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.
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!
It’s great to be busy guiding again after a couple of hard years. November was a challenging month to guide. Not many nice days! Lots of rain and stormy conditions. The rivers were regularly coloured up as a result. Now and again I had to use lakes and still waters to keep my clients on the fish – but of course I adore this type of fishing so for me it’s not really a plan B, it’s just another option. All up it was a successful month through bad weather. I enjoy the challenge of finding good, clear water to fish through these rain events and I’m yet to cancel a guide day due to weather or water conditions. There’s always water to fish!
Fish were a little leaner than usual earlier on in the season. I put it down to the harsh winter and more specifically a monster flood last July which completely changed many parts of my local rivers. Some of my favourite beats were unrecognisable when I went back to fish them with dad in October. Fish numbers and quality certainly suffered as a result. It was really heartbreaking at times. Walking upstream and not even knowing where I was on the beat. Large corner pools gone – pools that I never thought would move. Long sections of pools and bends bulldozed straight and useless by 460 cumecs. I’ve been using all my spare time trying to get out there to rediscover them and find out where is or is not worth fishing. Thankfully I’m getting a good handle on where is fishing well. Fish are in good condition once again and the rivers are starting to get comfortable with their new courses. Certainly my biggest fear going forward are these huge floods. Hundred year floods they call them… the annual hundred year flood I call them! The flood in July did so much damage around the country. I can’t imaging what 2 or even 3 of these events in a short space of time could do. Utter destruction to rivers and fish populations. I have already been hearing some sad stories from the top of the South Island. Anyway, right now the rivers down here are recovering well and fish numbers are still healthy in most of the rivers. Many rivers were unaffected, thankfully.
My own fishing was pretty limited through November because I was so busy with work. I did get out for a relaxing few hours before a 10 day straight stint. Also one big day through a gorge on my annual pilgramige to catch up with my old friend. Check out the full story here. It’s well worth a read!
The gallery below covers the highlights of a busy month of guiding. I was out most days and now I’m taking a few much needed days off. When I get a chance I’ll put together an account of my time fishing with dad in September and October. We fished 26 days so it certainly warrants its own report!
You can check out my fly patterns, the ones I use on a daily basis over here on the Fulling Mill website. If you’re within NZ I may be able to help you out with a deal. Just let me know. I currently have 7 patterns available in various sizes but I expect to have 7 more patterns available next month.
My season ahead is pretty much full – There may be a gap here or there although I know April still has gaps. Feel free to get in touch about guided fishing this season or next (which is already filling up). Contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight lines.. Ronan..
Lake Dunstsn. A great option when the rivers get dirty. Even the lake was too dirty to fish by the end of the day!A stunning trout on my sunken green beetle – a new killer pattern!Working “O Malleys bank” carefully..Brendan makes a mean coffee! Also smoked trout and cream cheese on crackers.Clear water when everything else was blown! Aside from getting jumped twice we managed 2 good trout.A tough day on a Maniototo still water.Benndan saved the day with one great fish from the river.A very welcome trout.Rivers clear enough to fish by now.Some good fishing!Clearing nicely.Healthy brown trout.Fishing to a difficult brown.A few great days with Bill. This superb 7.25lb trout on day one.More rain.But the fishing was very good.Walking back..A 4 and a 6 SLHT – a great combo for Southland rivers.After a bad start we had a super day!My 16 clarets deadly as always..Best rods for NZ. I now own a 7wt too – a powerful weapon.The trout cottage. Luxury accommodation.The Bruiser doing its thing.A great couple of days with Brendo. Plenty fish!Full but fishable.A lovely early season stream. One for me before 10 days straight guiding.Will – new to fly fishing – landed 3 great fish after a casting lesson!The Hotspot. A very useful fly.A healthy rainbow.Eamonn first NZ trout.Fish of the trip! Over 6lbs on the hotspot..Back he goes – A delighted angler!Another one goes back. A fellow Irishman, we had great craic over 2 days.Another super bow..We had a wicked hatch here for a hour. Not easy but we did okay!Working the water..Out with Gordon – River high and coloured after overnight rain.Into one on the Bruiser.A great fish on a hard day..The first proper sunny day in ages!And the fishing was great.Graham did really well.A spectacular day.. Felt great to be out in it after some cold, wet days.Lovely!Friends of ours, Diana and Shirdoo during a casing lesson.A fun day out but fish were not really playing ball!Shirdoo fires a streamer into a likely spot.My annual pilgrimage....to see this old fella....the only fish in the river, he’s now 10.5lbs. My 4th time catching him.A great day with Greg Ford and his son Chris from Ireland. Great see them over here. I knew Greg when I lived in Ireland from a few meetings on the lakes.A super 6lber for Greg.Chris into a good brown as the rain hammered down. By the end of the day the river was rising a getting dirty.
