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Flycasta

Greetings from New Zealand

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I am an experienced flyfisher, 60 years old, who ties flies from time to time. FTF looks like a great website, lots of ideas being exchanged and lots to learn.

 

Right now I am tying up some Pheasant Tail nymphs on size # 16 hooks, for use in our southern hemisphere summer when river levels are low. The fish get

a bit more critical in their choice of diet at that time, and the PTN is a proven performer.

 

Although NZ may be painted as an angling Eden, it has had its problems with water resources, and things are getting worse. Historically we have been a nation of farmers, but we have moved into an era of industrial-scale dairy farming with herds of 2,000 cows plus. The waste they create is leaching into waterways, and the current government isn't too interested in dealing with the problem thanks to pressure from the farm lobby.

 

In fact, our government is using taxpayers' funds to promote irrigation schemes so intensive farming can expand into areas where it wasn't used before. Short term economic growth is put before long term environmental well-being. That has given rise to the catch-phrase "dirty dairying".

 

For anglers, it is a lose/lose situation. Recently, one of the biggest corporate dairy farmers (and a serial polluter) racked up US$100,000 in fines for river pollution. The corporation then went into bankruptcy and the fines went unpaid.

 

For anyone considering a fishing trip to NZ, look at http://www.nzfishing.com . (Note warnings about didymo algae risk in South Island)

 

This website gives independent information on local conditions, regulations and so on. It also carries news on environmental issues showing the battles NZ anglers are having to fight.

 

Tight lines

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Welcome aboard, and thanks for the info. What a lot of us know about NZ comes from fishing magazines, which as you said, usually paint a rosy picture of the angling opportunities down your way. In this neck of the woods, (Virginia and North Carolina) massive pig farms are the culprits. Thanks to the money they spread around, enforcement of environmental protections ranges from lax to non-existent. Guess it's the same the world over. Once Corporate Agriculture takes over and drives out the small farming operations, habitat destruction hits like a tsunami. Again, welcome to the FTF.

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Thanks for your comments, Peter. We have an election next year in NZ, so anglers will call the government to account.

 

Trouble is the politicians want to weaken our environmental protection laws significantly. Anything for a dollar, whether it's irrigation schemes on rivers or offshore oil drilling.

 

Matters aren't helped by our Prime Minister being an ex-Merrill Lynch currency trader. Not much vision there.

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Flycasta,

 

Welcome! This place is amazing, I have learned a ton in just the past few weeks.

 

It is disheartening to hear of the plights down there. It is a global epidemic. The industrial farming and food industries have insurgents at all levels of government here in the US. Just about every "watchdog" and alphabet soup agency has 'former' employees or lobbyists at the top tiers. Couple that with 'food disparity' laws and mum's the word...

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Haven't put up any comments for a while.

 

Latest news is that a major forest fire is burning in the South Island (near Nelson, prime brown trout territory). It is some 20km wide and is now into its sixth day. That whole area has been bone dry for weeks.

 

More news on angling issues can be seen on website of NZ Federation of Flyfishers (http://www.nzffa.co.nz/). The main focus of lobbying is for clean, flowing rivers. Pollution and irrigation are taking a massive toll.

 

Tight lines to all.

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