Ronan's Report

It’s June now but it’s mild and lovely. I’m in the workshop most days building a fly tying desk for myself. I’ll write a blog about the whole build. I’m over three quarters way through and enjoying the whole process. This is a time of year I really love. Little to no guiding, I step back from work. I look after the kids, the house, the garden, make stuff in the workshop, travel and fish. I sort of retire for 4 months. The seasonal nature of the job means I have no choice. I think it’s the best thing about being a guide down here near the bottom of the South Island.

Recently I said goodby to my great old friend Bob Toffler. Those of you who’ve been on here over the years will have been familiar with him. Many of my friends knew him and had great time for him too. I met him over 25 years ago in the US and we were great friends from the start. I’ll compile some photos and write a piece about him in the near future. I’lll miss him!

The Singaporean gang have recruited a new member to the party. Tuck. We had a good trip around Southland and a bit locally. Nice thing about having Tuck around was his “friends” took the piss out of him more than me. Quite a relief.. Great craic with Singapores finest as always..

The big fish theme continued through March and April with quite a few fish between 8 and 8.5. It’s so good to see these tanks sliding into the net. Myself and Robbie saw a few on a couple of still-waters, sighted and blind taken on dries, nymphs and buggers depending on conditions.

I hope to get out soon with Jeff and Robbie, probably not at the same time but who knows, for a bit of winter fishing. It’s been good so far. Check out my flies over on Fulling Mill. If you’d like book a trip you can get in touch on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

My thoughts as always are with the people of Gaza and now Lebanon. One genocide isn’t enough for you know who..

Tight lines… Ronan..

The season is winding down now with only a few more days booked in. I like this time of the season where I can step back and relax a little. Today I’ve spent some time at the tying desk trying to finalise a few more patterns for Fulling Mill. I’m almost there so hopefully I’ll have a few new patterns in next seasons catalog. Thinking about the season thats been; it was an amazing one for big fish. The best yet I’d say – and the cream of the crop are all in this blog. I like to see one elusive double figure fish each season. I usually do but not always. This season there were 3. They all have a great story.

Steve’s 12lber. Chris, Nick and myself were looking after Joe, Will and Steve for a week. We swapped around the guide / angler combo each day. It was an epic week of adventurous, full-on fishing. Lots of fun with a super crew. On the last day Steve and I were together. We arrived at the river at a respectable time but it was very busy with anglers on all the accesses. We killed time for a few hours fishing unproductive water and then went in behind another angler. He was a few hours ahead of us at this stage. We took our time as we moved up river. I just wanted to find one feeding fish. We found 2. The first wasn’t doing much but we persisted for about an hour. Steve made a few great shots to that fish but no joy. We continued slowly until another opportunity arose. A fish was cruising up and down a cut bank. It was generally hard to see him so we took a safe position well back to get a good read on his beat. He was cruising up and down about 50m of bank. On the first approach we went in my green cicada. Once the fish turned at the bottom of his beat we followed. Our approach was ultra cautious because he was hard to see – we were waiting on a rise to give his position away. The rise came – it was well up the beat so we chased, running up the bank with quiet footfalls. The fish was travelling up much faster than we initially thought. He came into view and slowed down at a choke point. This was our chance. Steve made a good shot and the fish came to the fly but rejected. “Reset” I said. We went back to the start, changed to the tussock cicada and tried again. We waited. The fish rose at the bottom of his beat and we could see him briefly as he turned to travel back up. Once again we chased quietly. Once again he slowed at the same choke point and Steve made another good shot. The fish came to the fly – put his nose on it – and rejected. This time he turned and quickly swam down river looking for us (they do that). We both tucked and rolled quietly away from the bank hoping he didn’t see us. We went back to the start again – reset. I was worried that he was spooked – he was certainly onto us. We waited. No sign. Eventually I decided we should move up a little. There he was, still rising on the upper part of his beat. This time we went in armed with Mcphails blowfly. We followed the fish as he approached the choke point. When he slowed down Steve put in another good shot and the fish swung out and confidently ate the blowfly. A well timed strike and it was all on. The fish was heavy and used his weight and power to bulldoze under the high bank. The rod tip was under water keeping the fish under control and away from the undercut. After a pretty stressful fight I got the net under the fish well downstream of where Steve hooked it. Relief, excitement, exhilaration. This was teamwork and we both played our parts. The tactics were right, the casts were good. A pursuit of happiness that neither of us will forget.

