October is usually a pretty quiet month for guiding. I like that it is. It allows me to ease into my work after a long winter. Come November I’m pretty much fully booked. It also means I can fish myself during what is arguably the best month of the year. This year myself, Wesley and Brayden went south to explore two new rivers. One was a dud (with potential) and the other was great. I opened my season with a 7.5lber and we encountered other big fish too. One might even have been that elusive 10lbs.
We also took my boat to the highcountry during opening week. It was windy going out. Too windy really, but I just wanted to get to a sheltered island. We had a great hour of fishing as the wind dropped but then it changed direction and roared from the south. Too windy to fish and freezing cold as it blasted horizontal snow across the island. I went for a walk to get phone coverage from a high rock to let the folks back home know that we might have to stay the night. It was too wild to cross. This got some welcome heat back into my feet. While I was out I went for a walk to scope a route back to safety. There was shelter on the north side of the island but all the other water had huge, worrying waves. The wind was completely insane reaching 150kph. luckily we had the shelter of the cabin. With the waves slapping on the side of the boat I thought it would be a good idea to move her farther into the shelter of the bay. As we were moving the boat the wind dropped a bit so we all agreed it was an opportunity to get back. We went for it and made it safely across without any problems.
I was back there again with Mark Adamson for an overnighter. I was hoping for a calm evening and following morning for buzzer fishing, but it didn’t happen. The cold southerly wind blew all through the night.. We had great shelter behind a rock on Camp Island. The fire was essential because it was flippin’ cold. Nice wine, good steak, a warm fire and good company. Life was good! The boat was lovely to sleep in. The wind continued to blow in the morning so still no buzzer fishing! The bugger fishing was good in the wind. I generally don’t bother trying to set up 10 sec timer “grip & grins” anymore. Sometimes I just take a David Lambroughton style trout portrait but they frequently look shite so I don’t use them!
It was a pleasure to meet and guide Joe Libeu and his partner, Cathy. Both great casters and anglers who have contributed lots to fly fishing and casting in the US. For me it was great to spend time with people who’ve invested so much into fly fishing and truly understand the sport. We didn’t have it easy but sometimes fishing is hard!
For a link to my flies available from Fulling Mill please click here. I have availability to guide from late March onward next year. Feel free to get in touch. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
I find it easy to start on a project if its small. Large projects can be a little daunting. Because of this I trick myself into large projects by doing a small part, convincing myself that that’s all I’ll do. Hence, I frequently don’t have ‘before shots’. By the time I think to take a few pics I’m already well advanced with the project so that ship has sailed. This is what happened with the boat recently. Initially it was just a little repair, which lead to repainting the repair. Then I thought I should repaint the cabin. Before I knew it I had many components taken off to allow for easy surface preparation and painting. Then I ordered non-skid paint for all the traffic areas – this had never been on the boat before. The whole job took me 2 weeks. It’s amazing how boat restorations absorb time. I almost did inside the cabin too but I managed to curb my enthusiasm just enough to not. It can wait. I did the roof inside alright because it needed it.
She always had a hatch on the cabin but it was damaged and didn’t stay on. I fixed that and also built a removable door so that I can close off the cabin for sleeping in or keeping gear dry in bad weather. I’ve been threatening sleeping in it for ages but still haven’t. No excuse now! She still doesn’t have a name by the way…
I’ve had the boat for 3 years and she’s had a lot of use. She’s been stored outside all that time. Mostly under a tarp but often not. Because of this she was in need of a tidy up, some repairs and a paint job. It’s done now! From now on she’ll have a roof over her head. Next up for restoration is Daltona. She will ride again (again).
It was good to get out guiding recently. Dan and I went to Mackenzie Country to fish the lakes. Late August. The fish were there in good numbers in 3 of the 4 places we went. They were not easy. Very spooky but not impossible. To me, this is perfect. Without some challenge it’s not that interesting. Fast, accurate shots made all the difference – especially when keeping the loop travelling low and fast over the water. Big open loops spook a lot of fish in calm water. I often side cast to ensure the loop stays low. Speed is such an underrated skill. It’s something a fella can practice. How fast can you get the fly off the hitch and in front of a cruising fish? This and other aspects of speed and accuracy were some of the things we worked on. We had some really good fishing where it all came together. Dan landed some really solid, fat trout up to 7lbs which is a top end fish on the Mackenzie lakes.
Also did a little uneventful exploring on the Clutha locally. Nothing to report from it. I had a few outings to some local river mouths – they were decent. Last but not least, Wesley and I (mostly Wesley) changed the bearings on the boat trailer. It was great to learn this skill from someone who knows what they’re doing.
That’s me up to date again! The season kicks off in a little over a week. Needless to say I’m looking forward to it. There’s a few gaps, not many but feel free to get in touch with any questions about availability. You can contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website. You can check out my Fulling Mill fly patterns here. Some of these have been tweaked and improved for 2024.
Tight Lines and a big Happy Birthday to Sexyloops! 25 today! Ronan..
