Anticipation

Well - first good news, my health has been good. I got the all clear from the doc. No more stones.

A couple of very important dates are looming. The new fishing season is nearly at hand, my birthday isn't far behind and the protest march against a dam all fall in October.

I'm as excited about the new fishing season this year as I always am prior to opening every year. Every season I draw up a mental list of things I want to do that season but don't achieve everything I expected, however I do get surprised when I achieve things I never expected. At the beginning of last season I fished for a couple of days in Southland and although I didn't land any of the fish I hooked, I was overwhelmed by the wealth of fishing down there. I returned to the area with a close mate to finish the regular season coinciding the trip with one of the famous hatches. It was like duffers fortnight in the UK. This season I won't make the opening in Southland mainly due to other committments but I fully intend to explore the area more.


Last season I fished new and unexpected waters, enjoying both the experience and some success. As usual our family camping trips are always located near fishing possibilities so armed with John Kent's guide book I explored a lot of streams in the few hours I was allowed to escape. I have come to the conclusion that a poor review in that popular book isn't a bad thing - people leave those streams alone, so fish grow and aren't too spooked so the streams aren't that bad after all. Fishing such streams have influenced my fly tying, I've gone smaller and generic ending up with another fly box specfically for small streams. And it's influenced my casting - I've concentrated on presentation, drift and drag. This season I hope to get back to those streams, and even explore a couple more.

With my birthday looming I'm aware that it's only the 36 candles which cause the fuss because I'm not all that worried about growing older. I am reminded of the quote by Mark Twain - "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter". Note to any family reading this - Birthdays matter, especially when I receive fishing gear as a present.

The final anticipation is the date for a protest match against the planned damming of a very important local river. The Hurunui Water Project (HWP) plans to build a 75-metre high dam in the south branch of the Hurunui River, creating a 7km-long lake, with about 525ha of the Hurunui's pristine south branch being inundated papers filed with Environment Canterbury show.

Together with a 2nd dam at the outlet of lake Sumner that would raise Lake Sumner's level by up to 3.2m, an extra 138 million cubic metres of water would be stored for irrigation.

Under the plan, up to 32 cubic metres per second of water will be diverted from the Hurunui River into an intake and canal system for irrigation and hydro-power generation.

Dairying now occupies 9 per cent of HWP's irrigable area, but 45 per cent of the land is expected to convert to dairy if the irrigation plan is approved.

Environmentalists are outraged, especially because of a proposed water-conservation order for the Hurunui River. Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said the project "will effectively privatise what is a public resource, which is a wild river, and using the water to carry out a huge dairy conversion in Canterbury".

"The implications are that we will lose one of the last wild rivers," he said.

Despite the massive implications to fishing, kayaking and wildlife, the area will be transformed from a nationally significant, pristine, backcountry resource to an 'irrigation scheme' with roadways and infrastructure that will sour the natural heritage of the park forever.

So I'm urging any anglers out there, anyone who appreciates New Zealand's pristine environment to support the protest. It's already being supported by Fish & Game NZ and we need your support. If you live in NZ and can make it to the protest please come along and march in support. If you can't make it then please visit www.dambusters.co.nz and support the cause.