Marcus’s 12lber. By 5pm on day 2 we still didn’t have a fish in the net. On day one on this river system the conditions were terrible. Glaring light from white clouds. We could rarely see well and didn’t get any proper shots. Marcus did hook one on the blind but the leader broke somewhere in the middle of a 3x section. We have no idea why. We do know it was a big fish. Day 2 was crazy. So many things happened that I don’t think I can remember them in the correct order. Without going into too much detail I’ll give you a quick rundown of the day..

We broke in a very big fish early on through some really awful luck. We saw him. An incredibly fat lump of copper. That one hurt. Marcus was almost in tears. He tried to explain to me what he was feeling, “it’s called emotion, Marcus” I said. We laughed. We had multiple eats which just didn’t connect, then a loss – not all big but some were certainly top end. It got to the point that it felt like there was a higher power just saying “no, not today fellas”. We had landed a fish over 10lbs on the first day of the trip so we figured the fishing gods had decided that was enough for us – which we understood. We continued regardless. Then we had a fella fly his drone over to us and chase the trout we were fishing for around the pool. A karearea made a half attempt of attacking it. I wish he succeeded! The drone pilots camp was about a kilometre away. I roared politely to ask him to take his drone off the river. Thankfully he did although the damage was done. We got to the end of the beat by about 4pm. No fish. We walked back to the pool where we had most action. Fish were rising again, although cautiously. They were occasionally refusing real cicadas. We worked our way through the opportunities and hooked and landed 3 from 3. Truely incredible fish. 8.5, 9.5 and 12. All in about 45 minutes and all on my Highcountry Green Cicada. The condition of the first two fish was absolutely magnificent. I totally lost my shit with my Mcleans weigh net trying to weigh the second fish because all the increments wore off. Each time I’d try to count the increments the fish would jiggle as I got near the end – its was extra frustrating because it was so near the 10lb mark and I couldn’t tell if it was over it or under it. The quality of those nets is pretty crap these days. Must get a digital scale. Anyway, back to the fishing – had we landed even one fish during the day we would not have gone back to that pool. I think the fishing gods admired our persistence and paid us off in style. We were absolutely blown away. Especially to catch a 12lber. Fish this size are so rare in NZ, it’s hard for me to grasp that there’s 2 in this blog. Such a rollercoaster of emotions over the 2 days with Marcus. The highs of hooking a large brown on a dry followed by the devastation of a break or a loss. These are no ordinary fish, many would be considered a fish of a lifetime for most anglers, hence the heartbreak when we lose these beauties and the thrilling highs when we succeed.

Lots more to come from this season in my next blog – more big fish too. The pics below take me up to mid March. I limit each blog to about 60 images so that it’s easy to see them all without getting too bored! Still some gaps next season if the USI don’t bring us to WW3. You can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

To see my flies over on Fulling Mill click here.

To quote Kurt Cobain, “Peace, Love, Empathy”.. Ronan..

The summer is coming to an end over here. March 1st always seems to land with a cold day. We had a very cold summer in general with plenty rain. No complaints about that from me! It kept the rivers nice and full and cool. New Zealand weather is always uncertain and unreliable. Adverse weather can present itself at any time. It’s another reason to brush up on casting before making a trip down here. Being able to deal with the wind will give you a huge advantage. Probably the best way to practice casting for windy days is to practice distance casting and hauling – this will give you the required line speed. Dealing with the wind is all about line speed and being able to cast over either shoulder – or with your non-dominant hand (which I can’t!!). Accuracy and presentation is also vital to consistent success – and speed, very underrated, especially on stillwaters for lake edge cruisers. How quickly can you get your fly off the rod and onto the water? Paul has lots of very helpful casting videos on his site. He may be able to fit you in for a lesson online which would be even better. Some of my clients have dramatically improved with Paul’s online lessons. I was in the Battleship with Paul while he gave one of his lessons. I was surprised at how well it works and I highly recommend it.

My good friend Bob had to go home early this year for a very important bar mitzvah, so I didn’t take him out for his birthday like I usually do. We did catch up a few times while he was here though. I’ve known Bob since before my first visit to NZ – so for over 25 years. We’ve hung out in a few countries and caught plenty fish together. Lots of fun over the years. He’s no spring chicken now but he still throws a beautiful line and loves our game. I’m looking forward to catching up again next season..