Boat restoration… Here’s Wesley sanding.Gluing some split marine ply.I had to make this piece to match the rest.Clearly enjoyable work!Tacked and glued. (That’s Daltona on the right – awaiting her restoration!)remove the pins to shape the new capping piece.A block plane is so useful.With much of the painting complete it was time for the non-skid paint. Making a new removable door for the cabin.They shine up well!I used Kiwigrip non-skid paint – very happy with this product.So much tidier now.Transom looking good. It was never painted before.Light grey with a textured finish for grip.Inside the cabin I only did what was necessary – the roof and some touch-ups.Hand rails were removed and re-varnished. Non-skid paint on top of the cabin too.I made a Rimu hatch in the floor here. Previously it was left open.Handrail.Cabin open..Cabin closed. She’s now ready to sleep in.Should keep the weather out!Kept secure by sitting a groove at the bottom and two bolts on top.3 bungees to secure the top hatch.Simple and effective.The table / raised casting platform.Popped out for a quick session on the local..And here she is....after some much needed TLC.I’m very happy with the result…Guy and I took her out for a day on Dunstan. Plenty fish.Fishy!7 nice shots from Dan Root on a recent trip to Mackenzie Country.Cool release shot!Not a bad backdrop..The jump shot!Back he goes.Walking to the river mouth..Thanks for these, Dan!Day 1 in Mackenzie Country. Dan releases one.Day 2.An amazing day.The first of 3 super fish for Dan.It’s enigma makes this lake one of my favourites.Into a good brown sighted foraging around the rocks by the shore.Almost ready.5 powerful pounds.Endangered black stilts.An awesome place to spend a day.Shoulders! 7lbsBack he goes… A top end fish from a Mackenzie district lake.A great day.Day 3. Option 1 was quiet..But option 2 brought great action!Challenging in the glass calm but we had great fishing.A big fire south of Cromwell. I was passing as the sun shone blood red through the smoke.Almost home after 3 great days.2 fish on station.I got one. Lovely to have some quite productive, year round river fishing near by.Exploring the Clutha with Wesley..It really wasn’t fishy at all..Always good to get out for a look around though.Clyde dam.Refill!The trailer failed the warrant on bearings..With Wesleys knowledge, we got it done.Great to learn how to do this.
I think it’s exciting to choose the destination first and then see if I can figure out what I can catch there afterwards. I’ve done this a few times over the years, mainly to accommodate the non-anglers I was traveling with! It’s been a bit hit and miss as one would expect. Mostly miss to be honest. Vietnam was a fail, I never even had a cast in India, Thailand was a fail (apart from a 70lb catfish on spin gear!), Jordan was almost a success, Chicago was okay, Portugal and the Azores were fantastic. The latest, Sardinia, I wish I could say it was great but I can’t.
I did quite a bit of research after Iza and a I chose Sardinia for a family holiday (with 2 fishing days for me). It was hard to find any solid info. Slowly I made contact with some guides and they were helpful. I was hoping to try for black bass on the inland dams but in high summer they go deep and fishing for them would likely be no good. I was directed to Gigi and we locked in a couple of days after seabass. I believe it’s the same species of bass as what we have in Ireland. Once it was booked I left it at that. I didn’t look into it any more apart from getting a bit of advise on flies.
Sardinia is beautiful with stunning coastline. As we drove around parts of the island I could see loads of potential for a shore based angler. Rocky shores, defined drop-offs, sandy areas, lagoons and river mouths – a great mix of featureful coastline with beautiful clear water. One of the highlights was snorkelling around the rocks near the beaches we chose to swim at. With Adaline on my back we explored. She just had goggles on so she’d grab a breath and then look in over my shoulder, pointing at every fish she’d see. It was such a great experience for both of us. There were plenty fish up to about 3lbs in weight. I don’t know the species but there was a variety. I had a feeling that a worm fly fished about 6 to 8 foot under an indicator could do well for these fish but I didn’t have a chance to try.
My designated fishing days arrived! I was up at 4.30am to meet Gigi in Olbia for 6am. I really didn’t know what to expect. The carpark was right at the water – a system of lagoons inside Olbia seaport. The lagoons were walled but with gaps to allow for the tidal movement. It looked fishy. Gigi helped me pick a fly and then we started fishing. Walking while casting around structure. I felt very familiar with this type of fishing. Gigi knew every drop-off, gutter, and weed bed. With his help I kept the fly where it needed to be. Then I hooked one! A small bass but a positive start. From then we continued around the lagoons for the rest of the day. There was one spot where we saw a few. I had one follow there but in general I wasn’t feeling it. I know how fishing can be though, so feeling it or not I wasn’t going to lose heart. Gigi said it was too warm and generally there wasn’t enough wind. No joy on day 1 apart from the little bass at the start. To finish the session we went for beer and a chat.
Day 2. We went to a new lagoon a short drive away. With a new location comes renewed optimism. The mullet (bass food) were rising so that was good to see. We walked the lagoon seeing nothing but covering all likely water – Gigi with spin gear and me with fly. We got to a river mouth which looked very good. I sighted one and he followed a couple of times but no eat. Gigi also saw one which he didn’t get. We decided to go back to the Olbia lagoons to fish the spot that had a few fish. No joy. It was interesting to see some other people foraging in the lagoon for various shellfish including oysters and clams to sell to local restaurants. We didn’t see any other anglers.
With the fishing just not on at all, I thought we’d go to some coastline away from the port for some other species but this is Gigi’s fishery and this is where he guides. We did see a brief bust up on the surface with a large bluefish attacking some mullet on the ocean side of the lagoons. I made a half decent shot but no eat, sadly. It was all so brief. These fish looked amazing and they’d be a great target species..
It was pretty clear that I was there at the wrong time of year for bass. Probably the worst month of the year! It was a shame because the lagoons are so interesting. Very varied water. Gigi said October is best. I would recommend getting in touch with him and organising some fishing when it’s good. A few days with Gigi fishing for seabass in Sardinia? why not..
For bookings this NZ guiding season you can contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website. You can check out my range of flies with Fulling Mill here.
Tight Lines, Ronan..