So far, this has been a good winter season. The Clutha has been the best in a few years. Still not great but way better than the last 2 winters – which were shite. That’s encouraging. Most days out have produced some decent results but the big fish are still nowhere to be seen. I believe the larger fish (5.5lb plus) are running as early as March and by the time me and the other winter anglers get to the river in May, they’re nowhere to be seen. If you don’t hit these fish on the run, it seems we’re not likely to get a shot at them at all. That’s my take on it anyway.
Myself and Jeff did our thing with Nick Reygaert in another episode of Pure Fly NZ. It’s always great to take on an episode with Nick and Jeff. We just go fishing – and often somewhere totally new! All the fun of fishing is still there, even with a camera on us. There’s no pressure – we just let it happen and it generally does. I guess there’s been a learning curve to get to this stage. You can’t force it – the harder you try, the less likely you are of getting a good result (I had to learn this – Nick already knew of course!!). It seems to be one of the few times in a season where Jeff and I actually fish together so that’s another bonus. I’m looking forward to seeing what Nick comes up with after the edit. I won’t give too much away but we certainly kept the best til last!
It’s been a great winter to catch up some good friends on the water too. I’ve had some cracking days out with Wesley, Conor, Matt and Chris. The results are well documented in the photos below.
In other news, I’ve been laid up for a while with a pretty bad injury. Recovery will take a while and fishing will have to wait at least another week or 10 days. I also have covid but to my great surprise I’m almost completely asymptomatic. After 2 dreadful flus this winter, I expected covid to kick my arse, but it didn’t – so I’ll take that bit of luck!
That’s all for now. Feel free to get in touch about winter guiding or trips next season. Contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Here is a link to my fly patterns on Fulling Mill and this is my latest piece for the their blog.
Tight lines.. Ronan..
The mouth of the Manuherikia – usually inaccessible in winter.With the Clutha low enough to access the mouth, it opened up some nice but all too brief fishing opportunities!Adalines creations with daddies help!A day afloat with Jeff..Launching the old boat with the old truck..Windy, but a nice winters day..Heading across the lake..Good rain gear in essential. Hard to look past Simms.Setting up for the first drift..Into one!A nice rainbow on the Bruiser.One of a few for Jeff. Jeff had to go at 3, I went back out for a while more..I just love being afloat..Meanwhile, back in Ireland, my dad is catching and releasing some super grilse.Out with Chris for the day!My nymphs and a few emergency eggs!Fishing the braids..Into a decent bow.Changing fly..Bow and arrow – so useful!Tea time!Chris blind fishes a likely drop-off.A healthy bow..Change of tactics..Fish of the day for Chris..A few of my streamers ready to do business.Wesley and his new boat!Feck all room in it but a very versatile and economical boat.Wesley.“The awful” my friend, Marcus aptly named it.. Those are teeth marks!Out with Conor for the day.. Fishing was challenging but great.Conor into one..One for me! This one will feed the gang.I love what the polarising filter does here.Filming another episode of Pure Fly NZ with Nick and Jeff.A lovely location....with plenty trout!One of many super trout for Jeff!A good fish for me on the Green Machine.This super fish took a size 12 hotspot under an indicator.The end of 2 great days..Another episode in the bag – will be available online in September approx.A day out with Wesley..One on the Green Machine to start the day..Wesley into one..Working a seam..One from a grassy bank..Locked and loaded for the first float of the winter season.Matt – ready to rock!Away we go with the necessary tools.Pulled up to fish a braid.teatime.A stunning big riffle simply had to produce..And it did, this one on the deadly Bruiser.5lb bow – so strong! This made the day.about to release him..The convergence of two flows – often a hotspot but they can be tricky to fish.
