TARN AND HIS FLIES
It took a few years for Tarn Mack-McEwen to get into fishing for trout. Now he’s casting to be the best. Mike Watson reports.
Taranaki angler Tarn MackMcEwen is one of those fortunate people who can almost predict the time of the day when a fish will take his cast.
But it wasn’t always like that for the 17-year-old trout fisherman and Inglewood High School Year 13 student.
Like fishing itself, it took a while for Mack-McEwen to take the bait his dad, Craig, had been setting for his son.
‘‘I started trout fishing by going out with my dad, who is keen on the outdoors, about six or seven years ago,’’ Mack-McEwen said.
‘‘I wasn’t really into it at first, to be honest, but then the switch flicked on and it’s become addictive.’’
After the slow start Mack-McEwen now has his sights set on winning a place on the New Zealand Fly Fishing team to compete in the world championships being held in Tasmania in 2019.
Mack-McEwen has spent the winter competing in regional qualifying competitions in the Central North Island in the lead up to team selection.
The trout fishing season, outside Lake Taupo, opens on Sunday and MackMcEwen will try his luck this weekend at a regional qualifier on Lake Okataina, near Rotorua.
During competitions each angler is allocated a 200m ‘beat’ along the river bank and given three hours to fish, he said.
Measured
Every fish caught is measured and weighed, and overall scores tallied up to go towards team selection.
‘‘I was hoping this year to get in the team which went to Slovakia but I’m going to give it a lot of time to make the next team.’’
He has fished Lake Taupo and its tributaries, and lured out the ‘‘monsters’’ lurking underneath the surface of nearby Lake Otamangakau, as well as the Manawatu River, the Tukituki River in Hawke’s Bay, and streams and rivers on the Taranaki ring plain.
The biggest trout he has caught weighed 4.5kg and was from the Omori Stream on Lake Taupo.
‘‘When I go fishing I either go somewhere where I can target some big fish, like Otamangakau, or just go to have some fun.’’
Some days the fishing can pass without any reward, he said.
‘‘There’s a lot of trout in Taranaki, many around the 1.5kg-2kg mark. It doesn’t get over fished but some places like Lake Mangamahoe are pretty hard to fish at times.
‘‘The fish are there but it’s quite a job to catch them.’’
The trout he catches are lured by flies he’s tied himself on the dining table in his parents’ kitchen.
Bird feathers from pheasants, and peacocks, as well as possum and hare fur are tied onto tiny hooks to resemble insects.
‘‘I tie a lot of nymphs and dry flies to use in Taranaki,’’ he said.
‘‘I make a lot of flies from my own patterns to try and imitate the insects in the streams, like mayfly or caddis.
‘‘I’ll add an extra flash of something to attract the fish.’’
The ‘Gummer carpet caddis’, named after Palmerston North angler John Gummer, is one of his favourite trout flies.
Mack-McEwen often ties a six to seven metre-long leader without indicators when nymph fishing, which has proved successful.
‘‘It’s a European technique and its very productive for catching trout.’’
In future Mack-McEwen hopes to be a professional fishing guide in the South Island.
‘‘I’m not in any hurry, I’ll get some more experience and build up contacts.’’
"There’s a lot of trout in Taranaki, many around the 1.5kg-2kg mark. It doesn’t get over fished but some places like Lake Mangamahoe are pretty hard to fish at times.
Tarn Mack-McEwen