Very fishy coastal water..Lagoon open to the sea..Lots of potential..Early start each day to make the most of the cool mornings.The most action came early on day one. A small bass and a chase.A positive start – about an hour in!Back he goes – a nice little bass.Olbia lagoons. Once used to farm seabass.Meet Gigi..Full of potential – no doubt about it.An old fishing hut..Pauls 7 weight and my streamers.Casting along the wall..Gigi loves his fishery..Olbia port.Searching..Lots of interesting feature.The tidal range in the Mediterranean Sea is only 500mm max. This makes the lagoon like a salt lake.Lots of blind fishing.. No activity but we kept trying. I really wasn’t feeling it though.CactusThe end of day 1..Day 2. The mullet are here anyway!Lovely..Gigi fires one out..A new location and renewed optimism.Miles of flats to wade.. but no fish about.The bait was there but no bass. Too warm!I had a follow from a bass at this stream mouth..Ships at Olbia port – Back to where we started on day 1.Even Gigi couldn’t move a fish.I’d love to fish here when it’s on.Beer o clock.When the fishing is bad, there’s beer…We tried hard. I can recommend Gigi. He knows his lagoon, I could see that. The fish were simply not feeding in the relentless heat.
I love the familiarity of arriving into Dublin airport. Arriving home. It had been 4 years and I was looking forward to that familiarity more than I realised. It felt great to be back. The family and I were all out of the airport quickly and onto a bus west. The public bus service in Ireland is fantastic. The bus was comfortable and I enjoyed the 2.5 hour trip across the country to Galway, while catching up on a little sleep. My brother and my mother picked us up from Galway. Iza and the kids travelled with my mother and I travelled with Conor. This gave me a great opportunity to pick up a few beers to make the final leg of the journey to Roundstone even better. Relaxing in the passenger seat chatting to Conor, drinking a couple of nice IPAs, enjoying the lakes and mountains as we continued west and then the familiar sight of Roundstone. As tempting as stopping for a pint in Kings was, we went straight home. It was so good to see everyone. Siblings, parents nieces and nephew. Home for the next 5 weeks. The objective now is to spend time with family, catch up with friends, drink a shcather of pints, and go fishing. I’ll talk about the fishing…
I expected the majority of my fishing would be on the Kylemore and Inagh fisheries so the first thing I did was buy a full season salmon license for e100. I was told that it’s mostly catch and release now. I’m all for C&R of course, but I couldn’t help seeing the hypocrisy of imposing this regulation on the angler while salmon farms continue to operate in the bays spreading disease, sea lice and pollution amongst wild populations. Anglers never impacted stocks to any serious degree, but here we are picking up the tab in a vain attempt at conservation. The ambulance parked at the bottom of the cliff.
I was there when the rain came after a long dry spell. The hottest and driest on record I think. The timing was perfect with the rain coming at the end of June when the first grilse run usually arrives. This should get the fish moving up river. Dad and I spent a few days out on the water after the first rain, but we were a bit early it seemed. We didn’t see many. I was lucky to get a beautiful fresh grilse of about 6lbs on our second day out. We left it a while before going out again, waiting on word of grilse being caught.
The seatrout numbers on Inagh were encouraging. Dad was getting decent numbers for his clients. He had a great day with our mutual friend, Marcus when they got 8 to about 2lbs – a very decent west of Ireland seatrout. Dad had another day out on Inagh on his own where he landed a dozen seatrout and a 6lb grilse. Fishing like the old days. I was told that the some of the local salmon farms were not operating this season which would certainly explain the decent numbers of seatrout. It just goes to show how quickly seatrout could reestablish themselves if they were allowed to. Is there any chance the Irish government could just outlaw open pen salmon farming? Imagine what we’d gain? But alas, we sacrifice our wild fish and fishing to make the Mowi wankers in Norway even richer. Sickening. Anyway, We also fished Kylemore a couple of times. Fish were lower down in the system but we didn’t see any on the lake. Kylemore is a tough lake in general, painfully so at times but it can really turn on now and again. Every day I fish it, it’s in the hope of that magic window which so rarely comes. There’s also a chance of a big brown here which may offer a better chance of good fishing than grilse do – there’s not much know about targeting these big browns though so the only way to go after them would be through trial and error, and probably with a depth sounder.
Towards the end of the trip I had a couple of days on Corrib. One day with John and One with dad. On each day the fishing was good in the morning. We fished small dry sedges (size 14) and these gave us the best results. After the first few drifts each day the fishing went dead – and stayed dead for the rest of the day. I think the poor fishing in the afternoons was easy to explain. The water was warm. It felt like 20c when I put my hand in. I guess in the mornings the fish had some chance to feed in the relatively cooler water. June was incredibly hot and even though the weather was pretty cool in July, the lake temperature hadn’t dropped substantially.
So to sum up, the fishing was hard. Ireland is rarely easy and this was no exception. I’m happy with my lot though. I was thrilled to catch that stunning grilse on the Inagh river beats – certainly the highlight. I wish I was out with dad on his bumper day but I was away with the family in Sardinia. It was good to see some seatrout about. Many were very small but there were a few decent stumps about too. This might just have been a case of meeting the main run as it arrived, but let’s hope this will continue to be a good season for them and not just a flash in the pan. Corrib was good in the mornings of the 2 days I fished it so I was happy with that. I hoped to get out with Tom Doc too but for one reason or another we didn’t manage a day together. Next time hopefully! I tried for a pollack (or a bass) off the rocks with my friend Nigel too, but didn’t get a touch. Unfortunately I never made it out on sea in a boat. The weather was pretty wild out there for much of the time I was home. I don’t have a hell of a lot to report from Sardinia but I’ll compile that next.. Currently, back in New Zealand, I’ve been putting all my time into restoring my boat. Just that, no fishing! It’s complete now so I’ll report on that soon too, she’s looking great…
There’s still some space available for this coming season. Get in touch if you’d like to book something in or to ask any questions. Email ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website. You can check out my range of Fulling Mill fly patterns by clicking this link.
