Stoat tails transformed into trout fishing flies being sold to fund trapping projects

Trout fishing flies made out of stoat tails. Photo / Supplied

Taupō's Didymo Dave Cade is doubling down on efforts to protect native birds.

The local identity has been crafting trout fishing flies out of stoat tails, the sale of which will go towards funding further trapping projects.

"I was doing a lot of trapping and I read a book called Trout At Taupo, published in the 1950s I think, and it had a photo of stoat tail fishing flies in there," he says.

"I thought 'I could do that', and we played around with patterns for a while. We came up with different patterns of flies and we thought we'd sell them. I donate the hooks, the materials and the time, we sell them for $5 each and use the funds for trays of eggs for trap boxes.

"We have 89 stoat tail flies for sale at $5 each which equals $445. By my calculations that will buy 40-plus trays of eggs for trap boxes."

Dave says his passion for trapping pests came about because a rat ate his lunch when he was fishing.

"I was up at Hinemoa fishing, got my lunch out of my bag and found there was a hole in it. I went home that night and blamed my two sons, asking which one of them ate my lunch.

Taupō's Didymo Dave Cade has been crafting trout fishing flies out of stoat tails. Photo / Supplied

"A couple of weeks later I was fishing again, took my sandwiches out of the fridge and they were all fine. Then it got stolen again. That's how I decided there were rats and stoats all up the river. We have more than 250 traps up there now."

He says the trapping has made "a huge difference" to the native bird population.

"Those stoat tails get donated from everywhere, from Kinloch to Twizel, but we still don't get enough, we could sell a hell of a lot more."

Anyone interested in buying Didymo Dave's stoat tail flies or donating tails can call him on 0272409603.