Drift Boat Fishing

The Arnold River, on the West Coast of the South Island, is well known for the large numbers of trout that it holds. Drift dive surveys have recorded a trout population of around 300 trout per km. That is a lot of trout, even for a lake outlet, which are known to often have high trout populations. But despite the large numbers of trout, no one could ever say that the fishing in the Arnold was easy.

The main problem is getting access to the river, as it is both wide and deep; and the slippery stones make wading a hazardous exercise. When the river is high, it is impossible to wade up the riverbed and it is necessary to push through the bankside vegetation to reach the river. The banks are heavily-covered in either bush or willows and this often makes casting difficult as well. All this means that there are not many stretches of the river that can be fished from the bank.

A solution was offered to me by Ben Kemp, a Lake Brunner-based fishing guide. He suggested I try fishing the river in his ‘McKenzie’ drift fishing boat. I had heard of these specialist fishing boats as they are extensively used on many of the larger rivers in the USA. The McKenzie boats are named after the McKenzie River in southern Oregon in the northwestern USA. The original boats were used as fishing dories by North Atlantic sea fishermen. Over the years, the design was modified from the deep, full displacement hulls of the dories to boats with wider, flatter bottoms. These were more controllable in the fast-flowing, rocky Cascade Rivers.

The similarity of those rivers to the Arnold was what persuaded Ben to buy the plans to enable him to build this specialised river fishing boat.

Ben took me to the river one cool, crisp March morning with the river still enshrouded in mist. We launched the boat just below the tailrace of the Arnold River Dam. I took the casting angler’s position at the front of the boat where there is a thigh support device shaped like half a figure eight. This proved a very stable casting platform and it was even possible to stand in that position as the boat plunged down the many rapids.

Ben had explained earlier, that the best technique was for the angler to cast 45 degrees ahead of the boat and then allow the cast to drift down the river at the same speed as the boat. Using the oars, Ben would then try to match the boat speed to that of the current ensuring the drift was drag free. This technique is similar to walking a cast down a river. It only took a few minutes to get the hang of the process of casting ahead of the boat, throwing in a quick mend and then fishing out the very long drift.

The obvious spots to cast to were under the trees on the banks. It was very easy to drift the nymph for as much as 50 metres with a single cast, as close as one metre out from the bank and under the overhanging vegetation. The only problem was my concentration. Most of the time the line was drifting down, I was glancing at the other parts of the river to see if anywhere else looked more promising. Ben would occasionally warn me if some obvious trout lie was coming up and I would switch cast to this new spot. This might be a big boulder in the middle of the current or a slower stretch behind a protrusion in the opposite bank. Only the boatman has a good view of what is coming up downstream, as the angler should be fully preoccupied watching the indicator. This means there needs to be good communication between the boatman and the angler.

Casting is a matter of getting your line in the right place quickly. The best cast was a ‘from-the-current’ cast where the line, at the end of the drift, is flicked up above the boat again. To change sides, it was easy to switchcast the line from alongside the boat to 45 degrees ahead of the boat on the other side. It is not pretty casting but it is the most effective way of quickly covering the water.

I read later that the American drift fishing anglers use a ‘reach cast’ to throw in some drag when the line is still in the air and not have to mend so much. This might be worth trying to avoid drag when fishing across the main current.
The other main problem was the inability to change terminal tackle. You really have to concentrate on fishing the same depth or speed of water, as you do not have the time to change rigs. Eventually I settled down to a routine and soon a trout took my nymph as Ben held us alongside a series of rapids that were feeding a good-looking riffle.

I was impressed how Ben was able to hold the boat in the middle of the current while I explored the lie. He explained that the design of the boat with its sharp stern meant it split the oncoming water, which then flowed around the wide mid sections of the boat. All Ben had to do was to use the oars to hold the boat steady in the strong current. This meant it was possible to fish a large proportion of the river – certainly much more than if I had stayed on the bank.

It was a great way of seeing the fabulous Arnold River from a completely new perspective. It did show that I had a lot to learn about fishing from drift boats but that is what trout fishing is all about – there is so much to learn and not enough time to do so. I’m already practising my reach cast to be ready for the next excursion.