Tight Lines, Ronan..
Lough Inagh..Ballynahinch River. Once a great river, ruined by salmon farms. Surviving now on a dwindling reputation.Signs I made about 15 years ago for the Ballynahinch grounds. Still looking alright!Beat 1. One of the best beats and still offers a decent chance of a fish.DoonloughanA day on the Inagh system with dad..Lovely water. Plenty for salmon to run but we didn’t see any.Not the fellas you’d expect to see at the Inagh boathouse!Very friendly fellas – Loving life, shisha and the finest lamb chops I’ve ever tasted!Native woodland on the islands. A reminder of the woodland that was once everywhere.Emerging..The fly fishing highlight. A fresh girls of about 6lbs.Heather at the river.Pine Island – Inagh system.Great water at the butts.These are new to the Inagh system. Very happy to eat my Pyro streamer.Stunning water..We bent the rod in a good grilse here..Lovely. Once full of seatrout.The coast near Ballyconneely with the kids, Jamie and Jazz.Great fun..One of the best things about the trip was how much the kids loved every aspect of the sea.Loving it!Gurteen point with Nigel..Really beautiful…..but no fish at all…Kylemore Lough.A moody day.Dad and Marcus.Digging cockles with the families!Kayla.Working hard..Conor.She was expecting to see one with every dig!Very enjoyable.Inishlacken in the distance.Adaline did very well.Team effort.Enough for a feed.Success. Wild food at its best!I love this place. My grandmother was born only a hundred metres away.Out with John for the day..One on the dries.There were a few mayflies around but the warm water made fishing very hard.Out with dad today.Heading out from Birchall.Joe CreaneA nice little brown on my kiwi dun – a great little dark sedge pattern.Changing flies.We wanted a couple for dinner, we got them on the first drift. Lough Corrib is a vast lake..Heading in on the last fishing day of the trip.
I’m just back from a great trip to Ireland and the US with the family. We also visited Sardinia. I squeezed in a couple of days fishing while we were there, but more on all that later. I had most of the work on this blog done before we left about 7 weeks ago but never found the time to finish it. That’s proof of a great holiday. I’ve certainly been chasing my tail a bit in the last year trying to keep the blog as current as I can – I think it’s always like that though. This takes a lot of time and effort and it really get away from me at times. The photos below are from April, May and into June and this brings me up to date with my NZ fishing photos which almost never happens! Next up will be Ireland and Sardinia – possibly in the same blog or maybe broken in 2.
Late in the season I finally got over to Dunedin to fish with Robbie on some of his local water. A very interesting estuary it is. It was very windy when we were there which limited how much of the lagoon we could fish. It’s certainly not for everyone with electric fences right to the water making fishing risky and tricky. Much of it gets very weeded up and it’s certainly “cow shit country” with this area very intensively farmed. Lots of muddy, shitty drains leading straight into the lagoon. It’s amazing to me the level of pollution that goes unchecked in so much of this country. “Clean and green” it’s not but in the face of all this, there is still great fishing to be had both in general and at this lagoon. Some fisheries have died though and the future of fishing here is not certain – but enough about the negative, I just felt the need to mention that! The fishing was hard that day. Between the 2 of us we moved about 5 trout landing just 1. A lovely trout about 4.5lbs on a red and grey fry imitation of mine. We could see in pretty well at times but we sighted very few trout – those we did see had no interest in a bugger. A little nymph would have been better. The best action we had came from blind fishing. We also took a wander down to the rivermouth but didn’t see anything fishy. It was great to see the place and I’m looking forward to going back.
Since I’ve been home there’s been a mixed bag of weather from snowstorms to lovely warm days. We’re slowly getting over the jet lag. It’s harder with kids because we’re awake when they are. I should get a few opportunities to go fishing pretty soon which I’m looking forward to. This time of year can be fantastic! Be sure to get in touch if you’d like to lock in some late winter fishing – many fish have long finished spawning by now and are piling on condition.
If you’d like to check out my flies available on Fulling Mill you can see them here. They accounted for some lovely browns on Lough Corrib in Ireland recently and most of the fish in the pictures below. Here’s a little clip from August a couple of years ago with my Bruiser streamer doing the business..
I’d like to mention that I recently bought some Primal Bold rods for my clients who come without gear. I don’t get too excited about expensive fly rods in general and these rods are testament to why that is. For the money these are excellent. Great rods regardless of price. The 5 is a gem. It does exactly what a 5wt should do. The 6 is also a very capable rod. I have no issues with it at all. The 7 is a powerful weapon – great for launching heavy streamers, windy days, big rivers etc. I highly recommend these as a back-up or as your primary rod. When they’re previously rigged for clients I don’t bother rigging my own rods because these rods are sound.
Next season is filling up fast! January and February are full but there’s still limited spaces in the other months. Contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight Lines! Ronan..
