Ronan's Report

Luck was on my side for the past 10 days.. or at least thats what Paul, Sean and Matt thought. They were right.  Good things just happened for me recently and it all started after getting lucky one night in Queenstown.. A fantastic trip to fjordland followed, I had many fish up to 7lbs. After fjordland 4 of us piled into matts little Ford Laser and headed north in search of big fish. I won the rock scissors paper competition so i decided to drive. With all the worldly possessions of 4 lads in the car the drivers seat was the most comfortable place to be!! (except for Sean’s unavoidable farts fueled by chilly and beans which we ate every night) I won just about all the rock scissors paper competitions on the trip. Big fish week started well for me when I landed a 9lb brown in a difficult gorge… and it continued well! In the next few days I landed an 8, 8.5 and 10.5lb brown and lost 3 more of equal caliber. Paul had one fish of 5.5 and Sean had a 7lber. Was luck on my side? yes, but its true to say that the more i do this the luckier i get!!! Someone famous once said that!

We all had our gear confiscated by Fish and Game at the very end of Big Fish Week because none of us had our licences on us! Not so lucky but very funny… which makes it lucky i guess because how could laughing be a bad thing!

Tight Lines.   Ronan.. (stuntman C.I)

Its been a great week here in Queenstown! A bit too much drinking but weddings have a tendency for doing that.. We had a big night before the stag, then the stag itself, then the next night, then the wedding itself. The stag night was eventful, it included pub golf.. all drinks were given a par, i.e Guinness was a par 3 which meant it had to be downed in 3… i did better than that, most did actually! The night also included cops but i wont go into that.. it might well pop up on sexyloops tv though! Chris (groom), Emma (the best man), Myself and Paul (groomsmen) went out with Craig Hind in his boat the Barron for some fishing and a barbecue on the day of the stag do. Not your average fishing trip! Special thanks to Craig, he runs a Charter service out of Queenstown. From the weather to Chris and Amy’s family and friends the wedding day was a great success! I wish the married couple all the very best and a lifetime of happiness together..

Paul and I are back in the land of the long white cloud and big fish.. We filmed and edited a great show about tailers in Tasmania this week. Unfortunatly only about an hour from uploading the show to youtube Paul’s computer crashed. We’ll get it out there one way or another!

I tried to get new jeans in Queenstown today.. what a fuckin mission. Easy to find the right waist size but impossible to find the right leg and waist size  without spending about $250 and fuck it i just cant justify spending that much. I found an OK pair in the end in a second hand shop for $17. Happy Days!

I stripped all images off the camera this week so i’ve nothing new to put up (images on Paul’s computer), Here’s my best fish this season!

Kamasan B175 size 14 with 2.5mm tungsten bead.

Wrap tying thread to the end..

Tie in red game hackle fibers as a tail.

Tie on a strip of fine lead.

Give it a base of varnish.

Wrap in the lead.

Add some more varnish then tie over the lead.

Seals fur or squirrel dubbing over lead only.

Whip finish..

The finished fly..

This fly works well on NZ rivers fished under a dry on a long dropper either on its own or in tandem with a smaller lightly weighted or unweighted nymph..

This fly has been catching more than any other for me here in Tasmania. Obviously it can be tied in any colours so pick colours to suit your local beetle!!

Just a quick blog today, Paul and I had a busy morning finishing and uploading this week’s episode onto youtube. It’s there now and it’s different.. I have to shoot off to help hair fix the back light on his truck while paul washes the dishes, then we’re off to Saint Helens to fish for salmon( Kahawai in New Zealand), trevally, squid and whatever else we can…

Christmas day was a relaxed affair. Myself,  Paul, John and Sue, Bronwyn and Hair and lenny the dog all spent the day together on the far side of Littlepine lake.. Barbecued scallops, prawns, pork and lots of veggies were the order of the day along with John’s sushi. Paul turned Hair’s old 2 piece sage into a 3 piece while giving a distance casting demo! We managed a little bit of fishing, Paul had one.

Every day we’re getting out on the water and trying many methods. Dries generally seem to be the best but it pays to keep an open mind and be willing to change everything on a whim.

This week’s show is up on youtube! Its about Kayak fly-fishing with an intro to Tasmania. Check it out and Subscribe to the channel so you never miss an episode.

Hope ye all had a great Christmas and tight lines in the new year..

I’m sitting here in hare’s lair after day 3 in tassie.. Fishing is tough but interesting, it reminds me of fishing in Ireland in late March or April waiting for the duckfly to kick in. Its cold, hatches are sporadic and fish are not on yet but a few opportunities present themselves during the day. There was a small caddis hatch last night, we got a couple. Today we also got into some better fish during a mayfly hatch. We’re using all lines and many techniques with some success! Good time to be here because it will get better and better for the next 2 months…. i hope!

Fly fishing from a small kayak is not easy! Especially when trying to film what your doing. The angler has to control the boat, not lose the paddle (which should really be on a leash), control the fish, the camera and the net and not topple over! Great fun and a good way to fish a lake. A good idea would be to tie all equipment to the kayak…

Hello all.. Ronan here. I’ll be on the blog for the next few months along with Paul. Were at Chris Dore’s  place at the moment, the weather has been pretty crap so we’ve been using the time wisely. Paul and I (mainly Paul but I’m learning!) have been editing the footage collected from 4 camera’s over 4 days in fjordland. It took longer than expected but we have 3 great shows coming up on sexyloops tv so get ready for them!

I spent the first month of the NZ season fishing with my Dad.. great fun and we had alot of fish. Also targeted some  big fish with good success.

I’l be fishing with paul for the next 4 months in NZ, Tasmania, maybe Thailand and as much else as I can afford!