FLYLIFE^21motor made it an entirely different
game to roaming the flats on foot.
Despite the windy conditions, the
stingrays soon showed up and so did
the fish. Our first close encounter
involved two free-swimming kingfish
that spooked when we drifted over
them, noticing them too late. Soon
after, a ray appeared and, just as it
should, the first cast revealed two pas-
sengers, one of which latched onto my
fly. We were on the board!
Prior to that, I think Lucas was wor-
ried we were going to have a blank
day. I know the feeling. But we fin-
ished with two off three connections
and considering the wind, we were
stoked with the results.
Day two was still windy but it didn’t
matter: we got out early and managed
a nice fish straight off the first chan-
nel marker.
Lucas took me to a few more areas
worth a cast before the light finally
kicked in. The whole harbour was
breathtaking. A mix of islands, chan-
nels, creek inlets, and of course a
great selection of sandy flats —Tau-
ranga was full of potential.
Battling cloud for most of the day
we decided to head into some of the
shallower flats on the ‘town side’, as
Lucas referred to it. We immediately
saw a large stingray slowly making
its way along the flat. In such shal-
low, clear water it was obvious that
it was carrying some kings. First cast
revealed the goods and we were back
into action.
Another ray was in sight no more
than five minutes later. “This one isA small island provides refuge from the wind.
The boat gave us access to water that was otherwise hard to reach on foot.
A splash of yellow to end a great day.HAVING THE HIGHER VIEWING POINT ALONG WITH THE STEALTH OF THE
ELECTRIC MOTOR MADE IT AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT GAME...