Just a quick blog today to clear the decks. I had a busy and successful season finale with some superb trout for clients. One very big fish to report on too. Before I get to that I’d like to share the rest of the seasons highlights. It’s a while since I put up a blog so some of these photos go right back to summer! I’ll also be changing back to the previous blog format after this one. Paul and I made this change back to the old format because it seemed like a good Idea, but the one I’ve been using for the last few years is much better for images. I put a slideshow at the bottom or you can click on the thumbnail images, but you have to go back to click the next one. WordPress can be very user unfriendly at times!!
Some exciting stuff coming up – Jeff and I will be doing another episode of Pure Fly NZ with Nick Reygaert. We have some ideas but nothing is set in stone as yet. Also the Piscatorial pot! I probably wont run it this month but I hope to run it in June. We’ll certainly need a good stock of wood for the brazier – which wont be a problem! Also a potential visit to the coast on the cards..
If you’d like to get in touch about guided fly fishing next season please get in touch. The season is already quite full but still some decent gaps for multi-day trips. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Enjoy the pics below and I’ll be back soon with something more!
Tight Lines, Ronan..
ps, Here is a link to my flies available from Fulling Mill.
I haven’t needed the winch often, but it saved me here! The grounds seemed firm under foot – but it wasnt!
Natures paving..
No fish – but very enjoyable none the less.
Out with Michael.
He’s been out with me a few times now, working on casting..
..and catching plenty fish!
The beginning of a solo day.
Tough going but managed 2 in a pool near the end of the day.
A decent seatrout.
Scrambling country!
The beginning of a few days with Brian.
Perfect conditions and plenty fish..
A great pool this one..
Day 2. Plenty action but just 2 to the net.
Including this solid bow and one bigger.
Fishing myself today..
Some exploring.. No fish but promising water for October.
Change of location and decent fishing.
Lovely water.
Doesnt get much nicer!
The sun makes this place look extra stunning.
a 5.5lb bow on my Kiwi dun.
The line jumped and wrapped as a rainbow ran. Nothing I could do!
Redemption. On the dry again.
Out with Robbie. First fish of the day.
Then this super bow over 6lbs.
Robbie into one.
Changing tactics..
A solid bow.
Day 2. Robbie works the eye.
Great day!
Robbie into a goodie.
A beauty for me.
And this superb fish a while later.
Same fish..
A beauty for Robbie..
A quick close-up..
..and away he goes.
Then another for Robbie..
..and another!
Just me today.. The Hotspot takes this lovely fish from a deep riffle.
The grip and grin! A very handy way to photograph fish..
.. this is a nicer way but harder to get right.
Nice conditions. We had months of this in central over late summer.
A sper 6lber to finish the day – on my Brown Nymph.
It’s been a very full on start to the year. Some guiding which has been great but more importantly I’ve had a lot of time to fish myself – I’m not quite sure how that happened but I’m not complaining! There’s been lots of highlights. One of them, the biggest highlight for sure was a trip to Fjordland with Nick Reygaert. The trouble is, too much other stuff has happened since to do that trip justice in a shared blog. It deserves it’s own report and it will come!! I’m just not sure when yet.
Another highlight I’d like to mention was on a day I went in search of a big fish or 2 on a solo mission. It was a day when I needed to walk a lot of river to find fish. Over the day I walked about 12 kilometres of river and only saw only 5 fish. 3 of those I landed. Number one and two took my Kiwi Dun without much difficulty but the 3rd was a different story. This turned into an hour long cat and mouse tactical battle on the last pool of the day. It started as I approached a long, slow pool and saw some nervous water half way up. Then a rise in the same area. “Brilliant” I thought, “theres a fish in the pool”. I advanced carefully up the pool looking as intently as possible – then I spooked a small fish of about 3lbs. That was not what I was expecting. Surely that was not the fish I saw first? I didn’t think it was a small fish. On the reasonable chance there’s still a big fish cruising the pool, I’ll continue to proceed with caution – that was my thinking. Sure enough, I saw another rise and it looked big. “Game on” I thought. I moved slowly to intercept the rise but could not see the fish. Then he rose under the cut bank at my feet. Knee length grass obscured me from the fishes vision and I could just make out his tail as it pushed him gently upstream and out of sight. The light was not great. This was the point when I decided to take a more careful approach than I might usually take. I decided not to persue the fish by way of following him up the pool because I thought I could easily spook him. Instead I decided to reset altogether. I went right back to the start of the pool and started my approach again. I ended up doing this numerous times. Somtimes I got a half chance, sometimes a brief visual, sometimes nothing. On one occasion I got a great visual and enough time to make a cast. 3 actually. I covered him each time with the dun and he totally ignored it each time. The fish was cruising like a trout looking for a cicadas but there were none on the water – at least none that I could see. I put one on anyway and once again reset. Back to the start. Another careful, slow and stealthy approach. Then, right up at the head of the pool I saw him rise. “Now” I thought.. I ran lightfooted half way to the rise then slowed right down. My thinking was that if he was cruising towards me after that rise he should be close now. From a crouched position I was scoping all round, now staying still. Then I saw him – cruising at 45 degrees away from my bank but in my general direction. I laid out my cast and dropped the cicada about 2 metres in front of him with an intentional plop. He immediatly set his course for it and cruised confidently all the way to it and….. chomp. The lift into such big weight is like a drug and I’m certainly addicted. What a high.
