High Fives

HIGH FIVES ALEX WALLER

OUR MAN IN NEW ZEALAND, GERHARD UYS , CATCHES UP WITH KIWI FLY GUIDE AND VIDEO CONTENT CREATOR ALEX WALLER TO DISCUSS NEW ZEALAND’S NORTH ISLAND, BIG TROUT, KING FISH (YELLOWTAIL) ON THE FLATS AND MORE.

Photos. Alex Waller archive, Gerhard Uys

5 best things about where you guide?

1. In Taupo, on New Zealand’s North Island, you have tons of water to choose from, all within an hour’s drive. You can hit the Tongariro River where huge runs hold rainbows in good condition, or you can fish the lake edges or weed beds in various lakes for browns and rainbows. The best part is that you can fish most of it all year round. 2. It is centrally located. You can go in anywhere and you will find good water. You are a three-hour drive away from king fish (what Kiwis call yellowtail) in the ocean, and there are great rivers in any direction less than two hours away if you’re not keen for a long drive. It gives one a lot of scope. 3. Taupo has a lot going on…lakes, mountains and hills. You can make your experience as touristy or as backcountry as you like. And if you bring your other half who doesn’t fish there’s tons for them to do also, like skiing, hiking, hot pools, spas and more. 4. Taupo Rod and Tackle is a sick shop. I owe them money and they sell me gear. 5. Flies given to me my local fly tier Dustin Habener!

5 things you’re loving right now?

1. Drinking whiskey while I edit videos. I am drinking way too much whiskey at the moment. 2. I am bingeing Superstore on Netflix. 3. Pringles. I have also been smashing them while I edit videos. 4. Fishing. It is my job but I am really loving it at the moment. 5. I just got a new camera backpack, just for traveling ,the Tenba Axis 24L. I was a couple of whiskeys deep when I saw it on the web and I was like, ‘Ooo that looks special forces’, and I just bought it. It was way too expensive.

5 fishing connected items you don’t leave home without?

1. Jet Planes! Best chewy gummy sweets around. The Countdown supermarket ones are addictive and delicious. 2. Personal Locator Beacon. If the shit goes down when you are off grid a simple press of a button means a rescue helicopter will pick you up. As registered guides, we are also obligated to have one. 3. Rods. Orvis Helios 3. 4. I won’t leave home without camera gear. EM5 Mark 3 from Olympus. Two Go Pro 7’s and a Mavic drone. I usually carry the drone but then don’t use it. Sigh. 5. Rain jacket. It’s New Zealand! In some seasons it never stops raining. And thermals, it can get cold!

5 podcasts that blew your mind about society?

1. Anything from Joe Rogan is at the top of the list. 2. Graham Hancock’s talks on the universe with Joe Rogan make us realise how insignificant we are in the greater scheme of things. 3. Talks with physicist Brian Cox. 4. The bowhunter Cameron Hanes is great to listen to. His entire life is geared toward training and conditioning himself to do massive walks for hunting and to be as good as he can be. I like that mentality. I am not on that level, but I train so I can go backcountry and find places with fewer people. 5. Random fishing podcasts.

5 indispensable flies for salt water?

1. Little brown bait fish thingy, no idea what they call them. 2. Crab fly. 3. Popper. 4. Flounder fly. 5. Piper pattern. That pretty much covers all the food groups when fishing on the flats, especially for king fish.

5 indispensable flies for freshwater?

1. Heavy stone fly. It gets eaten and it gets your flies down deep, which is important for New Zealand style fly fishing. 2. Pheasant tail. It’s just small and brown and you can’t go wrong. Everything eats it all around the world. 3. Hair and copper. Same reason as pheasant tail. 4. Peacock pointer in soft hackle. If fish refuse the previous ones the Peacock pointer will get it done. 5. Parachute Adams. Not much will say no to a Parachute Adams.

5 species on your hit list?

1. Musky. They’re badass and hard to catch 2. Tarpon. Big tarpon are sick and hard to catch, what an amazing animal. I have seen them but ain’t caught them. 3. Permit. It’s a Holy Grail fish! 4. GTs. They’re freaking gangster. 5. Big snoek. Like big angry ones!

5 things you wish clients understood?

1. Just how hard it is! You cannot just rock up in New Zealand, cast a fly and catch a ten pound trout. There are tough weather conditions, tough fish, big water at times, and large, tough river crossings that scare most people. 2. Long leaders. To most people a long leader is 12ft, in New Zealand it’s 20ft. People don’t have to use long leaders in other parts of the world and they don’t practise casting with them. 3. I often talk about expectations on the way to the river and I often talk them down a bit. Clients say, “This is monster city, we are going to have fish-on all day,” and then you have to bring expectations down to reality and say, “Let’s just start with one.” 4. Weather. I cannot control the weather. 5. Not everything is my fault.

5 of the worst things you have picked up from guiding

1. I find it easy when I am with a friend to go into guide mode. It’s hard to jump out of that. If I fish with a friend who doesn’t often fish, I immediately try and get them a fish. 2. If you’re not careful you can burn out really quickly. I work less than I should to make sure it doesn’t happen. 3. That just because someone fished a section of river before you arrived doesn’t mean they were any good, so it shouldn’t bum you out and you could still pick up fish. 4. Sometimes you get frustrated when someone just can’t get a fish that is just lying there for the taking. The frustration is not good. 5. I fish a lot on my own to counter these things.

5 people you’d like to fish or guide with.

1. Note from the writer: I asked Alex if he would like to fish with Gal Gadot who plays Wonder Woman. His response, “Only if she can fish!” 2. Jako Lucas from Capt. Jack Productions. He goes to some crazy places and the experience would be great. 3. My buddy Eugene Pawlowski. He is a gun fisherman and a good dude. We always have a good time. 4. I almost got to guide Michael Keaton last year but, unfortunately, I was already working. Someone phoned while I was already guiding another client and I had to say no. 5. I am not really star-struck and would rather fish with any of my good mates.

5 things you knew before you began making fly fishing videos

1. How much time goes into making them and how expensive it is. 2. How much cool camera gear there is out there and that I would want all of it. 3. How much messing around and wasted time there is just to get a shot that never comes out. 4. How much time it takes to find music. I spend hours a week trying to find the right tune for new videos. At the momentI am using Epidemic Sound to source music. 5. How many batteries you need. I’ve just spent $500 on batteries this week and it won’t be enough.

Your last five casts were …

All to trout on the Tongariro and Himemaiaia rivers near Taupo.

TO MOST PEOPLE A LONG LEADER IS 12FT, IN NEW ZEALAND IT’S 20FT.