Nina Valley Fishing, Lewis Pass

I had been invited to Annabel's wedding in Waiau on Saturday of Waitangi weekend, so was at a bit of a loss to find people to share a trip with for the Friday. Eventually, I decided to take myself on an overnight fishing trip into the Nina River in Lewis Pass.

Crossing the Lewis River enroute to the Nina

Lovely grassy clearings in the lower Nina Valley

Wandering for about an hour from the road, I reached the beautiful pools of the Nina and eagerly began to assemble my fly line. Whilst I was getting ready, the local sandfly population was having a field day on any scrap of exposed flesh. Out came the long pants and I began wishing i'd brought my fingerless gloves..

The pool with the two submarine sized (12lb+) Brown Trout...

The braids of the Nina above the swingbridge.

Didn't see a single fish all day, so when the wind began to blow and the clouds threatened, I gave up fishing and joined the track up to Nina Hut. The track climbed steadily upward and made me wonder if i'd missed the hut altogether, but eventually the waft of woodsmoke signalled the proximity of the hut.

It was rather full, so I bivvied out a short distance from the hut. In a coincedence, my next door neighbour Tim had also fished up the river today, and told me of the 12lb monster he'd caught. Though I no reason to doubt him, it was a fishermans tale... The next day on the way back to the car I spotted the very same monster and spent an hour trying to entice it onto my line. Clearly it had learnt a thing or two and wasn't interested at all...

SH7 to Nina Hut 1h50m