I thought he would make the magic 10lbs. He looked it during the fight but my weigh net said 9.5lbs. Of course it doesn’t matter but there is a certain fixation people have (me included!) about those ellusive double figure fish which is why I like to say the weight. That was the end of a really amazing day in the backcountry. I had the whole upper river to myself and I walked pretty much all of it.
In other news, I’m delighted to have another 4 fly patterns in the 2022 Fulling Mill catalog. I could not be happier with how well the team at Fulling Mill replicated these flies. 3 of them are streamers and one is a dry. One of the streamers is the tried and trusted Bruiser. Immortalised in the Lake Pukaki episode of Pure Fly NZ. This fly caught all the fish for both Jeff and myself on day 2 – before it had a name! The 2nd one is the Killer Smelt. A newer pattern designed to immitate cockabullies and smelt. I’ve had great success on this fly. It works well in clear water when darker streamers will get follows but not takes. This is also great in the salt. And last but not least is the Green Machine. Lighter in colour than the Bruiser and darker than the smelt, this fly completes the little family of streamers. In my humble opinion, what sets these flies apart is their simplicity. Just 2 main componants of possum and marabou which seemlessly gel together in the water. Their profile is very lifelike with natural, fluid movement. Another advantage of these flies is that they don’t wrap around. They’re tied on the Fulling Mill Competition Heavyweight hook which is incredibly strong. Just as good as the Kamasan B175 which I always used in the past, now I just use the FM version. The dry fly is actually one of my fathers creations which he’d been tying for NZ for about 10 years, so it’s very much tried and trusted. It’s a favourite of many of my clients as well as one of my own. The only thing I added to this fly was the sighter post to make it more visable. In a 14 its a great mayfly immitation and the 12 is superb for larger mayflies or as a general dry. I’m excited to see how these flies do around the world! I know dad has had a lot of success on his dry on Lough Corrib in the West of Ireland during olive and sedge hatches. A good friend is using them in Tasmania right now. There’s a batch of 60 streamers headed to Malaysia to help Paul fill up 6 boxes of flies for the guides involved in the Sungai Tiang project. I’m really looking forward to seeing them in action over there! I know my good friend John O Malley is going to give them a swim on Corrib for early season brownies. I’m confident they’ll work well. All my Fulling Mill patterns are available here.
Feel free to get in touch about guided fly fishing on the lower South Island for the remainder of the season if you’re within NZ. For those of you abroad, it looks like visitors will be allowed in this October – although a dates has not yet been set. Feel free to get in touch to arrange a booking starting in November to be on the safe side. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website
Tight lines! Ronan..
New flies for Fulling Mill.
The Bruiser. Tried and trusted and immortalised on the Pukaki episode of Pure Fly NZ.
The Killer Smelt – A great cockabully or smelt fly.
The Green Machine – Simplicity itself, a great streamer.
Out with Michael on a day when the first cast was all important.
A lovely trout on my brown nymph.
Out with Wesley and Mark.
One for me to open our account.
Wesley.
Some colour but thats no harm!
A great fish for Mark..
..on my Claret Nymph.
Weslry resorts to the worm!
Nice water..
Out with Matt for the day..
First of the day..
Very good fish!
Stunning day – but didn’t see as many as expected.
Out on my own!
Small water..
..with crazy strong rainbows.
One on the claret nymph..
.. and one on the hotspot.
Big fish hunting today – solitary. The best way.
I walked many kilometres..
A relatively small fish to start. 5.5lbs on my Kiwi Dun, now available from Fulling Mill.
