Hi Gary,
My wife's turned into a real boerenooi - she's not only made about 3 batches of biltong, but she's also made some boerewors! I'll PM some recipes. NZ might be a bit moist for biltong, but guess you'll have to cure & dry it a bit longer
Greetings,
Well we have been here just over a month and the settling in is going ok.Its having to adjust to new things, and discovering the things you miss. Pick and Pay chocolate ring donuts, biltong?? can anone help me out on how to make my own, its getting desperate. Thankfully we found the local SA shop and stocked up on aromat, so life is good again!!!!
Dargaville. i have to say is tiny, for the Vaalies, Parys would be its equal, its even has its own river but its not fishable.500m wide, no acess points, 2m tidal changes and more muddy than the vaal in flood.the responce to what fish are around is met with a blank stare fit for supermarket teller!!
However the saving grace is a fantastic still water place, kai-iwi lakes.its 35kms form my house so its quick to get to.the lakes are a sandstone bottomed, underground spring fed series of lakes that remain chrystal clear all year round.i can safely say i think i going to have a ball. the odd thing that strikes me here is that virtually anything goes for catching trout. flyfishing, spinning,jigging, harling, trawling and finally livebait. Makes for some interesting chats when you automaticlly assume that all trout fisherman are trout fisherman.
i can finally post to say i have the first fish, our container arives on tuesday so more exploring can now be done from the float tube and sinking lines.
As i have only had one chance to head up a river, i can't really make a judgement call yet. its dissapointing but added to that i was trying in front of a serious cold front. more time to explore later.
In the meantime, i think i might have landed with my bum in the butter.
I can see i will now have to change my signin name to GARYATCDRODS.
based on the contacts we built up in SA, i contacted CD rods when i got a little more organised as fortune would have it. i have been appointed as composite developments agent for the far north region.
CD handle okuma, silstar, western filament, Scierra, ron thompson, flambeau and in addition make their own range of rods from rather nice flyrods to who' your mama offshore beasts.
I now have contacts in the north and south islands for fishing trips. Franklly who said moving to a new country was a difficult thing to do!!!!!!!
Here beach driving is not only accepted but its the favored route to drive down to the mouth of the kaipara harbour 66kms away. i came across a kid racer's car the other day. a toyota cielica trashed in the sand and waves. The local news paper is talking about having speed camera in the beach!!!
So i will now have to get my saltwater fishing skills off the ground and get fishing.i'm playing with an idea, of getting a tinny and remodelling it to suit a flyfishing deck. the boats here are designed around trailing and fighting out the back of their boats. i now need to findout how to get one rebuilt to an almost bass boat layout. Any suggestions??
anyway its good to see all the usual suspects still chattering away.
chat soon
Hi Gary,
My wife's turned into a real boerenooi - she's not only made about 3 batches of biltong, but she's also made some boerewors! I'll PM some recipes. NZ might be a bit moist for biltong, but guess you'll have to cure & dry it a bit longer
Rudolph
No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.
Confucius
Gary
Good to hear that you are finding your feet in the new country.
Korrie Broos
Don't go knocking on Death's door, ring the bell and run like hell. He hates it. (anon)
Nymphing, adds depth to your fly fishing.
Nymphing, is fly fishing in another dimension
Gary,
Good to hear from you, billies is pretty easy to make over there - try the 'silverside' cut of beef - I also made roo biltong but then I was living in Oz. Yes, a cultural change in Australasia having all forms of fishing going side by side - the Kiwis often think of trout as a food fish. At places like Taupo smelting and trolling is the norm and often I found being mostly an upstream nympher on rivers, there would be a tids of downstream wet flyers coming downstream. Usually courtesy and first at pool rules, but things can turn a bit nasty. Especially if you're into fish and guys hear your reel screaming and they come and park themselves right next to or in front of you wading! Viz the Waitahanui estuary where in clement weather and when the fish are guzzling on the smelt blown inshore with the wind the it's wall-to-wall fishers with guys fishing close to the mouth and the 'blueline'...but as usual taking a bit of extra effort to get upstream or into more remote areas will find lesser-fished waters
Anyway keep us posted and all the best with the move and the fishing, and let us know when you've made the first batch of rocksnot Aromat!
LOL
OMR
The more you know, the less you need (Aboriginal Australian proverb)
Only dead fish swim with the stream (Malcolm Muggeridge)
Hi Gary,
Sorry that I missed you in Melbourne. It was a mad week at work, with me working until silly'o clock at nigth... And here was me thinking the auzzies are laid back! Thanks for the "package"! It is still at Pattick's place. This past weekend I fished the upper Goulburn at Woods Point & had some of my best fishing ever. The trout wasn't big, but they were eating everything that I managed to run drag-free past them.
At one small pool there was 3 chaps fishing with live mudeyes (dragonfly nymths) & lures. They had no luck and told me not to bother... I pulled 2 rainbows & a brown from the pool in almost so many casts!!
Anyway, have fun and hopefully next time you visit Melbourne we can wet a line.
Arno
Congrats on the CD role Gary - I now know who to hit up for discounts.
You have the Wairua river and a few others on your doorstep. Most kiwis would think they're not much chop, but I imagine they would be pretty good by SA standards. It will be interesting to hear how you get on. Kai Iwi lakes offer some some pretty good fishing in the colder months from what I hear. A boat would be great up there on the Kaipara.
Give me a shout if you're interested in heading south for some trout fishing before the season closes.
Hey Gary, good of you to keep in touch. I've been wondering who to call in case I manage to snap my CD...
Hey Gary, good to hear the settling is going well.
For some great info on the saltwater fishing, get in touch with Clark Reid - www.clarkreid.co.nz | clark@saltwaterfly.co.nz
Daryl Human
The solution to any problem -- work, love, money, whatever -- is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be. --John Gierach
hey Gary,
hope life treats you well in trout paradise and for biltong related matters visit www.biltongmakers.com and look at all the people who comment on recipes etc and you'll most probably get lucky.
i use the maker here in the good old RS of Aand i'm as happy as "a 'boertjie' in biltong"......
Gary - glad to see you are settling in.
To dry biltong quicker (or in a wet/humid climate), see if you can get an old (not working) fridge or drying box, add an uncovered 40-60W light bulb to the bottom - dries the air out nicely & speeds up the process.
Gary
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