What's in the Bag?

Packing your luggage for New Zealand, particularly if you are planning to catch a few fish, take a few pictures and see a penguin (and who doesn't want to see a penguin now that they have ascended to the Marching Happy Feet rock star status), is a matter of what you need, what fits in the bag and how you propose to carry all the stuff. Then you have to go back and unpack the bag that's too full and whittle the contents down to the essential. It's like getting ready for being marooned on a desert island. You need to be a self-sufficient, self contained unit 10,000 miles from home...or do you? In reality, New Zealand is a totally modern country, fully ready to provide for the forgetful adventurer who needs an aspirin or some laundry powder.

After a lot of research, I chose the Chinook Rod and Gear roller bag made by Fishpond http://www.fishpondusa.com/chinook.cfm that has a narrow compartment about 34 inches long under the main compartment that is perfect for carrying up to 4 - 4 piece fly rods in their tubes. Since I was only planning on taking 3, that left room for a light tripod. Traveling alone for a major portion of the trip, I think having a tripod upon which to place the camera will allow me to do self portraits using the time release. There is lots of panoramic scenery in front of which to place myself. Of course, I will also take pictures without obscuring the natural beauty.

The fly rods weights are 5, 6 & 7. The 5 is a Scott A2, a medium fast trout bum kind of rod. Chosen because I belieive the 5 wt will deliver a softer landing for dries at a range up to say 30 yards, this will be my stream and small water rod in New Zealand. I have fished it twice since it was purchased at a good price used on eBay, once on the Eagle River near Edwards, Colorado and later floating the lower Colorado. I was impressed by the feel of the rod and it's delicate mending ability. The medium fast loading speed, however, is taking some getting used to. I am an anxious caster and have a lot of trouble overcoming the bad habit of not letting the rod load up fully on the back cast. To try to break myself of starting the front cast to quickly, I have been practising watching the rod tip load up by looking over my shoulder to see the line straighten out before bringing the rod forward. I also am trying to "feel" the loading and counting. So far so good.

For this 5 wt. rod, I chose to use a Galvan reel. Galvan has a great drag system and I used a borrowed Galvan for part of the day during a trip to Katmai in Alaska in the fall of 2006. http://www.galvanflyreels.com/open_back.html



I have been looking for a Scott 5 weight STS 4 piece, but finding one of those is like looking for a lost dime on a big beach. You know it's there, but where?

The second rod is a Scott 6 weight 4 piece STS for freshwater. What a rod!! It will be the workhorse for the trip. As you might know, in New Zealand, it is SOP to use very muted color fly lines.

For the 6 wt I am using a Ross Evolution 3 with a grey weight forward floating line and a second spool which has a sink tip, just heavy enough to take the fly down in medium fast water quickly enough to present it to some dirfting nymph eaters about 3 feet under the surface.




The 3rd rod is a Winston 7 wt..- a real "western" river gunslinger that can easily hoist a size 8 hopper a good 30 yards into the wind. I hope that I get to fish this guy a few times in big river waters, but certainly my expectation is more intermediate and the 6 wt. will work just fine.

Am I going to carry any flies? Not really. I figure that our guides in New Zealand will know what to throw. Are bugs in New Zealand different from bugs that trout eat in the States? http://www.bestofnzflyfishing.com/flybox/flies.html According to the articles the answer is "yes." I am taking empty fly boxes to New Zealand.

Clothing must be selected, I think, on the basis of utility and comfort rather than style. Light shirts and pants, thick socks and wicking underclothing to provide warmth when wading and still keep the skin comfortable. A couple of baseball caps, more than 1 pair of polaroid glasses or clip ons, a spare wading belt and a simple necklace to hold my forceps and clippers. I have a new Nikon S7C small camera which I am going to keep dry by using a plastic baggy while I fish.

I am going for enough clothing for 7 days and carrying woolite to wash things out as I go along.

Nothing in the checked baggage will be of much value except for the rods. All else will be in my carry on luggage.

Next post will be about photography. Sphere: Related Content