Stunning water..
9lbs on the Kiwi Dun – A great fly invented by my dad.
Well taken!
The Kiwi Dun a bit bedraggled after 2 hefty trout..
Old Split Fin’s pool..
At the end of the day this 9.5lber on my cicada. My best of the season.
Back he goes. About 12kms of river for 5 sighted fish – 3 to the net.
Up to Central with the family and the boat!
My Kiwi Dun..
.It did very well in size 12 for these cruisers of the trout flats.
Trout flats at their best!
Adaline!
She loves the water!
Family holidays are better with a boat!
Great day out..
Loads of fish in the vicinity of where the boat was tied up.
How good is this? Just brilliant!!
Out with the HT4 – Super rod..
Lunch time!
Then back to this..
There was more water in this outtake than flowing into the Clutha.
The start of a fantastic day with Josh and Courtny.
After a casting lesson it was non stop action..
5lbs – Josh had to work for this one!
One for Courtny..
4.5lbs – her first trout!
Low and clear..
This fish went nuts. First run was as fast as I’ve seen a trout move.
It feels like the season has only started and it’s January already. This is why I try to get the most out of winter fishing – once the regular season opens, it’s over in no time, it accelerates. I guess thats why we have to make the best of everything. Life is short and we don’t know whats coming. On that note, I’m certainly trying to make the best of these challenging times. Yes, my business is in ruins and I worry about and miss my family in Ireland but all other aspects of life are better. Family time, my own fishing time, time in the workshop and restoring our old house and garden. In a normal guiding season I don’t see the inside of my workshop and maintaining the house is limited to mowing the lawns now and again. I know I’ll miss this when things go back to normal. In fact, it’s made me rethink what’s actually important so much so that I’m considering reducing my number of guide days per year to keep more of this work / life balance that I’m enjoying so much. I think when all this is over many people will realise the good points of this strange time – and there are many, at least there are here in NZ. I want to enjoy the good bits right now and forget about the negative as much as I can. I’m not going to look back and think I missed out or could have done things differently. I’m thankful to be in NZ where our freedom has not been affected like peoples in other parts of the world.
I’ve been on the water 3 out of the first 4 days of this year. Good results from various conditions. I have a very exciting exploratory backcountry mission coming up so this year is kicking off in style. More on all that in my next blog.
I’m attempting to improve my photography a little. David Lambroughton has been giving me a few valuable pointers. I’ve taken my wifes 10 year old Lumix GF2 out of the closet and got a polarising filter for it. I love the results. Polarising was always something I wanted from my picture taking but waterproof cameras are limited in this regard. Putting my sunnies in front of the lens wears thin! Don’t worry, you wont see “Photography” after my name or watermarks on any images! The photo’s below tell the story of a great finale to 2021.
I have 4 new patterns coming out this year with Fulling Mill. 3 streamers and a dry. I’m excited about that. More on those soon. My nymphs are currently available here.
Feel free to get in touch about guided fly fishing whether your in NZ or abroad. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight lines and I sincerely wish you all a great 2022. Ronan..
Day 1 of 2 with Dougal. Off to the highcountry.
Beautiful water. Very few trout about..
Not ideal sighting conditions but things improved in the afternoon.
Some sunlight!
Split Fins old pool.. I think he’s finally done his dash.
Enjoying the view.. One small trout for the day.
Day 2. After a very slow morning things picked up in the afternoon.
A fiesty 5lber for Dougal..
On the board!
A large trout with a larger eel behind him. The eel passed the trout like a ship in the night.
Worth a streamer shot.
One at the end of the day on my brown nymph!
An hour on a small still-water with Kevin..
Not many fish about today..
Just half an hour to fish on the way home..
Off to the wilderness with Wesley.
rigging up..
Windy!
A great start on a sheltered shore – my Killer Smelt took this one.
Same fish better showing the beautiful copper tones.
Unrelenting wind!
Wind like this brings me back to fishing Corrib and Mask. I love it!
Not much action in the waves today.
It didn’t let up for a minute all day..
Wesley takes a nap..
Fishing the rolling wave..
Lunch time.
Back to the gales!
Some shelter behind points, bays and islands – On this day, this is where the fish were..
Brilliant fish..
One more to finish the day..
Walking back.
Still no let up from the wind.
Another day, another still-water – a farm dam.
Beautiful..
Wesley stalking one..