Off to fish with Robbie on some of his water.An interesting fishery. Hard to access with electric fences everywhere..One trout for the day. Met 3 more.One of my buggers which did the business.Robbie works a nice edge.Fishing over the electric fence.“cow shit country” This draining straight into the lagoon.There’s a strong whitebaiting culture here. This is a purpose built shelter.Another one. No doubting the intensive farming that goes on here. Not sustainable – something has to give.Off to the river mouth..Windy as feck.No sign of any fish but it’s a stunning place.Breakers roll in..Terns.Terns flying into the wind.5, 6 and 7 weight Primal Bold rods. I bought them for as guide rods since my Airflos took a hammering this season. Super rods for the money.The highcountry with Guy.Glass calm!Moving around looking for fishy water..Guy fishes down a likely shore.Then the rain came! Time for shelter and lunch.Pissing down.Nice to be inside looking out!Guy enjoying the rest..Time to get back out there..Guy into a good trout.Best fish of the day!Last cast..Heading home.Back to work! Guiding Dave and Brendan for a few days.Great start for Dave on my dads bugger.Brendan nets one for Dave.Some magic fishing in this little bay.Lovely healthy rainbows.And another one for Brendan.My buggers did well.Fishing around rocks was the key.Another solid bow.The Clutha for a couple of days..The river was rising and getting harder and harder to access. This was the best fish we got.On the 2nd Clutha day the weather was terrible!Dave releases a 2lb brown.Wave after wave of heavy rain.A glimmer of sun and a nice little rainbow.Brendan powers a cast out....to some very fishy water. We got a few here.With every river option in flood we decided to come back up here.We hiked around to fish new water and found fish once again.Great fishing around the rocks.Dave well bent in a trout.Cool hut!I love the highcountry.Lovely.A solid rainbow..My Fulling Mill range of streamers all worked on our second day up here.Brendan traditionally takes one for the smoker. I love this tradition!He also brings some great coffee!Lunch served on the local dinnerware.Back to it.A tank on the Green Machine.Super trout.A likely stream mouth..Such an interesting landscape.Beautiful evening light.The sun sets on the last day of May, seeing the end of the regular season.Lochlan has been decorating my truck.A few for dinner.Quite a contrast.Cold smoked top quality wild trout is hard to beat..Crudo style trout. Simply magnificent!Dangerous..Good craic with lads!Out with Robbie on Dunstan.Lunch on my table which doubles as a raised casting platform once the legs are folded away.On Dunstan with Brayden and Guy.Lunch. Always a highlight of my day.
There was a nice mix of fishing to be had in April. At times the rivers were in great shape between rain events and I made the most of those opportunities for myself and my clients. There were a few days where the rain pushed me away from the rivers to take on some lakes – this worked out very well. As anyone who reads this knows by now, I love any opportunity to fish the lakes. Generally my clients prefer rivers but for one reason or another, most of my regular clients have fished lakes with me by now. Some are a little bit on the fence with some aspects of still waters but the majority now love it and usually request at least one lake day on a multi day trip.
Later in the month my streamers really came into their own. As some chunky browns congregated around some high country stream mouths, it was time to get stuck in. I had some great fishing for myself and for my clients landing trout with a few over the 7lb mark.
After 7 months looking after Adaline and Lochlan, our Au pair, Ilana wanted to catch a trout. We got out for a day on Dunstan where I figured trolling sinking lines would easily do the business. It didn’t! She lost one right away, then got a few hits before finally (after many hours!) getting stuck in a 1lb rainbow. She was delighted and relieved, we all were! I prepared it for dinner, crudo style with lemon, salt, olive oil and capers. A lovely way to eat fresh, wild trout.
It was great to see many of my regulars over the month and a few new recruits too. Seeing people coming back for more certainly makes it all worth while.
If you’d like to check out my range of flies for NZ you can do so on the Fulling Mill website. It’s winter now so I recommend my hotspot nymphs for the larger rivers which remain open and my range of streamers for the rivers and lakes. You can see them all here.
Next season is filling up fast but feel free to get in touch to lock in a trip. You can contact me at ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight lines. Ronan..
The start of a few days with Craig and Peter.It didn’t take long to get a few on the board.Back he goes..A solid bow! My trusty hotspot visible hanging there!A tough day here with high water and limited opportunities.A healthy trout on my Tussock Cicada size 8.Lovely little trout..A deadly pool!Peter with a perfect browny.Take it!He did take it in the end. A super trout..The end of a very good few days.A day trip with a couple of nice Aussie fellas..A few nice browns to the net.Perfect blue sky day.Happy anglers!Not a bad spot..The start of a great day with Luke and Harvey..Harvey into one..Luke had some weird bad luck.. The fish just kept getting off!!Always a great spot..Lovely water..Luke with a good cast..A great bow for Harvey..Off to the highcountry!Late season stream mouths are always worth a look.I had a great day with my streamers.. This one on the Midnight.Then this beauty on the Pyrotechnic.. Another on the Pyro. Primal Bold 6 weight..The Bruiser.. hard to beat.A very fat trout on the Green Machine.Another on the Green Machine.Magnificent spots on this one.Off home after a great day..Back up again with Roger.. The rivers were in flood, but I knew where there were a few trout!A brilliant 7.25lber for Roger.Love the late season colour..Our Au pair, Ilana. She wanted to catch a fish before she left us!These little feckers came too!Ilana did not want to give up – so I had to give in and turn on Netflix for these two. Their patience were running thin!Finally! Persistence paid off. We have dinner.. well, maybe a starter!A nice day on Dunstan with Bruce.His first on fly after a lesson..Not a monster but great to get one on the first day.Enjoying the view..Out with Andrew.. The rod often looked like this!The best fish came in the morning..Another..And another great trout almost in the net..interesting spiky tree.A lovely riffle.Worms are always useful..In again..Another beauty..Same fish just before going back..A great day with lots of trout to the net.Adaline reeling one in..Lochlan and Adaline. They love the river. Hopefully it’ll always be there for them.Success. She decided to return this one.Off home with wet boots and a fishing story!Out myself for a day exploring new water..I had great fishing. After a quiet start it all turned on!Super trout. I recently got some Primal Bold rods for guiding. They are great rods! I got the 5,6 and 7. They all do what they’re meant to do.
