The Land of the Long White Clouds

by: Ed Emory

New Zealand, the land of the long white cloud, is an angler's nirvana. I was drawn, as most are, by all the enticing possibilities; rivers, streams, creeks, and glacial blue lakes, holding Browns, Rainbows and even some landlocked salmon with fish ranging from 16 inches to over 10 pounds. and we saw them all!

This is not a story about large trout (we've enough of those), but is rather a story based on the passions that unite three different generations in a magical land on the Mararoa River outside Te Anau, New Zealand.

Murray Knowles, with his compact, rugged frame and typical Kiwi sense of adventure, is well suited for his chosen profession; as one of Te Anau's eminent professional guides. Upon first impression, Murray would seem more at home trolling the lakes around Te Anau, but his heart and sturdy legs belong on the swift flowing waters that begin high in the surrounding mountains. At 67 (going on 35), Murray's accumulated knowledge of the area is impressive. He still spends a lot of his spare time tramping and exploring with his wife or just checking on his favorite bodies of water (there are just too many to fish). Murray loves to share tales about his fishing adventures and loves a good audience; which is where young Luke Dixon comes in.

Luke lives on one of the legendary New Zealand sheep stations of 10,000 acres bordering the Mararoa River. He enjoys riding his motorbike and working his sheep dogs .You see, Luke is a motivated young man. He has already paid off his motorbike by working his dogs on a nearby station, and he is only 13 years old. By all rights he should be more interested in girls and rugby than trying to learn to cast a fly in the land of one thousand casts.

I first met Luke's mum at a local pub where she works as a waitress. We had spent the previous few days working area streams with Murray, and had decided to give it a go on our own. We decided to fish late that night, and when we returned to town about 9:30, we found almost every thing closed. But Luke's mum was kind enough to take care of us, even though tomorrow was Luke's first day back to school after summer break. As she was closing for the evening, Luke came by for a ride home and we started chatting. It seemed that Luke was pretty keen on fishing. On Christmas day Luke had landed a fish of well over 6 pounds on a spinner. Luke had seen plenty of fly-fishermen plying their sport on the Mararoa near his home and was quite curious. A plan started to hatch, but there was only one hitch-school. Christine, Luke's mum, offered to take Luke out of school for the day if I would let him tag along. Her philosophy was simple. Luke would learn more on the river that day than in class. God, I love this country!

I had given Christine a 'king's ransom' of flies to give to Luke, and we set tentative plans to meet the next day. That way, somehow if I couldn't make it, he'd at least have a point to start from. Well, as it turned out, he had already contacted Murray. Murray and I had also made tentative plans to fish and I thought it would be great if all three of us could get together.

The next morning started with a Nor'wester. well, fishing springs eternal hope. We meet young Luke at the sheep shed down from the house. He was dressed to fish with his Wellingtons, baggy sweatpants, and his green jacket that came almost down to his knees. After our introductions and loading our gear, we were off to the Mararoa. Murray had fished there many times before and loved this stretch. Luke had only lived on her banks for eight months but had grown to appreciate her as well. While we rigged our rods, Murray asked the obvious, "Luke, how did you get out of school?" "Me mum said I could." God, I love this country! By now Luke was anxious to show us his river, and we had just pulled up to the spot where the big one was caught. He could barely contain himself. Even though Murray had fished here for some 30 years and knew the river inside and out, Luke was our guide today.