FLYLIFE^53Offering to demonstrate the cast,
Herb slowly made his way into the
river. At 80, and having just had two
knee replacements, I was impressed
he was able to fish at all. After strip-
ping line off the reel he made a short
cast, laying the line on the water in
front of him and then, after some
wizard-like strokes, he shot out the
enormous but smooth cast, almost
reaching the far bank.
To prove that the Tongariro Roll
Cast can handle super heavy nymphs
with ease, he then proceeded to attach
a 2.5-gram split shot. Seemingly defy-
ing gravity and physics, the next cast
punched out with great efficiency, and
similar impressive distance. Astound-
ed, I thought to myself, why bother
with a Spey rod if I could cast bombs
like that on a single-handed rod? We
talked some more and I established
that Herb was actually giving the clinic
I’d read about. By this stage it was
getting dark and we parted ways, leav-
ing me with an overwhelming urge to
learn more about this amazing cast.
A few days later, I happened upon
Herb again, fishing the pool below
me. I went to greet him and find out
more about his casting clinic. It was
a slow day by all accounts, but thatdidn’t seem to apply to Herb, as I had
already seen him land a few good fish.
Indeed, when I waded towards him,
he was fighting another.
I couldn’t help but study his guise
— he was the antithesis of ‘all the
gear and no idea’. Sporting only basic
kit, he radiated confidence and com-
petence, but in an understated way.
We got talking and unfortunately I
couldn’t make the clinic as I needed to
get Shawn back to Wellington to catch
his flight, but Herb agreed to give
me a lesson at his hometown of New
Plymouth in a few weeks, if I didn’t
mind travelling up there.A brightly coloured winter fish. Herb demonstrating the TRC at one of his clinics....WHY BOTHER WITH A SPEY ROD IF I COULD
CAST BOMBS LIKE THAT ON A SINGLE-HANDED ROD?
Herb easily covers the far channel of Red Hut Pool on the Tongariro River.