Ronan's Report

This has been a real winter. One of the harshest I’ve been here for. Lots of wind, rain, frost and snow – so different to the mild winter last year. Usually by July the fishing on the lakes starts to improve, but this year it took a lot longer. Locally, the lake fishing only picked up earlier this month. Mackenzie Country a little earlier in August. There were always a few fish to be caught but they took more persistence and some were on the lean side. I really don’t mind not catching many fish in a day – or any for that matter. I enjoy the search, trying to figure it out, working hard to put it together. It is a bit a kick in the balls when I can’t figure it out but this is part of continuing to learn – or adjusting what I already know – or think I know! Afterwards, I’ll consider what I might have missed and think about what I’ll try next time. There were days this winter when the fish really seemed “off”… like there was little or nothing I could do to drag out a result.

I have my parents here at the moment so dad and I are fishing most days. This is exactly what I need after a tough few months of colds, flus and covid in the family – and a bad injury to recover from after a dog bit my face. The fishing has been excellent so far – mainly because we have my boat to make the most of the lakes. More about this in my next blog as I haven’t downloaded any photos yet! We’re heading north tomorrow for a few days and then the rivers will open again on October 1. So, I have a very full on 5 weeks of fishing ahead with dad and then guiding kicks off full bore in November. Happy times! The rivers are looking good now after being high and dirty for much of the last few months..

This is a good time to stock up on nymphs, dries and streamers for the coming season. Some of my most successful patterns are available on Fulling Mill. They’re all designed for the NZ fishery and well tested!! I’m very happy to say that I’ll have 7 more patterns available next year.

Still a gap or 2 in the coming season if you’d like to book some guided fly fishing. Contact me – ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

Tight lines all and enjoy the new season! Ronan..

The more I fish the high-country dams the more I love them. Like any good fishery they’re not easy. They can be incredibly dour in fact. Many anglers only go up there during high summer in the hope of being there when the cicadas emerge and get blown onto the water. In my experience this rarely actually happens.

When Dad and I used to travel around the South Island every year or so, we would always include the dams. Dad was always over for the month of November. We never had any dry fly action over that time, but it can happen. I was happy walking shoreline stripping buggers and dad liked moving more slowly fishing two of his PT nymphs or buzzers with the figure of 8 retrieve. Both methods worked. For me these dams are blind fisheries. Only during perfect sighting conditions might you sight a fish. Fishing to rising trout is always on the cards with a plethora of terrestrial insects included in the trouts diet, caddis and chironomid too. Whatever is happening, be prepared to blind fish. I think this is why dad and I both love it. Coming from a lakes background in Ireland we had to blind fish – that’s all we did. But as I’ve said many times blind fishing is not chuck and chance. Every cast is considered, we look for something fishy; weeds, structure, drop-offs, points, bays, rocks, shallows etc.

Once you get into the groove of your chosen method you just have to have faith and persist until something tells you otherwise. The reasons I still use my possum / marabou bugger as my go-to blind fishing method is: 1, The trout feed a lot on fry. 2 They feed on Koura and a bugger is a good representation of this too. 3, I can cover a lot of water quickly. 4, The trout are very opportunist. I occasionally take a fish for the table. When checking the stomach contents there are usually multiple different food items in there. Commonly, for example, loads of caddis with one fry or loads of corixa with one koura. This tells me that they won’t pass up a bugger! These dams offer trout the largest range of food of any fishery I know. Because of this, my guess is that when the dams appear to be dead, they’re not! The fish just out of our reach for whether it be physical or otherwise.

I fish my bugger on a floating line with a long leader so that I can count it down if I need to. Also, so that if fish start taking dries I can quickly change over. Sometimes in shallow bays I’ll blind fish nymphs instead of a bugger or if its calm I’ll sometimes do the same. If you are lucky enough to be there when the trout are looking up then its simply magic. I’ve only really experienced it once. I was with Justin and Dan from Big Sky Anglers in Montana. Day 7 of 7 – the dream finale!

