Angler and writer Grant Henderson has just released a biography of a river: Fishing the Tongariro. It’s about angling, but also provides a unique view of New Zealand’s history and conservation, peppered with first-hand accounts and historical news reports of some famous and unexpected visitors to the Tongariro region.
How would you best describe Fishing the Tongariro?
It’s a sort of angling regional history. We’ve got this famous trout river in New Zealand which has attracted people from all over the world and been fished for a century, but no-one had put its story down on paper. You could liken it to the history of golf at St Andrews or tennis at Wimbledon.
How did you go about approaching the story of a river?
I set it down chronologically, beginning with the establishment of the fishery in the 1900s and up to the present day. And I explored what has happened in New Zealand during that time. We’ve had world wars, the depression years, an evolution in fishing styles, and the establishment of fishing lodges and hydro schemes, which have all shaped the story.
What resources were available to you?
The research is based around old newspaper reports. I visited the National Archives in Wellington and discovered that the river was originally administered by a branch of Internal Affairs: the Wildlife Department, before it was assimilated by DOC. The Tongariro was actually in the press quite often, as a tourist attraction.
I also spoke to a huge number of people including Alpha Cuthbertson, who had lived in Turangi in the 1930s and ran one of the original fishing lodges. She was still working there in the 1960s when work on the hydro dam started. There were a lot more people in town then.
How did novelist Zane Grey become connected with the Tongariro?
Author and adventurer Zane Grey was world-famous when he visited in the mid-1920s. Our government invited him here to promote New Zealand as an international sporting venue. Grey spent about a week in Taupō fishing and was enthralled by the beauty of the Tongariro. He made several return visits, wrote a book and [there was] even a movie about New Zealand fishing.
What attracts you to fishing?
Fishing takes you to some great places and attunes you to nature. Once you start trout fishing you realise that you need an understanding of what is happening at each time of the year. In spring there are certain kinds of insect life active and so you use a particular fly to emulate this, generally picking up this knowledge as you go. Going fishing rather than catching something is the key. If you just wanted fish you’d go to a fishmonger!
Fishing the Tongariro: A History of Our Greatest Trout River by Grant Henderson is available at the Wilderness store. Subscribers get a 10% discount.
