Manic Monday - A Manic Day Out

As much as we all love big, multi-day missions, into the back country. The early mornings, late nights and hours spent behind the wheel, can become a bit tedious. Especially late in the season. A discussion at work, about options closer to home and a change of pace, had Manic’s Cam, Conner and myself heading down to the Waikato region for a quick day trip.

The Scott G Series 4 and 5 weights were loaded into the car and we were off to for an exclusive guided tour of Cam’s old stomping ground. Cam had a self-imposed mission for the day, which was to get an eat on a Lace Moth pattern. He managed to achieve this, with a size 16 Rene's Lace Moth tempting what would have easily been one of the bigger fish seen. However, generally speaking, the fish weren’t exactly smashing dries quite like we had hoped. But a small lightly weighted nymph such as a size 16 GTB Hare & Copper suspended just beneath the dry did the damage on most fish throughout the day.

Some larger fish were seen and hooked but they generally managed to elude the net due to a series of hilarious events including, but not limited to: mediocre presentations, stray-lining inspired hook sets and reels with the handle set up on the wrong side. (Although some would beg to differ).

As per any Manic excursion, there was plenty of banter and a few celebratory frothies. We often drive right past what we have available in our own backyard. It's great to know that there is some world class trout fishing so close to the big smoke. I’m sure a few more day trips will be on the cards in the future.