I recently did a podcast with Daire and Tom from Ireland on the Fly. I never met Daire but I know Tom quite well from fishing at home. He also spent a good chunk of a season here in NZ where we spent some time on the water together. I enjoyed the craic with lads during the interview and shared some of my thoughts and tactics about NZ fly fishing and told a few stories. One of the topics we chatted about was Irish Lough Style in New Zealand. I’m sure I’ve covered this before on my blog – there’s over 300 entries so I’m bound to repeat myself from time to time. However, I’d like to further explain the rapid evolution away from Irish Lough Style which I experienced here in NZ… This is how it went for me.
As soon as I saw the NZ lakes on my first visit in 2002 I wanted to try lough style on them. I assumed that not many people would have tried it. I assumed it would be deadly. Before I go on, I want to explain what lough style is to me. Basically, it’s a way to cover a lot of water quickly and efficiently – similar to streamer fishing in this regard. To me, it’s a team of 3 or 4 traditional wet flies (a dabbler on the bob, bibio in the middle and a Peter Ross on the point for example) on a 15 to 20 foot leader. It’s usually fished on a floating or intermediate line. It’ best fished in a good wind and wave so that the angler can cover a lot of water quickly (if drifting) with imperfections hidden by the rolling wave. When fishing in little or no wind when the angler needs to slow the retrieve, fish lighter tippet and smaller flies, even if they’re traditional patterns, to me, this is closer to nymphing than how I perceive lough style. This is not what I was talking about in the podcast, I was referring more to fishing in the wind and wave. This is lough style in my book although others may hold a different view.
I remember the first time fishing a team of traditional Irish wet-flies in Mackenzie Country on a windy day. Around 2003 I’d say. Lough style worked well as I fished a rocky shore down with the wind. I was delighted with myself. I realised quickly though that the middle fly really didn’t do much. Maybe catching one in ten fish. So I removed it. For the next while I had a pretty even catch rate on the bob and the point – which were now a bit farther apart with the absence of the middle fly. Then I changed the point fly from a traditional sparsely tied wet-fly to a bead head bugger of some description. Immediately I started catching more on the point fly. The bob was still effective but I questioned its necessity, thinking the point will cover the fish anyway. So, I removed the bob. Within a few days, Irish Lough Style in the wind evolved from a team of 3 flies to a single bugger! To this day, when fishing in the wind I fish a single bugger (or similar) in preference to team of 3 traditional wets.
Where the lines blur a little is in lighter conditions where buggers or streamers are much less useful – they generally work best in the wind or at least cloud cover. In these light conditions I’ll often fish a team of 2 small wet flies. Some might consider this lough style but I don’t, personally. I think it’s nymphing. No need for 3 (or 4) flies unless your buzzer fishing – but that’s hardly lough style, is it? There’s no doubting the efficacy of lough style in Ireland. Taking what I learned in NZ back to Ireland, it didn’t work like I had hoped. I went full circle and ended up back with a team of traditional wets. There’s a reason lough style evolved in Ireland..
Right now winter has landed over here. The weather is cold but there has also been a few sunny, warm days. Guiding has all but finished up for another season. I’m writing this with paint on my hands as I’m waiting for some doors to dry before they get their final coat. This is the time of year when I take on some projects to improve the house – and fish, of course.
In the photos below I’m caught up to early April. The fishing will continue through the winter so lots more to come! Enjoy the photos below. They tell the story of a great week with Bill and Jeff where we managed to stay one step ahead of the weather all week. We had a super trip with lots of trout from a lovely variety of water. Also in the pics is a trip to Mackenzie Country with a few friends from the Wakatipu Anglers Club.
If you’d like to check out my comprehensive range of flies for NZ you can do so here. Also If you’d like to get in touch about guided fly fishing over winter or next season you can check out my website or email me ronan@sexyloops.com.
Tight Lines, Ronan..
Jeff into the first fish from a great week!Now Bill.. Plenty fish around..Day 2.Clear mountain stream....with some big fish!This magnificent fish was over 7lbs.Fishy water!Jeff is in!Solid! Moving up into the wilderness.. Has to be…Bill delivers a nice cast..Then this!Day 3. Some colour which can be a good thing..Jeff into a great 6lb brown..A nice little seatrout for Bill.Day 4, more browns and bows.This one on my new unweighted nymph from Fulling Mill.Always worth carrying a streamer rod! This rainbow ate my new streamer, “Midnight” also available from Fulling Mill.A beautiful bow for Jeff..Day 5. Bow and arrow cast to solid brown.. Got the eat but lost the fish.A lovely morning.Surrounded by willows.. Ideal for a cloudy day.Fishing was good..Last pool of the day and Jeff is into a super trout..In the bag on my trusty Claret..The perfect end to great day.. ..put the raincoats on for the walk out.Day 6. Southland! Lovely.One on my willow grub (Fulling Mill).Bill into something special…Wow! The biggest fish I’ve seen of the Mataura. 7lbs, on my brown nymph blind fished on a long dropper.Lovely..Day 7. After a great few days I was happy to take a gamble on this little gem.Persistence paid off.. Many casts and fly changes.A lovely 5lber eventually took a beetle!Tiny… ..yes, tiny water..Numbers were low but the average was really good. All between 4 and 5lbs..A nice trout for Bill to round off a really great trip. Plenty trout to the net and a few big ones. I managed to stay one step ahead of the weather all week.hmmm… A few days away with Conor, Bryan and Fraser..I love Mackenzie Country..Another for Bryan with Fraser on the net..Lovely..Not many trout but what harm!Call it a day!Day 2.Bryan into one..Not much happening.. time to try somewhere else!I got one here but still dead as feck.There’s always beer!We fished hard but not many to report.Final dayFraser and Bryan worked the water from the boat..I went on foot.. finally I got into some fish and slayed ’em on a size 12 bugger / nymph.Back to work..Happy to see the sun illuminate the river after a cold start!Didn’t take long for Buzz to get stuck in..A super 6lb bow..A beautiful day in the wilderness..The second half was tough.. think we got jumped! But 3 good bows and no complaints!
