if you're wanting a Switch rod for the Tongariro or for chasing sea runs or even Salmon in Canterbury then I think a #8 Switch rod is perfect. I fish an 11' #8 Scott A3 Switch rod.

To get people started with Spey I've designed a new Airflo Switch rod. These are 11'0" #8 4pc and retail at $299 for the rod or we've packaged them with an Explorer reel and a 40+ floating fly line for $499. The idea is to fish sinking Polyleaders off the end of the 40+, the 14' extra super fast leaders are good for deep pools but you could drop back to a 5' or 10' leader in shallower water. These sets can also be teamed up with a 390grain Skagit head which would a slightly more expensive set but would handle heavier tips for really deep work.

Can I Nymph with a Spey Rod? Full length Spey rods are clumsy for nymphing so if you are wanting to do a bit of nymphing with the rod then you are best opting for a Switch rod. In saying that both Switch and full Spey rods are best fished with a sink tip and wet fly. I tend to swing big rabbit flies like our Bunny Leech or a Woolly Bugger type pattern.

This week I popped down to Turangi and caught up with a couple of friends Greig Cousins and Simon Chu to fish the Tongariro Delta.

We'd heard that the tongariro river had been fishing fairly slowly so figured the fish must be stacking up at the river mouth......and we were right !

The fish were all in great condition and although not the 5-6lb fish that we'd got so used to in the river four or five years ago, the fish were certainly better than last year. This fish was taken on an Otters Soft Milking Egg Cluster. We fished either Di-7 shooting heads with MRM running lines or 40+ lines in Di-7. On the point we fished floating glo bugs with Otters eggs tied on a dropper half way up the 6 foot leader.

This was a typical fish for the day. We put the sounder on 100m off the mouth and found stacks of fish. Once the river starts to get some colour and increased flows over the next month or so these fish will start to make their way up the river. If you want to keep an eye on how the fishery is going then do what I do and keep an eye on Barry Greigs daily fishing report. Tim who writes the report fishes every morning without fail so this is without question the most reliable source of info on the river.

The central plateau is a stunning part of the country at this time of the year. Here's a shot of Mt Ruapehu in all its splendor.

As I write this it’s persisting down outside.What’s for sure is it suddenly is feeling like winter is setting in. I’m planning a fair bit of fishing over the next few weeks and all I can think of is how I’m going to need to get myself out of summer dry fly mode into getting down and dirty winter mode.

A nice brown trout pulled from dirty water

At this time of the year one of the things I make sure I always have on hand is a fast sinking line (or at least a 10’ Ex Super Fast Polyleader) and a bunch of woolly buggers for when the rivers come up in flood.

Looking at big brown flowing rivers is often off putting as the first thing that comes to mind is how am I going to get fish out of the middle of that. When in fact you’re quite right you’re not going to catch anything out of the middle of a big swollen river, it doesn’t mean that you won’t find fish along the edges of these rivers as the move into quiet water to get away from the flows; here’s a few tips to catching these fish.

The Tongariro River in high flows, the fish haven't dissapeared they just require a fresh approach

1. Don’t be tempted to cast to far, stay focussed on the edge of the river. (ie 1-5 m off the bank).
2. Make sure you control your swing and/or drift in swirly currents along the river edge so the fly doesn’t move too quickly or un-naturally.
3. Try swinging a wetfly under an undercut bank or overhanging branch, often swollen rivers open up new exposed area’s which trout slide into.
4. You could also try a nymph under an indicator, don’t be scared of keeping the leader quite short and work on controlling the drift and taking your time to let an potential fish find your fly.

A winter sunrise in the misty lower Waikato