On a personal level, fishing these dams are very similar to fishing Corrib or Mask back home. The dark water, the wind, the rocks, the drift if I’m in a boat, the sounds and smells, the blind fishing aspect, the memories. Without doubt this is a huge part of the reason I love fishing them. The common methods are very similar indeed – nymphing (PTs, caddis or buzzers), dries (sometimes 2 or even 3 dries), Wets – I strip buggers instead of wets but these are fisheries where lough style can and does work. Another thing I love on some of the dams is the quality of the browns. They can be some of the most beautiful on the planet. Every time I hook one I get excited to see what he / she looks like. I guess finally, they’re all just stunning places to spend a day. They’re all quite similar but with their own characteristics. I never go up there expecting to catch lots, they can always kick my arse. I’m happy if I get a fish or 2 and I’ll work hard to get them.

BOB’S BIRTHDAY

Bob has been on here many times over the years, so if you’re a regular reader you’ll know he’s my oldest friend in NZ, not because of his age, he’s the person I’ve known here right from the start. We try to catch up for a fish a few times a season and for the past 4 years we always fish for his birthday. He jokes that he must catch a fish to make it to his next birthday. We got the Birthday fish on day one at the very end of the day. It was tough – fish just not responding but we did it in the end with a lovely 5lb brown. Day 2 we went to the dams. I did well with my P/M bugger. Bob stuck with his dries hoping for that magic take which never came. Guy was with us too. My second oldest friend in NZ. Bob introduced me to Guy, so I love it when the 3 of us catch up. It’s becoming tradition now that Guy joins us for day 2 of Bob’s birthday fishing expedition. Happy Birthday, Bob! Looking forward to the next one.

I’ve been reasonably busy at times with guiding thank feck. Happy clients, plenty trout. There’s a few bookings coming in but please do get in touch if you’d like to set up a trip or if you have any questions. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

Here is a link to my nymph patterns available at Fulling Mill. They’ve been doing great this season! Also getting some great feedback which is always nice to hear. I have one box of my own patterns from Fulling Mill, and they cover me for pretty much all my river nymphing needs.

Tight lines, Ronan..

Guy found this boat, engine and trailer for sale in the local paper. It was an absolute bargain so he wasted no time and went over with enough cash to secure the deal. Guy has a boat already so this was surplus to requirement but he knew I’d love it. When he said to come over and get it I was not expecting such a stunning boat in such great condition. I was blown away. This boat is the beginning of an exciting new chapter. Family holidays will be much more adventurous with this in tow. She will also open up opportunities for exploring NZ lakes. Watch this space! I’ll pick up the engine soon and she’ll be good to go. Hopefully I’ll have the whole crew out for he maiden voyage. I can’t thank Guy enough for making this happen.

The boat, which has no name yet, is fibreglass over ply and solid timber. It looks extremely well built. It was a sailboat but has been converted to carry an outboard instead of sails, which suits me. I’ve had a checkered past with sailboats.

Plenty spaces available for the coming season. If you’re living in NZ and have been thinking about some guided fly fishing this is the season to maximise on it. Feel free to get in touch to chat about what I can do for you. Contact me via my website or at ronan@sexyloops.com

Tight lines, Ronan..

I compiled this guiding gallery a couple of weeks ago now. Loads has happened since and it’s pushing the contents of this gallery to the side, which of course it shouldn’t because there were some excellent days on the water which I have accounted for here, but I really want to clear the decks now for more recent fishing, which has been superb!

One trip worth a mention was with Andrew. He had 2 days to fish, day one was off the charts landing 6 trout with the biggest hitting the scale at just over 9lbs. That fish took some work. We fished to him for about an hour before I put on one of my fathers unweighted size 14 hares ear nymphs. Andrews first cast with that fly and it was all on! Second biggest was 7lbs. They were all great trout.. Day 2 we blanked bringing us back down to earth. It’s funny how it goes!

