River Keeping – Part 2
In a blog over winter I spoke about river keeping. After that I bought a saw, a cheap one with a 200mm fold up blade. That’s what I’ve been using. I carry it every day I go fishing. Many of the rivers I fish are willow lined and these are the main contenders for having pools made difficult or unfishable from overhanging branches. At this stage this season I have made about 10 impossible pools possible and others more user friendly. It’s actually extremely satisfying – especially if there’s a fish that you can’t cast to at the time, because now you know you can catch him next time. There was one pool where I had to climb about 10 feet up the willow to tackle the offending branches. There were two. My saw and myself were at our limits trying to cut them. I realised then that I needed a bigger saw! My client that day, Tim, said I should get a Silky Big Boy. Yesterday I googled it and found a shop in NZ that sells them. Here is the link. This has a 360mm blade with extra large teeth! I think I can take out some serious trees with this. I’m looking forward to having it in my pack. If we all carried a saw we could keep our rivers under control. This would benefit every angler!
Guiding has been quiet enough so far but from tomorrow on it looks like it will be all go til the end of April. Hopefully I’ll be able to stay on top of my blog. Time will tell. Some nice images from a few trips in the pictures below.
I’ve had a bit of bad luck with my own fishing! With looking after Adaline while Iza is working I can’t fish as much as normal, so days out are more precious now. 4 of these precious days I’ve had to go to plan B. Once, because my chosen river was blown from a flash flood and 3 times from snowmelt. I knew I was taking a chance – a chance I wouldn’t take if I was guiding! However, I thought I’d get away with it. My plan B each time worked out well but still reduced my fishing time to a half day. The fish are in good numbers and in great condition. Between rain and snowmelt the rivers are nice a full with great prospects for November.
For bookings and information you can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight Lines,
Ronan..
MY OWN FISHING!
- First brown of the season! A superbly conditioned 5lber.
- Super fish..
- Gotta love these blue sky days!
- All in great condition..
- River keeping is something I now do every chance I get.. This is the “before” shot.
- ..And “after”. Now the pool is much more fishable with a few minutes cutting!
- Before..
- ..After.
- Some large imposing limbs removed.
- Another pool now fishable.
- Nice tree!
- The first out of my fly box!
- over 6lbs..
- I forgot my saw!
- Fat!
- All in magnificent condition..
- Beautiful..
- Christmas dinner!
- The only fish I saw all day!
- Wild thyme in full bloom..
- Just enough clarity to sight the edges but nothing out!
GUIDING GALLERY
- Day 1 of 2 with local regulars, Bryan and Tim. Tim into one here..
- A super fish to start the day!
- Bryan with a tough shot! We didn’t get this one. After he spooked I removed the overhanging willow limb which forced the bow & arrow cast. River keeping is always on my agenda now!
- Lovely early season water. Most fish will drop back in the next month.
- Tim with another good fish..
- The grip & grin! With a little luck we would have landed a few more.
- Day 2. Very different water!
- This was Bryans day!
- The best of 3..
- Sighting cruisers from a height.
- Great view!!
- Welcome with one of 2 for his day! Not bad for a total beginner!
- Bas on his second day with a fly rod! He did great!!
- Mark releases one..
- Away he goes..
- Bas again..
- Very good fishing! I think we landed 7 or 8.
- Healthy fish, happy to eat flies!!
- Great sighting conditions..
- Well bent!
- A cooling crossing..
- Day 2 and 3 – into the wilderness!
- We had to wait for the cloud to lift a bit before we could fly..
- In the wilderness.. with a pizza!
- See you tomorrow..
- It didn’t take long to start seeing fish, but holy feck, they were spooky!
- Blind and sight fishing..
- Low cloud each day..
- Great water..
- I set out 10kms of river to fish over 2 days. It’s an exploration! This was new water for me too!
- We hooked 2 here. One broke, one lost.
- A lovely fish for Bas. Just under 6lbs.
- Superb! This warrior of a trout gave Bas some battle.
- The end of Day 1.
- What a way to start the day!
- stunning..
- I tried sighting this pool from the high bank but the glare was too much..
- More super spooky fish swim away..
- Pools we dream about!
- Bas into one from a riffle! Riffle fish are usually much less spooky!
- A great result for a beginner to catch trout each day! We had a lesson at the beginning and then coaching during casting opportunities.
- More lovely water!
- on to a fish..
- Heli fishing does not guarantee amazing fishing, but it always takes to amazing places!
- Bouldery, fishy water! Most pools could be effectively sight fished even with low light. The tree lined, steep edges remove the glare.
- Mark saw 4 trout in this pool as we flew in the previous day.. Here he’s casting to one. He hooked it on a dry but broke!
- Lovely but none here.
- 15 minutes before the chopper returns..
- ..Mark gets on the board! Thank feck.
- Time to go back to civilisation..
- Away we go..