Chris Dore, Nick Reygaert and myself did our annual 7 day stint with Steve, Joe and Will from the US. This I look forwards to every season. It’s an intense week where we alternate the guide / client combo each day. We mix it up with heli and vehicle and go hard every day. The craic is always good! I’ve added some pics below from a very memorable day with Joe. Certainly one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. The fish were looking up and we had the right fly on for the occasion! More to come from that week in my next blog including a story about a monster..

To check out my range of flies at Fulling Mill click here. Plenty time to stock up on my 16 claret and 14 kiwi dun – both deadly for late season fishing down here. There’s good range to choose from besides too. Next season is filling up quickly with January, February and March already full. Feel free to get in touch at ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

Peace, Ronan

I’ve never know a season to hurtle past as fast as this one. It feels like it’s just begun but we’re into late January already. It’s a busy time, I just finished a 12 day trip a couple of days ago and in an hour I’m heading off to pick up a mate from the airport for a 5 day mission into Southland. My boxes are well stocked and I just installed a new rod holding system in the back of the Hilux. Good use of a day off!

The highlight of the season so far was taking Lochlan out for a fish a few weeks back. He’s very keen now even though his attention span rarely lasts more than 2 hours. Good enough for a 6 year old. Part of the reason he enjoys it is because it sometimes involves the pub afterwards for a game of pool, a glass of apple juice and a bag of chips – but more importantly there’s always a little 4 wheel driving. He gets excited when I flick it into 4 wheel drive and if we go for a river crossing he insists on low range with the rear locker engaged. He knows where the buttons are so I can’t fake it. This is what watching 4×4 24-7 most evening will do!

We went to a few pools on the local river but there wasn’t much happening. Lochlan was spinning the deep pools while I fished the riffles, I sighted one on a drop off which I covered. It totally ignored my fly but when I picked up to recast it turned and chased my nymph. I called Lochlan to come up hoping it would repeat the chase. As luck would have it, his cast was spot on. As he reeled in, the fish once again turned and chased but this time nailed the soft plastic. There’s only so much you can tell a 6yo about playing a fish. I just hoped for the best as he forcibly reeled the trout in. Great excitement as the fish went into my net – just as the hook broke. What a beautiful moment. It was his best fish to date and he loved every second of it.. as did I. “I can’t believe that just happened” he said.

My flies over at Fulling Mill available here or in store at Patagonia Queenstown. Some gaps in April and throughout the winter. Next season is filling fast. Also have a couple of days available mid February due to a cancellation.

Right, I gotta go! Places to go and fish to catch! Tight lines and Free Palestine. Ronan..

The photos below take me up to about mid November. A good mix of fishing with a few absolute brutes in the mix. Some great fish around this season. No doubles and nothing mousy (yet) but healthy numbers of really good quality trout up to 8lbs. Some seasons we don’t see many of those. Prospects are good for more and hopefully bigger – especially if this mouse plague comes to fruition!

This season is mostly full now but I have space in April. Next season is filling up too so if you’re thinking about a trip feel free to get in touch for a chat or to book. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

My range of flies with Fulling Mill can be seen here. Still time to stock up on willow grubs and cicadas!

The state of the world is weighing on me a little right now. I don’t feel like writing but I want to share these pics before the backlog gets too much!

Good luck to the hunger strikers and free Palestine. Ronan..

I had great few days fishing with Graeme down south in early October. The highlight was 2 days on a lake we both wanted to explore. I had a tiny bit of info about it but it was really a blank canvas for both of us. The challenge in exploring a new lake is how to approach it. There were 4 main types of water – stream mouths, shallow reedy bays, native scrub shorelines and beaches. We spent time on each and covered most of the lake over two days. To our surprise, the stream mouths were totally dead. The reedy bays were okay on day 1 but very dead on day 2 – apart from a superb 7lber, the only fish we moved from the reeds that day. The native scrub shorelines were okay but we needed to cover a lot of water to find fish. The beaches were consistently good and really beautiful to fish. Sight fishing would be possible from the beaches although we got them all blind fishing – mostly with my Bruiser pattern from Fulling Mill. The lake was weird though. In a good way. It didn’t feel like fishing for trout for me. I felt like I was chasing black bass in another country! Not a single fish rose in 2 days which compounded my feelings. We had calm conditions at times with chironomid hatching but nothing on top. This made the search more challenging because there were no clues. We had good success all up with 10 fish for the 2 days. We worked for them. We were on the water early each day and fished til almost dark each day. Without fish rising or the sight fishing option we had to continuously cast and cover water each day – mostly from the drifting boat. I grew up with this type of marathon fly fishing and I love it. For many anglers it’s too much, too much like a workout and I get that. It is a work out but sometimes it’s the only way. The lake was too high to wade any of the shorelines apart from the beaches. It would be a very different place in low water. I’m looking forward to another visit.