It was great to see Brendan and Dave again. They were over for 5 days, Day one was simply magnificent with 11 fish to 7lbs, Day 2 and 3 were also good days but then I got struck down with severe stomach cramps. I gave the lads my truck and some info for their last 2 days. They landed another 9 trout. It took me 5 days in total to come right which included 3 nights in hospital. They were my first sick days in 5 years guiding.

I also took out Micah Adams and his friend Dave. Micah has been involved in fly fishing TV in Australia. We had a very enjoyable day on the water even though it was a pretty hard day. Micah got a 3lber on a dry and Dave landed a super 6lber.

The weather has been nuts. Rain, wind, hail, flooded rivers etc.. I like it when the conditions go to feck. It makes me think outside the box, take gambles, use what I’ve learned over the last 18 years in NZ. I’ll put a trip together for my clients regardless of what mother nature throws at us. I will use every avenue available to me to make it happen. Crazy weather seems to be pretty normal now so if a fella can’t adapt he’s in trouble!

The next blog will be about one of my own greatest moments in fly fishing with a superb old 9lber and The Mighty Chuan landing an 11lber.. Not mouse eating monsters, just bonafide brutes!

I’ll let the photos tell the other stories. Still some availability for this season if you’re thinking about coming over. Visit my website of contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com

Tight lines & screaming reels for the new year! Ronan..

My main observation over the last month was during a time when a cold southerly came through putting an end to the cicada and shutting the fish down. Fishing got very hard. As anglers some of us need a reason as to why the fishing gets hard but we can only speculate. It seemed as if when the cicadas stopped floating down the rivers that fish didn’t know what to do so they did nothing. Maybe they were waiting for their next source of food to become mainstream? Maybe it was a drop in barometric pressure? A sudden fall in water temperature? Maybe a little of each? All rational, human conclusions. The truth is that (in my opinion) it’s possible, even likely that it was none of these. Something we’ll never know. All I know is that fishing got very hard for over a week. As a guide this is tough. I hate saying “you should have been here last week” so I try not to. Thankfully, most anglers understand that hard fishing is always on the cards and that it’s rarely easy.

Just as interesting was watching it all turn on again. Over a couple of days the fishing went from the toughest all season to some of the easiest! A word that is rarely thrown into fly fishing for trout but feck it, at times it was easy! Fish wanted to eat and they would travel to eat a fly. They weren’t particularly spooky, just eager. This is what anglers dream about. The rare time when trout drop their guard and go on the prowl. It has been great fun watching it happen. A pleasure watching anglers in their element and having a blast. That’s what its all about. Five recent guide days went above 15 fish for the day. During the difficult spell, 1 per day was pretty much the norm. Chalk and cheese!

The story of the progression from bad to great is well told in the photo’s below. They begin when the going was tough!

Here is a link to a short film I made from a nice moment during 2 days in a relentless gorge..

THE PISCATORIAL POT…

St Patricks Weekend coincided with the annual Piscatorial Pot fishing competition. I run it for the Wakatipu Anglers Club on Lake Dunstan. It seems to be growing in popularity in the club circle. I think this is more to do with what comes after the fishing day, which is Iza’s cooking! We also have a few drinks and the craic is always great. We didn’t quite push through til dawn this year but close! A big thank you to Iza, Ivy and Mike for all their help.. If it wasn’t for them it would have been a sausage sizzle!

The fishing for the last 4 years has been hard for the competitors. The winner is the angler with the most fish over 350mm. Usually one or 2 trout wins it. This competition was different. Anglers were catching fish! I think we had about 18 fishing with a total of about 12 trout landed. I got out for an hour to see how things were going and to try to catch a fish (I didn’t). I saw Conor and Jakub (IRE, CZ) catching some fish from the boat. I was delighted to see this. Wesley Snipes (IRE) had 2 fish, Simon (CH) had one.. Some real competition.. Camo-Guy (ENG) disappeared down the west shore for the day. When I met him in the evening he told me about some great fishing. Not big fish but he landed 4 between 360mm and 410mm on a black bugger. To add a bit of competition to the competition, the winning anglers nationality also goes on the cup. So far its two for NZ, two for Ireland and now, thanks to Guy, one for England. Guy is one of my oldest friends here in NZ so it really was a great pleasure to present him with the cup – even on St Patricks Day!! Congratulations Guy! 

