Source: Radio New Zealand
The newly named Trevor the trout. Tess Brunton/RNZ
Gore’s iconic statue is no longer with-trout a name
The brown trout statue has been proudly leaping in the Southland town since 1989 after being locally designed, built and fundraised.
Trevor was officially announced at the On The Fly Festival on the banks of the Mataura River on Sunday afternoon.
The Gore District Council teamed up with Hokonui FM to name the famous fish, asking for name suggestions before public voting this month – yes, Trouty McTroutface was floated.
The five finalists were Trixie, Scout, Trevor, Gordon or Finn.
But council senior events coordinator Florine Potts said Trevor was a clear winner after receiving more than a third of votes.
“People from far and wide come to Gore, come and take a photo with the trout. We see it happen every single day. Buses full of tourists stop here and they come and grab a photo and people love it and now we can all embrace Trevor the trout,” she said.
Gore District Council senior events coordinator Florine Potts said Trevor was an icon. Tess Brunton/RNZ
The Gore Lion’s Club gifted the statue to the town to celebrate its 25th anniversary with lots of fundraising to make it happen, she said.
“Like a celebrity cocktail party with some big names coming to Gore, a fishing race with little fish going down the Mataura River.”
Fly fishing guide Shelen Boyes was showing people how to fly fish at the festival.
Fly fishing guide Shelen Boyes was delighted to see more women and younger people getting involved in the sport. Tess Brunton/RNZ
There were a lot of moving parts to make the magic happen, she said.
“You’re having to not only cast a rod with a really light fly on the end of it, have accuracy, deal with the wind, deal with the elements, and then also have to pretty much hook it yourself and reel it in yourself without losing it,” she said.
“So yeah, it’s quite a lot.”
It was a great way to bring people together, was quite meditative and encouraged people to think about river health, she said.
Fly fishing in the Mataura River at the On The Fly Festival. Tess Brunton/RNZ
The Mataura River was a wonderful place to take people, Boyes said.
She described the Mataura as a “gold medal, blue ribbon fishery”.
“It’s got 700 fish per kilometre. You can easily spot fish all over the river system.”
Fly fishing has been Mike Weddell’s career and passion – he has been flying fishing for more than 60 years.
He was been showing people how it was done at the festival.
Mike Weddell said fly fishing has been both his career and passion. Tess Brunton/RNZ
“It’s a fantastic sport. What you used to see in the village back home, all the kids that fished all the time never got into trouble, except for coming home too late at night, he said.
Trevor will have an official naming ceremony later this year.
Rainbow trout on show at the On the Fly Festival. They are not the same as what are in the Mataura River. Tess Brunton/RNZ
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