I’ve included some pics from last winter – Some great days out guiding. Other days with my kids and with friends and sometimes both together. Lochlan and Adaline are both regularly catching a few fish now. Lochlan seems more interested than Adaline at this stage – mainly because we sometimes go for a pint and a game of pool afterwards. Not sure why he’d enjoy the pub?!

January, February and March are full but besides that I have some availability. Feel free to get in touch at ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website . To have a look at my range of flies over at Fulling Mill click here.

Tight lines and Free Palestine, Ronan..

With each trip to Temenggor I get a little wiser, a little more confident and a little better. This was my 3rd trip and I felt like it was time to apply what I had learned from past trips. I remember how I was on my first trip. Paul had advised me on practicing the snakehead cast which I did a little of, but I’m no good at practicing. I need to do my practicing on the water – right or wrong, thats how I am. I remember that a successful cast was landing the fly just in front of the fish between 1 and 2 seconds after he rises to take a gulp of air. This was my biggest failing on my first trip. In my head, this was virtually no time and I continued to rush the shot – time and time again. I wasn’t allowing the backcast to straighten, I was just forcing the shot in under a second and making a balls of it. The first trip was 11 days of fishing. In that time I landed one snakehead and 2 gourami. Gourami fishing is different, less time critical with the shot and a lot like trout fishing with dries. I’ll get back to that later maybe, but one snakehead in 11 days! The truth is I misjudged how much time I had to make that all critical shot. 2 seconds is not nothing. There’s time there to take your time – relatively speaking. I remember in my college days in Letterfrack Furniture College one of my classmates had a note above his workbench reading “Make haste, slowly”. Well, the snakehead cast is sort of like that. In fact, if I gave myself 3 seconds on every opportunity on that first trip I think I’d have done better because now and again a fish stays near the surface for a little longer.

My second trip was short – just 3 days. It’s really not enough. From the start I was a little on the back foot because I know how hard it is to succeed. However I did pretty well. I didn’t land a fish but I had 10 events which broke down as 1 lost (trout strike!), 8 chases and 1 gourami incident. Paul talks about the red zone and the yellow zone with regards to the shot. Landing the fly in the red zone is like hitting a saucer. The yellow zone is like hitting the 1 foot circle around the saucer. Hitting the red zone will usually get a result. Very often an eat, at least a chase but could also get you nothing. Hitting the yellow zone might get you a chase but usually nothing at all – but sometimes it’s good enough. One of the joys is simply putting the fly exactly where you aim it. If you succeed in that, whether you catch or not, you’ve done your bit – as long as you’ve been fast enough of course. After the cast you must gloop the surface popper right away to get the fishes attention and then keep stripping causing surface disturbance hoping there’s a snakehead behind it about to burst onto the fly.

My 3rd trip. Paul picked me up in Penang and after a couple of hours we were hauling bags, beer and petrol down the dilapidated Belum steps. The steps are long and steep, dark, very degraded and dodgy as feck, but it’s a rite of passage. After a number of trips up and down the steps of doom, Paul took the Rocket C across the pitch dark lake to the Battleship. From there we motored down the lake to make base – two boats in tow. It was so good to be hanging out with my great friend again. Like no time had passed since the last time – which was 7 years ago. Time really is flying by. We caught up with some fine wine, French potato hotpot, beer and a little rum. The craic was great as we chatted about old times and current.

Day 1 was a slow start after all that, but not like old times where we were known to occasionally miss the entire next day! Day 1 was lively on the water. There were free risers in many of the locations we stopped at. I felt pretty composed and ready to make haste, slowly. I had a few yellow zone shots which had some big chases but no eat. Then nailed a red zone shot and glooped away the fly to watch an explosive take from a solid snakehead. No trout strike, I think I got it all pretty bang on – including the fight. Fish in the net on day 1. I was delighted. So was Paul. We continued that day into darkness as we would every day. I got lots of opportunities and many chases, I can’t remember how many. At the end of the day, last light I got another snakehead from a yellow zone cast. The last light can be great. Fish rise less frequently but tend to stay near the surface for a little longer.