Thanks to Manic Tackle Project for sending down a couple of t-shirts and caps to spice up the prizes!

I have about 15 days available in April, and a few this week. Flick me an email if you’d like to get out for a trip.. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

Tight Lines,  Ronan..

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The biggest bit of news since my last blog has not been the 11.5lb brown which equals my second biggest to date, it’s been the arrival of our daughter Adaline Betty Creane. She hit the scales at 6.5lbs. Mother and baby are doing great, though I’m a little worse for wear. Nobody ever thinks of the poor father! My paternity leave was timed to perfection. The due date was the 19th of December so I kept the 16th to the 28th free in the hope that she wouldn’t be late. As I was driving out of the driveway after dropping off my client on the 15th, I got the call from Iza. “Get to the hospital”! was the gist of the call. Some complications meant that she went in the chopper from Dunstan Hospital to Dundedin Hospital while I followed in the 3L V6 Maxima keeping to the speed limit the whole way there. After a long labour Iza popped out the most beautiful little thing I’ve ever seen (apart from Iza). We didn’t know the sex, nor did we care. We got just what we wanted in this healthy bundle of joy!

I have had quite a bit of time to fish myself in the last couple of months and most of that effort has been on the lakes. Fraser and I had a weekend away recently in the Central Lakes. We stayed at Buscot Station Backpackers (there is no other place I want to stay near Omarama!). Day 1 we had a look at the canals then went to check out a spot I stumbled upon last winter. We found a few fish but we needed sunshine to get the most from it. We left to try some other spots but returned early the next morning hoping for some midge eaters. We didn’t find any but the cloud broke up quickly for a perfect blue sky day. There was just enough wind to put a gentle ripple on the water opening it up for perfect sight fishing. A soft ripple like this often makes it easier to see fish farther away than with flat calm. The fishing was insane! We landed 12 trout for a morning session, most between 4 and 5.5lbs. I felt a little sorry for another angler on the opposite shore, he hooked none. A small gold bead PT nymph did the trick. I suspended it under a dry at trout cruising depth. Simple! One of Stu’s I think..

Another day worth a mention was on a local dam day with Robbie. The first farm dam we fished was very low but there were a few feeding fish. The exposed weed made it quite hard to fish. I hooked a few but we landed nothing after a few hours fishing it. We moved to the middle dam, I always thought it was the top dam but the farmer told me about another – the top dam! Anyway, the newly named middle dam was super. The water was high and there were a few trout cruising the margins. Short accurate casts did the trick. Any fly – these fish were opportunist feeders. We caught a few fish, all beautiful hard fighting specimens. One of them was certainly in my top 3 stunning fish this season. I really enjoy to fish with Robbie. There is no greed for fish, no ego, just a genuine love for the game and everything that goes with it from the friendships to the flowers on the banks to the fish. We’ve become great friends over the years, ever since he appeared at mine and Kristians camp way up a back country river at 9am. I was bleary eyed as I looked from my sleeping bag after hearing some rocks move. “Who the hell could have made it this far up river by 9am” I thought to myself.. I then answered my own question.. “It could only be Robbie Mcphee”. It was of course. What did we do? We all fished together. That day we landed about 10 fish from 6 to 11lbs with 2 doubles. Here is the blog! https://www.sexyloops.com/blog/2013/03/27/two-10lb-plus-trout/

Speaking about doubles, I managed to land a monster of 11.5lbs last November. Some solo wilderness exploring certainly paid off!

I’ll leave the photos to tell the other stories! Dunstan has been fishing great but I don’t bother taking many photos there anymore. The silt flats are still firing if you’re light enough to wade them and the willow grubbers on the edges will drive you to drink!

