Getting to know Nathan Pollard
How did you first get into fly fishing, and when did you realise you wanted to take it to a competitive level?
My dad introduced me to fly-fishing from a young age, around 7 or 8 years old. It all started at a stocked rainbow pond in the middle of nowhere in South Africa and before I knew it fly fishing took over and I fished every chance I could get. Over the years I caught many fish on fly, Bass, Carp, Yellow fish, Catfish and salt water species – no fish was safe!
At the age of 13/14 I started to compete but never fully grasped the concepts of good drag free dead drifts till I was 16 years old. As I competed more I gained more knowledge and things started to make sense and also started to get more complicated - haha! However the “purist” inside of me, like all fly fisherman, I favoured the dry fly eats and the riverside sunset missions over everything.
I fell in love with competitive fly fishing due to the fact that I was surrounded by like minded people, “crazy people”. These are the people that try to perfect their fishing even though in reality perfection is only a dream, but hey one can dream . However one dream did come true, the dream of flyfishing New Zealand rivers. It didn’t just come true, I moved here! Every day I am grateful for the amazing fishing that New Zealand has to offer. The competition scene in New Zealand is amazing and Sports Fly-Fishing is a great community consisting of some awesome people.
You’re known for being pretty dialled in with Euro nymphing - what is it about that style that clicks with you, and how has it changed the way you fish?
Euro-nymphing, well I’m sure most people have heard of it. It’s a combination of different European style nymphing techniques typically looked at as tight line nymphing. This style of fishing is keeping in contact with your flies with fine leaders. The objective is to get the most natural drift at the right depth where the fish are holding. What makes it so additive for me?
Well I’m not sure myself. But if I had to guess, I look at it like a puzzle, I love trying to figure out the perfect drift. Where I push the limits of fishing super light flies and leader to feel the take, it’s something else I tell ya. The technology these days are just making it better and better every day, for example the new Primal Zone CCC has only improved and is not only more sensitive and responsive but lighter and longer than other models. Why this is important? well it allows me to fish light flies at a distance while keeping in contact and feeling all the takes .
Everyone can euro nymph with heavy flies and tick the bottom, but to effectively Euro-nymph with light flies and light leaders, that’s the challenge! Fishing lighter and changing to the conditions of the river allows you to catch more fish and yes the bigger fish. Big fish are smart, therefore they want the most natural presentation possible and this is why figuring out the perfect weight and drift is so effective. It allows the angler to get in the zone naturally while effectively detecting the strikes.
What’s your game plan when you rock up to a new comp venue (Or piece of water) — what are you looking for, and how do you break down the water?
When arriving at a new piece of water I look for a few things, one is structure, what do the river banks and edges looking like? This will give me a slight idea about the bottom of the river, if the river is weedy I want to be higher in the water column avoiding the weed, if the river is boulder like and fast I want to be heavy and getting down fast. I look for the seem lines and bubble lines this is where the food is and is most likely the area where the fish will be. Another thing is if its early in the morning or late in the evening, where is the sun! This is where the bug life is occurring and the sun is extremely important, more so in some rivers than others. Some comps I’ll fish the not so good looking water first early morning so that when I arrive at my better water later after the sun has had time to shine on it and get the bug life going.
You’ve spent a fair bit of time on the water in all sorts of places. What’s one piece of gear that you would never be without?
I never leave home without my Simms Headwaters chest pack, My euro nymphing reels and rod such as the Lamson Guru E and the New Primal Zone CCC. The river will dictate which Primal Zone CCC I use for the larger river with bigger fish I prefer the Primal Zone CCC in a 4wt 10ft 3in. For the smaller spring creeks where small flies and light tippet is needed I use the 3wt Primal Zone CCC in a 10ft 3in as it protects super fine tippet . Lastly but one of the most important parts is tippet I can trust, and I mean tippet I can depend on when I need to fish light for big fish. That box is ticked by Trout Hunter fluorocarbon or EVO nylon. There are a few reasons for this, their diameter is true so you know what you are fishing and they have a true knot strength. This reassures me of making tactical decision when changing tippet based on the river, because no one like to lose a fish of a life time.
Interview by Ben Munro