Heli-Fishing!
Heli-fishing is a tough one! For me, it’s often very stressful. When people are spending the extra 2 or 3k for this mode of transport to the river, I do my best to get them value for money. I usually spend unpaid hours trolling through weather reports, getting info from mates, emailing and phoning heli companies; whatever it takes to remove as much uncertainty as possible. It’s a bit of a catch 22 too. The whole reason for heli fishing is to get to a remote, rarely fished location but as a guide I need to know the river well. I can’t afford to fly in to locations on a reconnoiter mission and walking could take days (Which I’d love to do but don’t have time!) so learning the rivers sometimes happens on my clients time. I make no secret of this. If I’ve never been to the river, I’ll tell my client. I have faith in my abilities to read the river and to deliver a great day but the intimate knowledge of a section of river which begins at about 5 visits takes time to achieve.
There are no guarantees with heli-fishing. I have not had a bad heli trip yet but its certainly possible. Flying in doesn’t mean we’ll have the river to ourselves. I inform my clients that if we arrive to find anglers who’ve walked in then they have the right of way – first choice of water. I always ask the pilot to fly above and below where we intend to fish in search of other fishermen in an attempt to avoid unnecessary confrontation. Some helicopter options are used by more than one heli company so its possible that another party could arrive before or after you. Just recently a chopper dropped off fishermen 3kms above my party right into the best spot on the river. We had pretty tough fishing outside the “golden mile” but everyone understood that this can happen and we all had a super trip regardless – though we all felt the sting of loosing the cream of the river! On that 3 day trip where we fished 11ks of river (actually 10 subtracting the good bit) we only landed 5 trout. My point is that heli fishing doesn’t guarantee great fishing or lots of fish. The nature of the remoteness and the often fickle ways of backcountry rivers means that a lot is left to chance.
Having outlined the risks I think it’s important to talk about my actual experience with heli fishing. Once all the planning is done and we board to fly in it’s great fun! It’s the ultimate way to look around this unbelievably beautiful country which I’m so lucky to live in. Only twice have I encountered other anglers and both times a fairly positive outcome was achieved for both parties from a friendly meeting. Heli fishing has been very good overall but little or no better than rivers I can drive to. The one thing that heli fishing does guarantee is that you will be fishing in a remote and beautiful environment. The rivers are usually crystal clear flowing through spectacular and dramatic landscapes. Heli fishing usually requires a pretty high level of fitness. Most backcountry rivers require a lot of walking to get a decent number of shots at trout and the terrain is often bouldery and difficult. To get the most from a heli fishing experience its best to stay in for 2 or 3 days and go hard. It’s about the whole experience from the flight in and out, to the walking, to the trout, to the environment. It is fun!
It’s been a great month or so of guiding since my last blog. Plenty dry fly action and pretty good weather. Great people too! Justin Spence from Big Sky Anglers was over with his friend, Dan. The lads gave it hell for a week smashing some of my guiding records. Justin is one of the best fishermen I’ve met. We were very much on the same page with our fly fishing philosophy and understanding. I’m pretty excited about staying connected with him and his business in Montana. If your thinking about a trip to his neck of the woods I can’t imagine that there’s a better guide out there to take care of you. You can check out his website here.
It was great to see Tom Doc Sullivan over from Ireland for a month. We fished together about 25 years ago on Lough Corrib and now in NZ. He’s already planning a return journey next year. He’s been bitten by the bug! See you next year, Tom! The box of stuff you left will still be in the garage.. apart from the mug, I swiped that.. and the headlamp.
The fishing in the last week has been some of the hardest all season! I hope it picks up soon.. The pics in this blog don’t include the very recent stuff. I might have a chance to edit a short film for the next blog too.
Still a few places in March and plenty in April if your thinking about a visit! See my website or email me for bookings and information, ronan@sexyloops.com
Tight lines,
Ronan..
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I don’t have much time to fish myself at the moment so this day meant a lot!
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Wesley Snipes ready to do battle with trout! This quare hawk catches some fish!!
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“Distressed” Simms shorts. Reversed S to avoid copyright infringement..
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Wesley and Tom Doc..
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One of 3 for me.. Lovely red spots!
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Not much happening on the river but the backwaters were good.
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A great fish for me!
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Just under 6lbs.. Trialling new tippet cost me 4 more trout.
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Recently I’ve realised I want to see the tail more in my photos. The old NZ grip and grin usually blocks out the tail but it’s a very secure, safe way to hold a trout..
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Myself, Tom Doc Sullivan and Wesley Snipes.
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The end of the day!
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Guiding Chip was an interesting one!
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A good caster!
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Painting was part of the brief from Chip so beautiful places were always on the agenda.
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Chip into one..
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Nice!
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While Chip painted, I fished!