Days 2, 3 and 4 were slow. There were opportunities every day though. Sometimes to free risers, sometimes to snakehead with babies. If you know nothing about this fishery there are 2 main ways to catch snakehead. One is by targeting free risers. Snakehead can breathe air into their lungs by taking a gulp of air from the surface. This gives the angler a visual. If you’re lucky, you’ll see the fish in the murky water before they break the surface to breathe. This will give you an extra moment to prepare your shot. However if you hit the water before they breathe you’ll spook them so you must resist the urge to cast too soon. The shot must be delivered after they breathe. The other way to target them is when they’re with babies. The mother and father snakehead protect their brood of up to a couple of hundred (I’m guessing) baby snakehead. The young ones fizzle on the surface very frequently and so we can track them. They tend to travel from stump to stump if they’re in the shallows so we can try our best to predict where they’re heading and where they’ll pop up next. All the while were waiting for either of the parents to come up to breathe. When they do thats our shot. They are also likely to be in totally open water which can make them a little harder to track. Same as for a free riser, the shot must be fast and accurate. When the fish is released they go back to their family. I watched this happen after Paul caught one off babies. The other parent and babies stay close by (the babies continue to regularly fizzle on the surface as they breathe). Shortly after the release we watched both parents emerge together. Paul believes they have a scent unique to the family to help them to stay together.

Like many great fishing locations, sometimes it’s important to look around you. This is an area of wild, dense rainforest and immense beauty. There are elephants, lots of them. We saw fresh sign every day. There are tigers, not many but they are around. A large paw print was found near Belum resort just recently. Birds, frogs, lizards, pigs, monkeys are all present and now and again we see them. Paul’s method of hunting out snakehead involves constantly moving. We’re travelling along shores for kilometres or moving quickly across open water to search new ground. The whole time getting to see many facets of this beautiful wilderness or listening to the occasional crash or trumpet from an elephant or a screech from a monkey. The sounds can be as dramatic and the visuals.

The Battleship is luxurious. When we get back in darkness after a long day there’s a cold beer (or many) in the fridge. Paul has a well equipped galley kitchen where he can whip up some Chinese hotpot or similar. There’s a warm lake which doubles as a bath – just don’t dive in or you may get impaled on a pointed stump! You can sleep in a hammock or a bed – I chose the hammock. Good internet, plenty chargers and battery power. It’s very well set up. There’s a fish tank which doubles as a TV. I spent many hours watching the antics of the little and the large gouramis. They’d eat little chironomid off the surface attracted by the light over the tank. Sometimes they’d get a more substantial fly like a termite. They enjoyed cheese and chocolate too or a bite of one of the plants growing in the tank. Now and again the big one would nudge the little one out of the way but in general they had a peaceful coexistence in the tank. Paul has probably released the large one by now as he was reaching the upper size limit for the tank.

Day 5. I only had a few hours to fish before making the journey to the airport to fly back to NZ. The Battleship was moored on a stump on the outside of a large expanse of stumps. Free risers like this type of water and this spot in particular was a favourite of Paul’s. We checked it out the previous 2 evenings but it was pretty quiet. On this last morning it was very lively. There were 2 sets of babies but we worked mainly on the free risers. There was another variable I learned on this last morning. I had noticed it before but this time in particular. That’s the angle the fish goes back down at after rising. The shallower the angle the better because that means they’re nearer the surface for longer. On this morning most of the fish were going down at very steep angles so even red zone shots were not being noticed. I felt like the culmination of all my experience had come together and I fished well. I made many shots where I put the fly exactly where I wanted to but they did not result in as much as a chase. However I felt good about my shots and thats very important because it’s all about the shot!

Paul rarely fished over the 4.5 days. He very kindly gave me most of the opportunities. We could have fished separately in the 2 boats but Paul decided we’d fish together even though I did most of the fishing!! Aside from the fishing this was a great way for the two of us to catch up and have a laugh. We kept hydrated every day with jungle juice instead of beer which was a first for us! Maybe we’re getting a little sense!? I’m not so sure. But one thing I am sure of is that I loved every minute of it and I hope to get back before Paul sets sail on his round the world adventure – once he learns to sail. I could help him with that but I have a pretty bad track record in yachts.

