BARRY BECK
Fishing a fine line The season of trout is upon us. For those puzzled by the quiet mysteries of fly fishing, we aim to solve at least some of them. Tracy Neal reports.
I
t happens each October. Usually it rains, muddying rivers and the hopes of hundreds who have been waiting months to cast a line. The official opening of the seven-month trout fishing season is the time for eager anglers to haul on bib pants and waders and spend weekends stalking their favourite rivers. It’s often a solitary time for partners whose preference is not to spend hours on a riverbank, swatting sandflies and drinking coffee from a thermos. But as the old saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, then join ‘em. As it turns out, the Nelson region hosts some of the world’s best waterways for catching trout. It’s one reason Felix Borenstein moved here from Australia to set up what has become a five-star luxury fishing lodge. “After fishing around a lot of New Zealand, it became obvious to me that the Murchison/Nelson Lakes region of the South Island has the best sighted brown trout river fishery in the world.” The Owen River Lodge near Murchison had, until early last
year, focused largely on the international visitor market. Historically, 96 per cent of guests annually were from the US, Australia and the UK, with “four or five” bookings from New Zealanders. That all changed suddenly when the borders closed due to Covid. The overseas anglers were gone. “We tried to pivot as a country luxury lodge which by and large was a failure – so we stuck with what we do best.” Luckily, Kiwis were suddenly keen to go fishing. Felix says 65 bookings from New Zealanders halted the downward revenue spiral, assisted by lowered rates to suit the Kiwi market. “It blew me away. I was incredibly grateful, and still am, for the number of Kiwis who decided to come here and stay at the lodge.” Felix says it also helped to keep his staff employed, to whom he felt obliged. “They offered to take a pay cut, but I said ‘no’. My head chef has been with me 10 years and I’ve made good money in that time, so it wasn’t fair to have them take a hit because of what
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