The smile says it all.
Lou has reeled in a big one. A hefty brown trout from Waikato's Punui river.
"Stay right there and watch me catch the next one," she shouts, over the sound of babbling water,
Lou is one of ten women taking part in a Casting for Recovery weekend in south Waikato.
The free, trout fishing retreat is for women with breast cancer who, when they're not making flies flick and dance over the river, are there to be pampered.
Lou was excited about getting out into the water.
She's just turned 60 and hadn't been trout fishing since she was 14 and used to fly-fish with her father.
She'd also been looking forward to the weekend's change of pace.
"It's just nice to have a break from the whole routine of medications, hospitals and appointments. All that sort of thing is just endless and to be able to have a weekend with nothing; just thinking about fishing and talking to other women and drinking endless cups of tea and eating, it's been just a lovely break."
David is Lou's trout fishing buddy for the weekend and has been volunteering with Casting for Recovery since the first retreat eight years ago.
"It just makes a lot of difference to people.....The fishing part of it, it's one of those things where you have to concentrate on what you are doing and that takes you away from things as well. It's sort of a mindless concentration."
Lou agrees that fishing clears your mind.
"Because you are thinking about your wrist flicking and what the line's doing and watching the water and you don't have time in your brain to think about to think about all the bad things that are going on inside."
Josie was shocked when her fishing buddy yelled "Strike!"
He captured footage of her dancing and singing with delight on his phone.
"It's the first time I've caught a trout in my life. I've never been fishing so imagine, I caught a rainbow trout.
"It's a good sign," she says.