Paul knows this fishery inside out now. He’s been there 10 years and fished it over 3000 days. He understands the fish and the fishing, boat handling too. Whether it’s manoeuvring the boat around stumps or tracking a snakehead on babies, Paul’s boat handling is second to none. Traveling in pitch black is no trouble either due to his knowledge of the lake. He barely ever hits stumps at speed! I learned a couple of new knots while I was there. Paul fishes the rigs he fishes after thorough testing, so he knows the setups are as strong as they can be – usually factoring in a fuse so the fly line doesn’t break. His snakehead cast is now pretty legendary and is a pleasure to watch him execute it. Fly tying is another aspect. The fly that Paul ties is a popper pattern. It has some lead tied in on the bend of the hook to pull the fly down a bit in the water ensuring the first “gloop” is a good one. The fly itself resembles a frog or a small fish. It’s a pattern that has evolved over time and it works! If you’re thinking about an adventurous, challenging and very different type of fly fishing trip I highly recommend this…

On the Journey home I read Jungle Blues by Stu Tripney. Paul loaned me his copy. I loved it. I have no doubt that part of my enjoyment came from knowing the author, knowing Paul who much of the book was about and knowing the fishery he was talking about. In the book, Stu was tearing around the Jungle in a boat named after myself! It’s only the 5th book I’ve read so you should be happy, Stu (if you see this!)!! Although I haven’t quite finished it yet.. but I will!

Back in NZ now and the new season is underway. I’ve had a superb start exploring two new waters. More on that later. I still have some availability throughout the season apart from January, February and March.

Plenty time to stock up on my range of flies for New Zealand available from Fulling Mill. The flies are tried and trusted by myself and many others over here. You can see the full range here.

Tight Lines and Free Palestine, Ronan..

Every day for nearly 700 days now, I wake and check in on the Gaza situation. Every day I’m hoping for some good news but it keeps getting worse. This genocide is horrific on many levels. The Palestinian people are being wiped out for us all to see. They’re being starved, bombed, sniped – nothing is off limits, there’s no low the oppressor will not go to.. They receive the tiniest amount of aid and run the gauntlet to get it. Over a thousand dead and thousands wounded from bullets and tank shells at GHF aid sites. I just watched a video after a bombing at a water distribution point. At least 10 dead, mostly children. We’ve all seen the images and videos. We all know it’s happening. It’s sickening to hear the pro-genocide spokespeople swearing unashamedly that they don’t target children or civilians when it’s glaringly obvious that they do. We see the videos every day. I have not seen a single image of a dead armed combatant in the conflict so far. I’ve only seen dead civilians. I have listened to so many of the testimonies from medical professionals who worked on the ground, people like Victoria Rose or Mark Perlmutter. Most of them never treated a soldier – only civilians and mostly children. America has enabled this. Encouraged it. A constant supply of bombs and equipment to carry out the genocide. If you speak in solidarity with Palestine they label you a terrorist or an antisemite – it’s the same in England and much of Europe. To enter the US now you can’t have anything negative (meaning true) about Israel in your social media accounts. This blatant fascist propaganda (or is it bullying / intimidation? – same thing I suppose) is way beyond anything I could have imagined. It’s a very worrying direction we’re heading in.

In Gaza about 250 journalists have been murdered, hundreds of medical staff and aid workers killed, all the hospitals have been bombed, schools, kindergartens, churches, bakeries and universities all destroyed, 90% of Gaza is in ruins. my mind is so full of specific cases which I want to mention but I’d be here all day. I’m really not sure what I want to say but I want to make my position clear. I want Palestinians to have the same freedom I have. I want this genocide to end. I want the war criminals to be held to account but I know they never will.

On a personal level I have really struggled with this genocide. I feel guilty even saying that with the hardships the Palestinians are facing. But none the less, I have struggled with this. I have struggled with the inaction and empty words from our elected governments. They do not represent us. They do not work for us. The people are mostly united against genocide but our governments do nothing meaningful to end it – and they could. Mainstream media is a joke and I refuse to engage. I struggle with the US involvement. I love the States. I have been so many times since my early 20s and I have nothing but respect for America and the Americans I’ve met along the way. But, Israel runs the US government and the American people have no choice. American tax dollars are funding this genocide. This US / Israeli alliance has changed the face of war. My conspiracy theorist side thinks it’s on purpose. War is no longer soldier vs soldier, it’s soldier vs unarmed civilian. IDF soldiers (if you can call them soldiers?) in Gaza have no morals, no discipline, no professionalism – just child murdering hatred. Enough hatred to empty 355 bullets into a 6 year old girl called Hind Rajab. Is this the soldier of the future?