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A rising trout! A happy sight.. always!
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Lovely!
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This was a well earned fish! Casting straight into a stiff breeze, Chip got the desired result..
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And back he goes..
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Then the wind came and lasted for days!
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Lovely water..
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Wind, wind, wind..
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I went off to catch a fish for dinner while chip found a sheltered spot to paint!
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Painting in the morning..
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..trout flats in the afternoon!
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Black Stilt.
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Last day and a fish right away!
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The beginning of a super week with Dan and Justin.
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I guided Dan each day while Justin went exploring armed with some info from me..
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Dan enjoyed blind fishing on lakes so this spot was perfect!
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Between the 3 of us we had about 20 for the day!
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Glorious but this very hot day shut the fishing down at about noon..
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I got this fella before shutdown, Justin got one too..
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This fella would catch a fish anywhere!
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A nice fish on a deeply fished nymph..
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Dan into one while Justin was having a red letter day on the river smashing my guiding record for number of trout in a day – although I had little to do with it!
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Great start.. and the action continued!
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Super fish! Almost 6.
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Low water but the fish were active!
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Heli day!
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Arriving on the river just before the sun hits the valley floor..
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Let the action begin!
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Stunning! The fishing was slow to start but the lads ended up catching lots!
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Siesta!
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I’m not sure how I didn’t snap one or two fish pics!
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Perfect conditions and a backcountry experience to remember..
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Home time!
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The last day. I took a chance on a notoriously fickle lake..
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.. Thankfully, it paid off!
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The claw off some trout food..
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Dan and Justin..
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Dan kicked our arses! He worked the shore carefully casting a dry cicada. He landed 4. Justin and myself landed 4 between us! Nice work Dan..
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We went around the lake off tracks and had super fishing.
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Almost 5lbs of perfection..
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one of 2 almost 6lbers for me.
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Home time! The week with Dan and Justin was one of my most enjoyable weeks guiding!
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Some exploration with local regulars, Bryan and Tim. Tims son Tom came too..
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Our river to explore for 3 days..
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The plan was to fish it from the sea to waterfall where trout cant get passed.
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Day 1.
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A super panorama at the mouth.
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Bryan was into one right away on a streamer fished on a super fast sinking line.
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7lbs of silver! Stunning!! I left him to help out the other 2 upstream and landed a 5lber while I was away..
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On up the river..
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Magic water but trout were scarce..
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People in the pic give scale to these boulders!
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Almost through the gorge..
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Tom into a super-strong brown!
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Lovely!
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Spectacular water..
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Walking 2.5 hours back to camp!
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Just what we all needed as the sun went down! A chest high crossing..
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day 2. A 2.5 hour walk to where we stopped fishing on day 1.
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Bryan got one blind fishing an edge.
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After a lean day I was happy to sight a fish in a deep riffle..
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Careful fishing and a few fly changes got the desired result. A fish like this makes a day great! Simply beautiful..
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Back to fight another day..
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Working a likely wall..
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Deposition from god knows when..
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Lichen.
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Day 3 breakfast!
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The one that got away!
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Tim in action..
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A super 3 days! Unfortunately a heli landed upstream of us one of the days fishing the cream of the river! If this didn’t happen it would have been a much better trip but heli fishing comes with no guarantees. The helicopter got us into the wilds but we walked about 50kms while we were in there..
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Jeff, Fraser and Travis had also been in the backcountry! We all met for a beer and feed after..
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Bobs 81st birthday!
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And his birthday fish..
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Then Carole stepped up and got one too!
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A tank!!
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His 4th visit to this river and his first fish! The curse has been broken..
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I sighted a fish from the top. As we waited for the wind to ease off to make a cast the fish appeared to spook. I watched the water for ages but there was no sign of the fish. I walked on. Pat advised Matt to make a few blind casts and suddenly there was a loud shout..
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At #5. Matt was on form for the whole trip making this top 5 specimen well deserved. Almost 8lbs.
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7.75lbs..
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..a moment worth celebrating!
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More opportunities followed but that was it for the day.
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Nice view!
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Old Split Fin lives! The most famous trout in New Zealand. He was enjoying a feast of cicadas today.
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Tight spot so we tried the bow and arrow!
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The best of 6 for the lads..
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Small water! They finished their trip in style with a successful bow and arrow cast to a grubber and a near impossible cast from under a bridge with barely enough room for a side cast to fish just upstream of the bridge. 10 points!
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The bridge fish..
Categories: Expedition Tags: Backcountry fly fishing, Big brown trout, Bob Toffler, Cicada fly fishing, Estuarine trout, Heli Fishing, Justin Spence, Lough Corrib, Photographing trout, Ronan Creane Fishing Guide, Simms, Tom Doc Sullivan, Wesley Seery