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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
The fishing season begins this week and some professional guides who would normally turn clients away have no reservations due to the border closure.
Martin Langland has been a fishing guide for 30 years taking people to the highland lakes and braided rivers of Canterbury.
His business, Troutlands, has some reserves for this season, but is only running at 5 percent.
“To be honest, it’s pretty daunting, kind of heartbreaking for me and others in my industry, obviously with the borders closed there aren’t a lot of businesses around, so it’s scary.
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“It’s just one of those situations in life, there’s not much we can do, so we just need to get into survival mode a little bit,” Langland said.
Their season usually consists of tours five days a week and is busy until it ends in April.
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Martin Langland has been a fishing guide for 30 years. His business has some reserves for this season, but it is only running at 5 percent.
“This season I only got about 5 percent of what I would normally do, I mean, I just have to adjust my marketing towards the Kiwi a bit more, which I have always done, but I need to push it a little more now.
“I’m lucky to do other things and to have been in business for a while, I make fishing flies that I sell to the New Zealand market and abroad so they have done well,” he said.
Serge Bonnafoux, a Hanmer fishing guide and president of the Fishing Guides Association, said he would turn customers away at this time of year because he was too busy, but not this year.
“I have zero days reserved for this season.”
A survey of guides in May found that 93 percent of the businesses come from abroad, he said.
“The percentage of clients that we will get from the domestic market will be around 2 to 3 percent, we are advertising a lot, but it is typical for Kiwi fishermen to do it themselves.”
“It is really difficult at the moment, many of our guides have young families to support.”
Bonnafoux said that many guides tried to get jobs for the Department of Conservation when they set out to create opportunities for the jobless.
He even wrote to the minister, but they told him they were all there, so the guides had to look elsewhere.
“Some of them are working at their local Miter-10, some of them drive tractors, some of them have gone back to their previous careers. The other day I was talking to one who has returned to marketing.”
On the North Island things were a bit more positive.
Johnny Gummer, who runs Altitude Fly Fishing in Palmerston North, said that in a typical season he works 80 to 100 days and is hoping to get around half this season.
“I have a good national client base and I specialize in specialized instruction and techniques, so now I am doing more training rather than guided fishing excursions.”
Gummer said he has spent many sleepless nights, but has been lucky to be able to work as a builder and painter.
But since the kiwis can’t travel abroad, he hopes more people will explore their own backyard and go fishing.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