One of many components of the Zionist propaganda campaign is the use (overuse) of the label antisemitism. You just have to oppose Israel and the idiots are screaming antisemitism. This is dangerous because antisemitism is a terrible form of racism which I’m very much against. It’s not antisemitic to oppose Israel or zionism. Israel is committing genocide and we must oppose that. I feel for the good jews of the world who’ve seen their religion hijacked and dragged through the mud by these genocidal maniacs. Israel has done more in the last 700 days (one could argue 75 years) to promote antisemitism than any people in any period of history. It’s not jews who are committing genocide (well, it is but..) it’s the Israelis and I don’t care what religion they are – fuck all people do. I care that innocent men and women, children and babies are dying on mass every day at the hands of the Israeli occupation. Any person accusing another of antisemitism for opposing genocide, or for wishing the best for Palestinians needs to ask themselves some serious questions. I was at the receiving end of this nonsense myself. I had a member of one of my fly fishing fraternities accuse me of being racist and antisemitic amongst other things in a bid to ruin my career – the accusation was based on 2 paragraphs from previous blogs showing support for Palestine and calling out Israeli war crimes. What I wrote was the truth. I was dragged through a long and stressful complaints process to clear my name. Did the accuser really think I was racist and antisemitic? I doubt it, just a little zionist protecting Israel from the truth by making false but very serious accusations. It’s in their playbook.

I don’t know what the future holds for the people of Gaza. Even if it ended tomorrow the trauma of what they’ve endured will never go away. I can’t imagine what they’ve seen, how they’ve been hurt physically and emotionally. I regularly notice the whine of drones overhead in the videos. This is more psychological torture which for many will never go away. I can only guess at the fear that noise will instil for ever more. Like most of us, I want this to end. I want to wake up and not see images of dead, starved and dismembered children and babies, women and men. But with things now escalating in the West Bank thats not likely to happen soon. A massive increase in land theft and violence by zionist settlers with full backing and support of the police and army. Israel is totally out of control. They act with absolute impunity as they attack many of their surrounding countries and Palestine. Can anyone put an end to this? The European and US complicity is hard to wrap my head around. Not even a token sanction. The bribery is obvious with much of that info available but I suspect a darker side too with blackmail, death threats, who knows. There’s no low Israel won’t go to, thats one thing I’ve learned.

What can we do? I have chosen to boycott everything with links to zionism or Israel. Donations to aid agencies is another way to help – although thats a tough one since no aid has been allowed in since early march as a means to starve the population into submission or death. Don’t be silent – silence can only help the oppressor. Use your voice, social media, any avenue you have to make others aware of the genocide. Contact our elected officials and demand real sanctions. March. Whatever we can do, we should do. It’s taken me a long time to summon the courage to write this. Of course standing against genocide should not take courage but in this world right now, it does. I think I can reach a few more people here than on Facebook. I’m so heavily shadow banned on there. I’m sure very few people see my posts apart from a handful of likeminded people. It’s smart algorithm they use to make us feel like were reaching a few and having our say when were only preaching to the converted.

There’s so much more I’d like to mention here – the 4 thousand Palestinians in administrative detention, held without crime or conviction (hostages). The torture they endure, Including Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, held for about 200 days now whose only crime was not leaving his patients when the IDF raided his hospital. There are a lot of victims here; the Palestinians, the American tax payer, Activists against genocide being accused of terrorism or antisemitism and victims within Israel too. It’s hard to imagine the Israelis continuing to bomb many of their neighbours without any serious retaliation from them. We all saw what Iran can do. No wonder Israel wanted a ceasefire. It’s harder against a nation with an actual army. My point is, how can Israels constant aggression and disregard for any sort of law possibly bring them peace and security? Much of the world is so upside down now that logic is lost. We have people who deserve the Nobel peace prize being sanctioned while child murderers nominate pedophiles for the same prize. Irish band, Kneecap end up in the English courts for holding a flag while a genocide continues with the support of the same government that prosecuted them. Humanitarian aid organisations are removed from Gaza to be replaced by US / Israeli aid (GHF) – Which shoots dead at least 30 starving Palestinians every day. The UN had 400 distribution points, the GHF has 4. 100,000 tonnes of explosives dumped on Gaza – 50 kilos per Gazan – the equivalent of 5 nuclear bombs like Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Israelis are mostly of European decent. They have no ancestral lineage to Palestine while Palestinians are semites with ancestral and cultural connections to the land. Like I said, It’s all upside down.

