Today was probably my most rewarding day as a professional guide, my client was 75yr old Chuck Pierson from the US who had dreamt about coming to NZ to fly fish for years and to hopefully land a brown trout on a dry fly.

Chuck suffers from the debilitating effects of severe polio, contracted when he was a young boy, the disease had left him with minimal movement in his left arm and a noticeable limp in his left leg, but with good guide/angler team work and a few adaptive casting and hook setting techniques he managed to hook 4 good fish, the final fish of the day in the above photo was on a dry!

I salute you Chuck ....the whole day you never gave up and persevered with every thing, you had a set a goal and achieved it.

We found lots of fish nymphing in the faster runs amongst the bouldery bottom. A size #12 Tungsten Beaded pheasant tail with a #14 Stus pogo nymph trailing it did the job on the first 2 fish. Then as the day warmed up a little we found fish feeding off the top in the foam lines.

A well presented #14 Para Dads Favourite accounted for one nice fish and size #14 foam Blowie the next .

Chuck doing battle with another good Mataura brownie!

Once hooked these fish head for the willows and stacks of drift wood from recent flooding, they never piece of their watery home and just where to bust you off.