After a hot and dry summer I was very happy to feel the weather cooling down. Autumn is a lovely time of year to fish as the leaves change colour. Trout also change colour as they darken up before spawning. Their colours can be quite spectacular. We generally get regular hatches on the rivers in April brought on by the cooler temperatures. These can produce some great sport. This year the hatches have been fickle so far, likely due to too much water in the rivers. Fish start to move up rivers and congregate at river mouths in preparation for spawning. This can also lead to great fishing opportunities. I have only a few more bookings for the season so it looks like I’ll have some time to indulge myself! I’m looking forward to that. Locally the rivers are in flood right now and they’re very slow to drop because the land is so saturated. One extreme to the other. It’s no surprise as this season of extremes continues. There’s always somewhere to fish though so I’m not too worried!
It was great to take Bernt Johansson fishing in February! We Have a few mutual friends – Paul and Stefan to name a couple. Bernt is a very successful distance casting competitor and has been part of the sexyloops brotherhood for years. Hopefully we’ll meet again.
Much and February and March are covered in the photos below. It wasn’t always easy but the results were mostly very good. I might actually get up to date with my photos when I next write a blog! This year I’ve always been at least a month behind. Enjoy the pics anyway! They tell the story..
You can check out my flies here. If you’d like to get in touch about guided fly fishing over the remainder of this season, over winter or next season you can contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight lines! Ronan..
Biggsy in action! The most famous of the FARTS.Super bow..Fitz casting to a fish..Another aerial battle!On the Waiau – post the Fjordland adventure with Bryan and Tim..No problem getting down but getting back up was another story!Almost there..I didn’t even catch a fish for my effort!Camp. 2 more fishing days ahead.Thinking outside the box to get away from the many anglers around this season in Southland. We had brilliant fishing and didn’t see a boot print.My kiwi dun was just the ticket..A likely riffle..A cracking fish on my claret 16...he took me to my backing on 5x.Likely water..Tim under the bridge..Last day. Tim with the last fish…..before this southerly screamed in! A good time to call it..John and Bernt.Not easy fishing but we got a couple and had a decent amount of chances.Not sure why my camera went BW!Fishing with Alan for a couple of days..Into a solid trout!Great water..A magnificent 5lber for me on the Hotspot #10.Delighted with this..Alan into one..I love this pool!!!Alan casts to a happy fish..Very nice water..Working a likely pool..A proper pint at the end!Day 2 – chasing something big.. the one in this pic is big!!We saw a few in the morning but then the southerly wind came up and stopped all activity.This kind man gave us a lift back! Happily locked into the back of a strangers truck!! Beats walkin’!Definitely beats walking..One more option back at the truck before we call it a day....Alan got this beauty..Day 1 with Chuan and Kim.. First pool and Kim is in!Then Chuan..Chuan and his fish!Chuan looking “cool”. Obviously.A good start for Kim before the feckin river came up and got dirty. We managed a few more.Plan A was taken so we went to Plan B..It was okay..A good 6lber for Kim. Very welcome during a hard week of fishing.Back he goes.Spectacular!Singapores finest!One for Chuan on my Tussock Cicada.A lovely fish..Not very much happening but what a place to be.A healthy little seatrout for Chuan on my Tussock Cicada.An easy day!But feck, it was tough. I managed one myself right at the end on my Bruiser..My personal best from the Upper Mataura. Over 6lbs.He was right in there beside the reflecting stick. I got him on my kiwi dun.Kim into one..Lovely.. on my new Straggle Nymph.Fishing to a fish..Last day..Men and their shticks.Chuan into one....and another.. Much better this time.Fatty!Back he goes..One of my favourite spots.. Sadly now so overgrown with willows that it’s barely fishable.We ended up loosing this one at the end of a very well fought, technical battle.. Losing fish is generally not a big deal (for me anyway!) but this loss was disappointing. Last action from a tough week!
I usually get the chance to get into Fjordland once or twice a season. I’ve been a visitor to the area since my second trip to NZ back in 2003. I have many great memories from this vast area with lots of my fishing buddies. Wekas stealing our biscuits (I got the blame), melting my boots and socks beside the fire, almost getting stranded in a flood, filming “the man and his fish”, exploring new rivers, assembling a raft with zip ties, duct tape and tent string, catching seatrout, rainbows, browns, kahawai and jack mackerel, and many more… This trip cemented a few more great memories.
The fishing was magnificent as the photos below make pretty clear, but as I get older I think I appreciate this location and others like it even more. It’s a truely pristine environment. Looking around, it’s as though man has had no impact on the area. Frequently, I found myself gazing up the valley with my jaw hanging open, awestruck, expecting a moa to wander past. I think this is what makes it the cream of angling in many ways. Unreal scenery, gin clear water, good numbers fish of an impressive average size, keen to eat dries (and nymphs!). It’s the picture of NZ that many foreign anglers have in their head. Fish & Game have implemented strict controls on some rivers in the area to prevent overfishing and maximise angler satisfaction. I think they’re working very well. That and the sandflies! We had a few days of fishing back in normal NZ after that (next blog). There was certainly a bit of an anticlimax coming from such a magnificent wilderness which compounds why it’s such a special place.
