southwards & alien anglers

so Lucas and i have been heading south. after departing Christchurch, we drove through Geraldine and fished a river that i fished a bit before, in which i saw a good number of nice fish. shortly after our arrival, we were greeted with a run holding no less than 6 surface feeding fish. quite a sight. we took turns casting dries to the fish, the turns changing when one of us had hooked one or had a take. from this one pool, i had 3 takes, of which i hooked 1 fish that i lost soon after. Lucas did well, hooking and landing 2, the largest 4.5 lbs. Lucas' first NZ trout:
from there, we turned inland slightly, but kept the southerly direction, passing through some amazing scenery while on our way to another river we intended to fish the next day. glacial lakes:
glacial lakes with flowers:
the next day was a scorcher. both of our angler tans (brown tops of hands fading to white bottoms of hands and palms) are coming along quite nicely. freedom beard looking good although i think very soon mine will be trumped by Lucas'. we picked up a good number of rainbows while blind fishing the next day. very pretty fish:
scenery of the river was moderate as well:
we made quick passes through Wanaka and Queenstown. the drive to/from/around these spots is nothing short of epic:
the next day we fished a very tricky river, leaving both of us skunked. here is our sweet campsite right next to the river (Lucas on hors d'oeuvres duty):
the next day we fished with Stu. Stu is an amazing guy. an ex-scot, hailing from near Stirling, where i studied abroad, Lucas and i got along with him instantly and we all had a great day. we saw a ton of fish that day, i landed two and Lucas landed one. some sweet pics from the day:
after enjoying some post-fishing beverages with Stu, we headed west, and elected to fish the upper stretches of the same river we fished the day before. so, here's one: every autumn since my freshman year of college, my mum has sent me this weird, somewhat eerie halloween mask. i'm not sure if i've ever actually worn it for halloween, but i have received this mask every single year, even while abroad, in the mail since fall of 2002, and at some point i either send it back or leave it at home when i'm there. once, while on a road trip back from nyc, someone was wearing the mask and it got ripped off by the wind and blown out the window. tragic. then, somehow, mum found an identical one at reny's and the tradition continued. ok, so, when i left the USA i did not bring my fly vest because i didn't think i'd want it. that was wrong. so i asked my folks to send it to me and they did. it came a while ago. a little while after it arrived i was talking to my parents and mum asked if i got the mask. i was confused as i didn't see it in the package and had no idea that it was in there. we were both confused as to how the mask could've been lost in the mail or wherever. so, several days ago, Lucas and i are getting off the water and i notice this neon green color coming from inside my vest. sure enough, it's the mask. apparently mum had stuck it (read in derek zoolander voice) innnn the vest. so Lucas and i decided that it would only be appropriate for my next fish caught to be photographed with the mask on. so here it is. turns out the fish was a biggun, just over 8 pounds:
big boy:
we are currently in Te Anau. we spent last night at a sweet hut in the Mavora Lakes region:
we met a crew of Kiwis who were camped there for the weekend as well. the fishing was poor for us at this spot, but the socializing was great. last night's fire died down way past dark. hands were shook, drinks were drank, stories were told, laughs were laughed, memories were made. nice.

we'll be in the Te Anau area for a bit, fishing some rivers here and there. i hope everyone's well back home or wherever you are. here are some more pics from the past week-ish. Lucas and Stu:

fly change:ayuh:
EPIC. we were camped just next to here one night. that bright spot is the moon. this picture was taken around 10:30 at night. Lucas took it:
brownie: