Expert Tips for Landing Big Fish | The Never-Ending Challenge of Fly Fishing

With: mikefsher

We caught up with Mike from Latitude Guiding, and let me tell ya—this guy’s been at it for a while. From chasing fish with a fly rod to capturing the magic behind the lens, he’s got a knack for both hooking fish and telling their stories. We talked about his early days learning the craft, how he built Latitude Guiding into a go-to operation, and, of course, his top tips for landing the big ones. Whether you’re here for the fish or the film, Mike’s got wisdom to share.

Mike, what first got you into fly fishing, and what kept you hooked on
it over the years?

As a youngster I would fish my local rivers and estuaries with spinner and bait, while also terrorizing the small game that abounded with snare and rifle. It was Tom Sawyer sort of stuff and if I wasn't out in the wilds, I was certainly thinking about it... A family friend gave me an old fly rod and box of flies, and the challenge to learn this mysterious new art began in earnest. My first fish was caught on a small blue dun dry fly during a hatch below a highway bridge and I was captivated. My thirst for more of the same then bordered on obsessive. After buying my first motorbike at age 17, I was off every weekend to hunt and fly fish with my approach being that i would challenge every convention I'd read and try to blaze my own trail. The rocky road of and success and failure was equal measures of frustration and enlightenment, and forty five years on, I'm still learning. I'm pretty sure I'll part this earth with still many unanswered questions. So, I guess, the fact you never 'perfect' the art of fly-fishing, keeps me intrigued enough to stay in love with it.

Latitude Guiding has become a top-tier operation—what's been the most
rewarding part of running it?

I should be throwing this one to my wife Nans, who has become the heartbeat of the business. Her organization and attention to detail is second to none. That said, the fact we have access to some of New Zealand's premiere guides, fills me with pride about the quality of experience we can offer across the board. Another rewarding aspect is the people we meet and become lifelong friends with. All of our guides have regular clients who become part of our wider 'angling family' and watching their skills and confidence rise with the years is immensely satisfying. Recognition from clients and peers alike that Latitude Guiding and Southern Latitude Guides are so well thought of fills me with pride. Also of great satisfaction is the fact that my chosen vocation puts me right in the middle of some of the worlds finest
scenery - not a bad office to have...

As a writer, photographer, and videographer, how do you balance
capturing the moment with staying present in it?

Certainly the videography needs you to be ok with NOT fishing if you want to produce a good result. For me though this is easy for the most part, as I love the process of filming and setting up the necessary shots and angles needed for the editing suite later. It's as exciting to capture the moment through the lens as it is being on the rod for me, maybe even more so. I think that being a fly angler, you have an advantage as a videographer with a feel for what might happen, giving you the necessary anticipation at times for the shot. Another big bonus of filming is you get two bites of the cherry so to speak, with reviewing and editing your footage, allowing you to relive and study the moments in detail later on. One thing you have to learn as a videographer is to tone down the emotion associated with a hookset, for example, as it's easy to get excited and 'call' the set which often results in moving the camera, often spoiling the shot in the process. The photography is fairly easy in that you have a camera at your side and snap away at what unfolds in front of you for the most part. Not so much planning, more reacting. The writing is easy as it's a subject that's so familiar and fresh after a trip that the words just pour onto the keyboard.

What are your top five tips for fighting big fish and landing them
successfully?

Confidence would be number one. Anglers tend to lose big fish by either panicking and locking up, or being too passive through fear of losing them. This allows fish to find a bolt hole to bust off in...Athletic ability helps too as your ability to think fast on a surging fish, needs to backed up by your physical ability to follow them through all manner of tricky terrain. And fast! Never allow a hooked fish (particularly a large one) to get too far above or below you on a river. Be quick to follow so you can get to a side on position where you can stop and turn the fish using low sidestrain. Also being proactive rather than reactive with regards to where a big fish might run to is important. If there are large rocks or snags present, always assume that's where they'll head and be ready to be in a position to counter them. A good way to learn how much your rod and tippet can handle, is to get a buddy to hold the tippet and try to break 5x using good rod angles. Its almost impossible. Then reverse it and feel how much he pressure you can apply through the tippet. Its eye opening stuff, and you realize you lose fish more often than not by either poor rod angles, or under playing them which allows them to rub you off on a snag or
rock.Good quality drag systems are important, as are quality tied knots, but rods more in the 5wt range with a softer tip are crucial if using lighter tippet. This allows a softer deeper rod bend which takes much of the strain off the weakest point of the connection - the tippet.