A hefty lump of a brown for me!
Wesley is in..
Back he goes.
Great to have options when rivers are high and coloured.
Off to another lake during a cold southerly.
I had some great fishing..
This on on “the Bruiser” My possum and marabou streamer, soon to be available from Fulling Mill.
The HT6 bent again!
Super fish.
No Irish lake angler wouldn’t love these conditions..
They were in the waves today..
Guiding Philip. He had a great day!
The best of about half a dozen.
Same trout on my faters little dry – also soon to be available from Fulling Mill.
Superb.
Out with Graeme and John..
Fewer fish than I expected but we made up for it by covering more ground.
A good brown for Graeme. 5 for the day! Graemes worm was deadly!
Over this season I’ve seen 2 trout that I had first seen many years before. Both from high country rivers where trout are known to get pretty old. I contacted my friend, Rasmus Gabrielson, to find out a bit about how old trout get. Rasmus reckons from some surveys done on one of the rivers that it would take a brown trout about 12 years to reach 9lbs. 9lbs is important because both trout were that weight when I caught them first. The first trout I caught back in 2013. He was one of the most spectacularly coloured trout I had ever seen. He had a dark patch on his right gill cover. This would make him easy to identify if I was to ever see him again. Over the years I did see him on occassion. The dark patch easily visible as long as there was no wind riffle. His colour never seemed as striking as when I first caught him but I always assumed it was the same fish. Twice he ate my clients flies but but each time the rod came up empty. It wasn’t until this season that the stars aligned for Robbie to catch him. If it wasn’t for the dark patch on the gill I would never have picked him as being the same trout. For confirmation I compared photos and the spots matched. Some spots seem to have moved a little, some new ones have appeared and some have disappeared but its still easy to see that it’s the same trout. The dark patch has gotten much darker. Whats really amazing is that if that fish was 12 when I caught him first, he’s 20 now and still going strong.
The other fish I first caught in 2015. He was also one of the most beautifully coloured and marked trout I had seen – and still is to this day – both are actually. After I caught this fish I didnt see him for years. I caught him again in 2020 and again in 2021. Still the same weight and still looking good. Assuming this fish was 12 when I first caught him, he’s 18 now and also still going strong. I caught this fish from 2 adjacent pools. The first fish mentioned has been in the same pool for every sighting. This really proves the territorial nature of some trout. It also proves their resilience and ability to be caught and released many times. There’s photos of both trout on their first and last capture at the bottom of the list below. One has certainly changed a lot. Rasmus told me about brown trout from Norwegian high country lakes reaching 30 years of age. I wonder if we have a 30 year old brown trout in NZ? I think we could.
I’ve picked these two examples because they were such memorable fish. It’s also easy to know that they are the same fish. I have other examples too of old trout being caught many times over many years. It seems very normal for them reach a certain size and then maintain that weight. Some older trout stop spawning, making reaching old age more likely. Spawning is very hard on trout and claims many every year.
In other news, it’s been a great couple of months of fishing. I’ve been out a lot myself and had some big and beautiful trout. I’ve done some guiding. I didn’t expect to guide a double figure fish this season with so few guide days due to Covid travel restrictions, but Brian from Christchurch proved me wrong. We flew into a wilderness river on day 3 of 3. Fishing was slow – the only way to make it work was to cover kilometres and maximise opportunities. With this plan we found fish. At the end of the day we found a monster! He took the dry but Brian briefly foul hooked him in the tail on the strike. Luckily the trout didn’t seem didn’t seem too bothered and continued feeding. He took my #14 brown nymph a few casts later. This fish faught hard and Brian played him really well. At the very end, almost in the net, he made a dash under a rock. Fully under. We couldn’t see a fin! One chance before the tippet abrades off the rock – go and pull him out! I walked out to the rock and slid my hand under feeling around for the tail – taking a shot of water down my waders as I did. I felt the tail and got a firm grip and pulled him out and put him in my net. What a relief! I was expecting it would be a “one that got away” story! The fish weighed just under 11lbs. To me he looked like an early lake run trout. He was twice as big as any other fish we caught that day.
With the travel bubble open between Australia and NZ, the end of my season is pretty much full but there’s still lots of availability in May. Still plenty availability between now and April 18 for anglers within NZ. Feel free to get in touch. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight lines, Ronan..
Out for a day on my own checking out some new water..
..some great fish.