One of the highlights of the trip was randomly bumping into my great friends Robbie and Tom with a couple of their friends. Plenty room for everyone at the backcountry hut! Good food and fine wine, great company, a fire on the beach, a few beers, plenty craic… what’s not to like. A really great trip. Hopefully we’ll get back next season!
I would like to say that Fjordland Outdoors are a fantastic company to deal with. Very professional and accommodating. Great staff and a super boat to get you where ever you need to go.
As always, my Fulling Mill patterns did the business. Mainly the Tussock Cicada and my range of nymphs. All available here.
Plenty spaces still available for next season. It’s filling up quickly so I advise not wasting too much time to secure your spot. Contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website
Tight lines.. Ronan..
Heading across the lake and into the wilderness.The boat across gave us time the appreciate the magnitude of the place!Can’t recommend the folks at Fjordland Outdoors highly enough. Excellent service.And off we go!First look at the river..What a place..It didn’t take too long to find feeding fish..Moving upstream..Bryan working a lovely pool. Clear Fjordland water..Bryan into one.Super brown.Nice bow for me!Searching..Bryan in again..Just love this water..Reel screamers!Some cool looking fungus on the walk back to camp..Time to relax and drink some wine!Lovely!Getting ready for day 2..The river is just as spectacular around every bend..Tim in..One of the better fish over the 2 days..Another healthy rainbow.Looking downstream..Time for lunch..Lunch while watching trout!Back to business..Magnificent!The cream of angling in many ways..Some deep water and the fish were there..Time working some deep water.Bryan puts some scale on this awesome place.Just seeing the river was as good as the fishing.There has to be something on the left..And there was!One for me on my tussock cicada.Magic..Just beautiful ..Then this for me on my brown nymph. Fat!Made my 2 days!Stunning.. Not often do we see red spots on trout from gin clear water.Keep moving upstream enjoying every minute.Fishy!3 huge trees growing unusually close together.Another crossing.This is truely as nature intended it. A pristine environment.Coming the end of 2 great days fishing.One more for Tim.More of this funky stuff..Back at the hut to find these feckers had moved in!Another modest campfire.Heading out on the morning of day 3. Tom and Robbie. A great and totally chance meeting in the wilds of Fjordland.Time to go.. “I’ll be back”
In 8 years guiding I never had a flat tire. Then I got a good one! The tire disintegrated beyond repair. No big deal, just put on the spare. Luckily I had a second spare but it wasn’t on a rim. The problem was getting it onto the spare rim so that I could continue working as normal. I didn’t want to chance going off the grid without a spare tire. The next day was Sunday so we changed the plan and fished locally with the intention of getting my other spare tire put on the rim the following morning once the mechanics opened. 8am on Monday we arrived at the mechanic to have the job done so that we could head into the backcountry. Turned out it was a feckin’ public holiday so we had to spend another day without going too far from home just in case we got another flat! Thankfully, the fishing was good!! 8am on Tuesday we arrived at the mechanic for the second time. Steve had the spare on the rim in jig time and were on the way after 10 minutes. Of course, normally I’d have been on the road an hour earlier. We got to the river to find the first beat occupied. No problem I thought, I wanted the 2nd beat anyway.. We got there to find we had just been beaten to that one too! Plan C was decent but we had a big fish in mind and it didn’t really cut the mustard. We waited 4 hours and then fished behind the anglers on our favoured beat. We found 2 fish, both of whom almost took the fly… but didn’t. That feckin’ flat tire really changed how our fishing unfolded. Such is life. I got a full new set since!
You can check out many of my flies over on the Fulling Mill website. I have 14 patterns available, all tried and trusted for NZ and they’ve been pretty successful around the world too.
Plenty spots available for next season and bookings are coming in regularly. Feel free to get in touch. You can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight lines – Ronan..
Alun and John.We had a decent week of fishing but not much came easy.Beautiful rainbow.Fishing buddies!Wild mint in flower.John into a bog bow.He did well to keep this 6lber out of the snags.Moving on up.The wildlife!Walking down..John into one.John with one..A super 6lber for Alun.Then this. A very big sea trout ate my tussock cicada.Over 8lbs.. Not sure the pic does her justice..Alun took this as I was releasing her. Such a perfect specimen.Good sport on the lakes..John had great action in this corner!A lovely place to spend a day but the fish were not active at all..Stunning..John.A lovely scene..Hard not to take lots of photos here..One for Alun – finally!!Out with Marcus. We walked 22.7 kilometres for one chance.Sunflowers. Nice to see a field with something other than cows and sheep!Lovely fish..We had a good morning but things went quiet in the afternoon..6.5Maniototo backwaters. I love ’em!Walking back....to spend some time on a small stream before the end of the day. 2 fish in this scene!They both ate but neither made it to the net..This 5lber did though..Nice to see a stream full of water after so much low water this summer.Love this shot!Onslow.Otago shadows.More shadowy hills..A beat Marcus and I both love..Searching..A stunning fresh seatrout!So often they arrive with serious scars. Sharks? Seals? Who knows..A solid brown.Another seatrout.A powerful paddle!One on my highcountry green cicada.Flowers.The flat tire that changed the week!!!Wildlife.A beauty from a highcountry tarn.Super colour.The scenic drive home.My great friend Bob, catching his birthday fish!Giving him stick!Bobs birthday lunch with me and Owen.Birthday team..Owen into one!A leisurely fish..Grubs!Time for a fly change.Owen working some nice water.