Just in the week or so since I started writing this, things have gotten even worse – if that’s possible. It’s clear now that many Palestinians have endured the hunger until they can no more. That time is now and people – mostly young children are dying of starvation every day. No baby is formula allowed in – it’s actually confiscated from doctors at customs, no food, no medical supplies, only minimal water and aid laced with drugs and bullets…

What has happened to Israeli people? How is that a people who survived a genocide can perpetrate one against the very people who welcomed them in? “never again” we hear a lot but I guess that’s only for them. How is that most Israelis are supporting the genocide? Their indoctrinated feelings towards the Arab world is plain to see. American and European complicity is at a governmental level, but with Israel, the current government seems to be an accurate reflection of Israeli society.

I have traveled in Jordan. I spent 2 weeks there about 8 years ago with my wife. We met some amazing people – most of whom were Palestinian refugees. We were met with kindness and respect at every turn. For a lot of my life I’ve been led to believe that the Arabs are the enemy. At times I sort of believed it. I’ve seen the truth for a long time but it’s never been as clear as it is now.

We’ve all see the horrors on our phones – and if you haven’t, you should. I have seen people, always unarmed civilians, being burned to death, blown to pieces, shot, starved and more. It’s a holocaust. The death tole they say is 58000 but the true figure is likely closer to 300,000. This must end.

I could go on but that’ll do for now. It’s important that we exercise our right to free speech while we still can. This is my opinion.

Free Palestine. Peace. Ronan..

As the world descends into chaos, here’s a chance to step into a positive world where fish are feeding and people are friendly. I’m horrified by what’s going on right now. The continuous lies, genocide, hypocrisy and double standards.. but right now here’s a look back at my NZ summer. This blog takes me up to the end of March.

While fishing well out in the backcountry with Marcus we had an unexpected encounter. We had about 2kms left before the fishing ends on this wilderness stream. Upstream I couldn’t make out whether I was looking at was a camouflaged side by side or a rock! As we got closer it was indeed a side by side (4×4, 2 seater vehicle). “Shite”, I thought. “Probably a fisherman?”. When we got to the vehicle we found no evidence of it being an angler but there were no rifle cases either so the jury was out! We decided to continue and hope for the best. Just as we started to make our way upstream a spritely fella came jogging over the hill wearing a fly vest but without a rod. We went over for a chat. It turned out to be Bruce Masson. He’s about 80 I think. Bruce was the man behind the Trophy Trout videos from about 30 years ago. They’re still highly regarded fishing films today and inspired many anglers including myself. Bruce had fished the water above us so that was the end of the day for us. We didn’t mind, it was so good to meet this man. He was fishing with his wife and they had landed a few fish, she was still upstream waiting for him to come back with the vehicle. Bruce has some incredible access to this backcountry area. We had an enjoyable chat about fishing past and present and spoke of some mutual friends. Over the years I have met and gotten to know many people involved with this production, Robbie Mcphee, Bob Wyatt, Chris Jackson and more. I felt quite honoured to meet Bruce. The man behind it all. It was especially great to meet him randomly in this wilderness while he was doing what he loves. Hopefully we’ll meet again!

Next season is filling up fast! January and February are full, March almost full, but there’s still lots of room in the other months. To have a look at my flies which were great for me this season you can check out this link. You can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

Tight lines, Ronan..

One of the highlights of this season for me was mid summer dry fly action. Even in summer it’s hard for me not to fish a nymph. This summer though, I had so many days where the single dry rig was the only one to step up for the shots. I’m happy to catch fish on any fly or tactic but there’s no denying how great it is to watch a trout, preferably a big trout, coming up to take a dry. My cicadas were really great and accounted for some very big trout over the summer. No doubles this season (yet!?!) but we saw a few nines in the net and lots of other really top end trout. The photos below take me up to early February so there’s more summer stuff coming later. I’m always a couple of months behind but what harm!!

Myself and Robbie caught up for a few days fishing after a long time of not catching up at all! Life gets away on us sometimes. Robbie caught all the big ones – no surprise there! We had some full on fishing, mostly on dries. One funny day where every time we decided to call it a day, another fish would rise. We were on the river til late that eve. We explored some new water from an excellent new access for me.

We’re now into the last month of the regular season over here. The fishing has been pretty tough locally. Some great days but more tough days than I’d expect for this time of year. The hatches have been pretty minimal so far but there’s a few weeks left. April has the most dependable hatches of the season so I really hope it winds up for the next few weeks.

I have the next few days to fish myself. No plan as yet. I’ll decide in the morning!

For a look at my patterns available over at Fulling Mill you can check out this link. They’re also available in store at Patagonia Queenstown.

Next season is filling up fast. Feel free to get in touch with any enquiries or to make a booking. You can find me on my website or email – ronan@sexyloops.com

Tight Lines, Ronan..