One on my red and black nymph.
lovely clear water.
Day 1 of 3 with Brian.
Flew into this wilderness and caught heaps!
Day 2. No chopper but plenty trout about.
Brian landed a good few of these..
Day 3 – Back in the chopper!
Stunning place..
Fishing was tough but the afternoon really switched on for an hour.
Strong fish!
Stable boulders and the fish were there.
Love that definition from olive to silver.
A solid 6lber.
Love this feature in a rainbows tail.
Then this!
Just under 11lbs of magnificence!
Just under 11lbs of magnificence!
“take your pick” Robbie looks in my flybox..
Some new water. Fishing was good but quite a lot of walking between pools.
Lovely,,
I wonder how long the cave will last?
Fish of the day..
Nice water..
Day 2. Big fish hunting..
We had ideal sighting for about 2 hours..
..then cloud.
One very big fish for Robbie. I caught this fish in 2013!
We continued walking ,any kilometres.
Good light at times.
walking, searching..
Then this! Another very big brown.
The light was poor but I just managed to sight this fish. Delighted I did!
Happy men! Now for the big walk out.
27000 steps for 3 cracking trout. success!
A great fun day with Andrew and Will.
Will off the mark..
That smile was there all day!
Andrew into one. A pleasure to have these fellas out..
..they learned and enjoyed!
Lovely spot!
A quick snap on the walk down..
First of the day.
Hard to spot in a deep riffle. Very satisfying fish.
Bryan in..
His favourite fish to date.
That is amazing!
Then me again in the same pool. All about the same size.
I turned over a piece of wood in the local river..
Full of life.
Trout food!
And then a great fish! not bad for a short session..
I’ve had the boat out a couple of times now with the family. She’s lovely! Not built for speed but she gets along just fine. I played with the trim on the engine trying to get the bow down with the throttle opened up. It seems weight up the front might be the only option to get the bow down to plane properly. I’m not convinced that more power would get much more speed but I could be wrong. Even with the 15HP Evinrude I found myself throttling down for optimum performance. I remember learning about “hull speed” years ago – that a yacht cant go past a certain speed based on its hull shape and weight. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can knock a bit more speed out of it with somebody up the front. Maybe with correct weight distribution more power would equal more speed. Time will tell! Cant wait to get it out for an exploritory multi day lake trip. There’s enough room to sleep on board and heaps of space to carry gear. Now to find the time to do it! She also needs a name…
Plenty good fishing lately. I’ve put some highlights in the gallery below. My annual pilgrimage into one of my favourite and most physically demanding gorges was successful. Just like last year I found only one fish – turned out it was the same fish as last year. I’m starting to think he’s the only fish in the river and I’m not joking! I’ve watched fish numbers decline since I started fishing it 6 years ago. No idea why. Such a pristine backcountry river. Great to see my friend for the 3rd time. He’s still 9lbs, in great condition and still in the same part of the river. Funnily enough he was the first fish I ever caught on the river 6 years ago and currently he’s the last. Now he seems to have the whole place to himself. He must be old. 6 years ago he was 9lbs so he must be at least 15 assuming 1lb growth per year til he reached 9lbs. No science behind that, juat a guess. Hopefully when I go back next season I’ll find a new fish in one of the pools – and maybe I’ll see my old friend again too. (this is the blog he appeared in last season. I’ve spent the last hour trying to find the blog he first appeared in but I can’t find it!)
The weather has taken a turn for the worse. Bad timing as I’m supposed to be fishing down south with Robbie today and tomorrow. It’s been raining heavily for about 30 hours now. All rivers in flood. I might hit a lake myself tomorrow. I spent today sweeping water out of the workshop while trying to make some furniture. Guttering and drainage around the house need attention. I’ve added it to the infinite list of jobs!
Feel free to get in touch about a guided fly fishing trip. Plenty spaces in my calendar this season! Check out my website or email me directly ronan@sexyloops.com.
Tight Lines & Happy New Year! Ronan..
Dan and John – the day begins.
It started slow but then really kicked into gear.
Great shelter from the howling gale in the trees.
Thanks Dan for these great images from the day.
Nice pool..
Another great fish.
Every one built like brick shithouses.
Fish of the day for Dan. 7lbs. Best of 8.
off on her maiden voyage with her new crew.
The crew..
Took Lochlan a while to find his sea legs!
No bother to Adaline!
