A Fishing Story

John Blunn, an English tourist, has a wonderful story to tell that will be the envy of many a seasoned fisherman.

Recently, while staying at the Hurunui River Retreat - luxury accommodation situated on the banks of the Hurunui River - John had the urge to try his hand at fishing - something that he had never done before! 

Assured by the owners of the retreat, Steve and Ali Rice, that there were good sized fish in the river John purchased a fishing licence and with a tiny telescopic fishing rod that he had brought with him from the UK he and his partner Mary decided to take a stroll down to the water.

John tried casting his line a few times in some reasonably good sized holes in the river and was beginning to get rather disheartened as the fish did not seem to be biting.

Mary persuaded him to try one more hole and on his first cast he hooked a fish. He was very aware that his line was not of the best quality and also realised within a few minutes that whatever he had hooked was of a considerable size.

John played the fish for almost an hour before he managed to land it. When he saw what he had caught he could hardly believe his eyes but he knew it was a salmon.

It took an hour to get the fish back to the Retreat as it was very heavy and the only way he managed was to find a stout willow branch with he hooked through the gills of the fish and then carried it across his shoulders.

The fish weighed in at 8.5kgs.