The pontoon boat and big browns!!

On a recent trip to New Zealand, I had first-hand experience on the value of owning a pontoon boat. What impressed me was the ease of its mobility. On still water it simply slips across the surface with a minimum amount of effort and it's truly amazing how far you can travel in a very short time.

My fishing in New Zealand was on a lake with extensive weed beds; trout from 6 to 10 pound were feeding freely in amongst the weeds, chasing damselfly nymph and snail.

This is the sort of fish I'm talking about and over

the week I was there, I caught plenty of them.

The fishing was so good that I've just got to go back! And this time, a little bit better prepared than my earlier trips in January and March this year. So, upon my return home, I started looking for an Australian distributor for pontoon boats, to no avail. The next port of call was Google and eventually, Cabela's and there I saw The Madison, which suited me just fine, as I had met an American couple with the exact same boat in New Zealand and it worked just fine for them.

The champers christening

for champagne fishing!

Well, you guessed it, we tested it and it worked just fine but, to my wife's disdain, I informed her that I needed flippers, a light-weight anchor, a drogue, a flyfishing-style life jacket, a rod holder, a wetbag to keep a jacket and jumper dry, a floatation cushion for the seat and gloves, because after the test run, I suffered with blisters! Too much pen-pushing and not enough physical but after all, I'm retired!!!

I've just got to say, dealing with Cabela's is nothing but a pleasure; what a company, what a service, simply awesome.

If you want to know more about this fishing spot in New Zealand, email me on kossiedun@gmail.com.

To be continued............