Pulled up for some lunch.
Lochlan did well in the end!
The start of 2 days with Bryan.
Day 1 was for numbers – we landed about 25 from 1 to 3lbs.
very healthy trout
Love those black flecks..
End of day one.
Day 2 was about quality.
we landed 4 I think. 5-6lb fish.
Another good fish for Bryan.
My annual pilgrimage into the gorge.
Found one fish deep in a pool. My hotspot 10 will get down.
6 years ago he was bottom pool, last year the top and this year the bottom!
3rd time catching this old battleaxe.
still looks well.
Always about 9lbs.
Plenty food..
Fishing with Guy.
Lots of very small fish about making this 3lber seem big!
Off to the highcountry with Wesley and Mark.
I’m enjoying this Primal 7wt from Manic Tackle Project.
A cold St Stephens Day, this was the only fish we landed.
After 5 weeks of lockdown I was itching to get back at the rivers. We dropped back to level 3 only three days before the brown trout rivers closed. I managed to get one full day on day 1, a brief session while walking the kids on day 2 and a 3 hour session on day 3. The full day was just brilliant. I got to the river with a one hour walk downstream to complete before fishing back to the truck. I was at a jogging pace to get to the start of the beat – I just couldn’t wait. Straight away the fishing was good. The fish were out and feeding and holding where fish should hold. Thankfully the incredible weather all through lockdown held up for another day. Blue skies and no wind all day. Absolute bliss and I didn’t see another angler. I had 12 for the day and broke in 5 or 6 more because I ran out of my usual tippet. Very frustrating using bad tippet! A fantastic day regardless. I had decided in the morning that if I could get 2 decent trout near the truck I’d take them for dinner. Not something I usually do but as long as I know there are plenty trout about I don’t mind taking one or two on occasion. I got one with the truck in sight and had to work pretty hard for the second but got him in the end. They fed 4 adults and 2 kids and included a cold smoked fillet as a starter. There is something very special about feeding the family with freshly caught, wild trout.
One good thing that came from the lockdown was spending time with the kids when I’d otherwise have been working. Our daily walks were along the river where I’d frustrate myself looking at feeding trout. The crazy thing is I had never even seen this section of river that flows through the town. Local lockdown walks were the reason I got to check it out. It’s lovely water. I didn’t see heaps of trout there but there were enough. Unfortunately there was little chance to carry the rod on the local walks due to level 4 lockdown rules (no fishing!). Now that we can fish the season is closed (apart from the aforementioned 3 days.). Next season, whenever I get a day off, and there may well be many, I’ll be taking the kids for a walk and taking the rod. By then Adaline will be old enough to reel in a fish herself. Lochlan might be too.
We’re into the winter season now. There are still many rivers open til the end of May. Once June starts just a few large rivers and most of the lakes remain open. Plenty though. I’m looking forward to getting out whenever I get a chance. The kids have severely disrupted my fishing if you haven’t already guessed that! I’ve had a few outings recently. I didn’t catch many myself but the folks with me did pretty well. The first tug from a large winter rainbow woke me as I drifted off to sleep last night! That will tell you whats on my mind. Dying to get stuck in a large migrating rainbow – one of the highlights of my season. The next fishing on the agenda will hopefully be filming another episode for Pure Fly NZ with my comrade Jeff Forsee and fly fishing film legend, Nick Reygaert. We have a few ideas.
I recently did a podcast with Daire Whelan from Ireland On The Fly. I never did one before so I was a bit nervous. However, here is a link for anybody who’d like a listen. Or you can use this link. I’ll be doing something similar on Instagram soon – a live chat with Justin Spence in Montana. I guided Justin and his friend Dan last season. Justin needed no guidance really, I’d just take him to the river and he’d know what to do. Certainly one of the great fly fishermen! For our Instagram session were just going to chat about fly fishing! More on this when I know more.
Feel free to get in touch with any questions about guided trips next season or this season if you live in NZ. You can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight Lines… Ronan..
First fish after lockdown. So good to get out there again!
Great day!
Plenty fish about..
Lunch!
The trout kept coming.. Love the SLHT #4 for small to medium rivers.
10 released, 2 kept for dinner!
Out for a walk with the kids… and a rod!
Lovely water just a 1o minute walk from the house.
Adaline’s first fishing experience!
Lovely water.
Back home with a flat tire and wet boots! A good sign for the future.