(^54) FLYLIFE
THE MAN
Streamside on the Tongariro and later
in New Plymouth, I was able to get
to know Herb and discovered he
was an amazing outdoorsman. His
stories could easily fill the pages of a
book. Heralding from Austria, Herb
yearned to hunt and fish, but in those
days these sports were reserved for
the wealthy elite of Austrian society.
In 1960, as a spritely 20-year-old,
he headed to Australia and New Zea-
land on what was meant to be a six
month hunting and fishing trip. This
extended a further six months and
then another, and he never returned.
Whilst working in a uranium mine
in the Northern Territory he met a
Maori man who told him the New
Zealand Government was employing
hunters to cull deer. Two weeks later
Herb and a friend were on their way
to New Zealand. Passing the course,
Herb became a deer culler hunting
the West Coast, Ruahines and Nel-
son. It was in Nelson he met his wife.
Recognising that Herb’s new domestic
responsibilities weren’t entirely com-
patible with extended deer culling
trips, his supervisor found him a job
doing pest control in the North Island.
Later, he secured employment as a
rabbiter. Although he enjoyed it, Herb
thought this somewhat of a dead-end
job and he ultimately went on to have
a successful career as a park rang-
er and conservation officer with the
Department of Conservation.
Hunting and fishing was clearly in
his blood. On his weekends he would
stalk deer, claiming that for the first
eight years of his marriage they only
ate venison. Throughout this time
he was also fishing the headwaters
and lakes of the country. In particu-
lar, he formed a strong relationship
with the Tongariro River. He fished
the mighty river in its former glory,
before it was dammed for the hydro
scheme. Herb witnessed the advent of
upstream nymphing and the ensuing
The Roll Cast Academy... continued
WHAT HAD LOOKED SO EFFORTLESS IN
THE HANDS OF AN EXPERT NOW HAD
HERB ENTIRELY BEWILDERED.
Herb powers the forward stroke of the TRC — there is not an ounce of slack in the system when he casts.
Herb on the Tongariro. The TRC handles Herb’s heavy Tongariro Bombs with ease.
lu
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