It’s a spot-and-stalk game in New Zealand.
your ego. Brown trout in these waters are
special. You can’t impress them nor force
them to eat. Their color, spotting, and crisply
developed jaws are living works of Almighty’s
art and this fishery commands every skill
you’ve learned down deep in your soul. You
hunt them, not fish for them. You let them go
and realize you’re place in the world.
In the fly-fishing world, your place is
probably like mine, just one degree off from
knowing everyone else. Sharing the week was
many-season-Australian-returnee Michael
Blake and four Americans who were all one
degree away from friends of mine back home:
Paul Moseley owner of Ruby Springs Lodge
in Montana; Barry Pike of Pasadena; Meade
Boutwell, an Oregonian turned Californian;
and Chris Hemmeter from the San Francisco
area. It says a lot about a place when the
owner of one of Montana’s best lodges goes
to Owen River Lodge to fish. This group
colored my experience with laughter, toasts,
a few bummed cigars and mostly true tales.
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When Barry got a word, his teenage daughter
wrecked the family car back home, a world
away, and the reality set in there was nothing
he could do about it, his friends helped him
make Oban influenced proverbial lemonade,
toss his hands in the air and make a cast.
(She was fine by the way; but not the family
truckster.) Life happens, go fish anyway.
“I want to give people world-class experi-
ences,” I heard Paul say speaking to his tribe,
which was enough for Felix to call the heli
and the next day all four flew to water not
touched in weeks, catching, and more im-
portantly landing fish, none will soon forget.
Each night, every dinner course was
presented and explained, and the general
room volume increased the more Australian
and New Zealand’s finest wines were poured.
Dinners are a sophisticated fusion between
Maori, European and Polynesian using the
finest local ingredients: garden, land and sea.
Head chef Ryan likes to mix traditional New
Zealand dishes with his personal twists and
surprises from his years perfecting his multi-
cultural gastronomic style overseas with what
he calls “Pacfica.” I think the most delicate
palates will not only be marveled, but more
importantly will remember Ryan’s work.
Felix is a humble person but does have
a proud smile. And he should be because
what he has built at the lodge enjoys some of
the highest return rates in the business: 50
percent from north America; 30 percent from
Australia; 10 percent European anglers and
the rest from the remaining corners of the
globe call the Owen River Lodge their private
club. Those of us who have invested our lives
will tell you fly fishing is about more than fish
—it’s about the people and the adventure. I
think Felix’s success is due to Felix. People
return to see him, have an adventure, enjoy
happy hour and eat at the lodge and then
chase world-class fish.
We fished the Maruia River, the Motueka
River, which Dave grew up on, but the
day that out marks the rest was spent on