My fishing life

I wasn’t prepared to fall in love with fly-fishing when my husband, Fred, introduced me to the sport 25 years ago.

I could not have imagined the places we would travel to, the lifelong friendships we would form or the beautiful trout we would catch and release in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Chile and New Zealand.

Fred approached our new sport as a challenge. I approached it as a new way to have fun. He works at it; I play at it. He’s the better fisherman but I have the joy of feeling seventeen when I am on the river.

We started our fishing tutorial in Patagonia. Not a bad place to learn something new. The fish were difficult to catch but we kept at it and for the past twenty-five years we have travelled to Argentina and/or Chile for three weeks every March.

Twelve years ago my clever husband suggested we travel to New Zealand to fish. I jumped at the chance. We made a reservation at Poronui Lodge on the North Island and did some exploring on the South Island as well.

Having refined our search for the best fishing in New Zealand, we now spend two weeks at Poronui every November and it is truly like going home for us. We are greeted by Eve Reilly, Claire and Steven and their team like old friends. Our guide, Dave Wood has become a cherished friend along with his wife, Sofia, three sons and Fi, his labrador.

We are pretty hardcore. We fish every day and come back to the Lodge for drinks and a gourmet dinner with the other guests. Over the years we have made friends from Australia and the USA with whom we reconnect at Poronui.

The fishing is extraordinary. Even a mediocre caster like me can catch a huge trout with a little luck and a patient guide like Dave.

Getting up in a helicopter allows one to see more of this unspoiled land and also doubles your chances of catching fish so we fly a lot.

Fred and I have just returned from our 2019 trip and we are already booked for 2020. Seventeen days at Poronui instead of our usual fourteen! Lucky us! We have a whole year to plan and dream about spending time at one of our world’s most pristine places. At seventeen going on seventy-three it just doesn’t get better.

Fly fishing had added an amazing new dimension to my life.

Pamela Meier