Not too much in the guiding gallery today since I had 2 weeks out. The highlights are in there though. January is booked up so all going well the next guiding report should be pretty colourful.

I’ll take this opportunity to wish my great friend Paul and his wife to be, Ashly all the very best in their life together. I wish I could make the wedding but Paul’s spontaneity is hard to plan around. That is going to be quite a day. Miena will never be the same again! All the best, mate! Next time I’m in Malaysia you’ll have the air conditioned houseboat. Bliss!

I still have some availability in Febuary and plenty in March and April. Let me know if you’d like me to guide you on your NZ adventure. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website http://www.ronansflyfishingmissions.com

Happy New Year everyone.. May it be filled with happiness and fly fishing!

Tight Lines, Ronan..

What is it that excites me so much about the month of May? I’ve had to think about this! There are a few reasons. One of them is that its relatively new to me. In my ten years (pre 2011) when I came to NZ from Ireland every season, I was always home by the end of April, so May was unknown to me. In October 2011 I moved out here full time taking up a job as a joiner. In May, just like every other month I only had the weekends to fish. I enjoyed the month of May then of course, but it’s only now that I have lots of time on my hands that I can really explore, search and learn; just like I did during my early years exploring NZ. So thats part of it! It’s new, exciting and fun. It’s more than that though. Fishing for migrating fish in May is challenging. To do well you need to be able to cast heavy flies on long leaders or heavily weighted fly-lines (around here at least!). You need to be able to see your fly in you minds eye and know what it’s doing and where it is. Sometimes it’s sight fishing, sometimes it’s blind and it’s frequently into deep water. Migrating fish move around a lot on their lies. Sometimes to take a fly but often jostling for position or to chase out another fish. They do feed, but as the month progresses they gear more towards spawning. However, with accurate casting; putting the fly in just the right place and making it swim / drift correctly you can still induce a take. So, it’s the challenge? Yes, but possibly even more than the challenge and the realisation that it’s still new to me, is that it’s so much about the big, beautiful migrating fish. When these fish run they are in their absolute prime! Full of condition and energy for the months ahead. Who wouldn’t want to catch fish like this?! On certain rivers in May there is a real chance of a big fish. Sometimes well into double figures and these fish only appear in May. I predominantly target browns all season long but in May I turn my attention to rainbows. Last May I realised just what a great species they are. Hooking into a big rainbow and listening to that tail slap before the first run is simply exhilarating! One more thing.. This is my down time after my guiding season. I’m relaxed, I have nothing to do only fish, I’m in holiday mode! So I think I know now. It’s new and exciting, its challenging, it’s about enjoying big, powerful, beautiful rainbows and some browns, I’m on holiday! Why wouldn’t I love it.. Sorry if I just bored the feck out you with that but I wanted to know for myself.

May has been a great month to catch up with friends. I made lots of use of my drift boat taking Fraser, Wesley (see you next season!), Guy, Tom and Jeff out in it.  It’s been such a new lease of life and a great way to explore rivers and lakes. The pics below tell the story as they do!! Tassie Sean will be up for a visit soon too. That should be fun whatever we get up to. I’m hoping for new waves of fish migrating up some of the rivers which are still open through winter. When they’re fresh in they take really well, still piling on the pounds. bring on the next wave because the first run are now stale and not really taking the fly anymore…

Finally, to finish off what was probably the most enjoyable month of the season for me, we returned to The Bay of Pigs. Just like before the fishing was slow, Tom and Jeff saw one fish from the boat. I managed to drag out one brute of 15lbs from the shore. A long leader and a weighted streamer fished about 3 feet down did the trick. The take was a gentle one before I came up tight!

The next thing on my agenda is to practice my shots for my upcoming trip to Malaysia. I need to get good at that before I leave, or as Paul says, I’ll spend the first week not catching any fish.

I’m available to guide until mid July. Contact me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website www.ronansflyfishingmissions.com

Tight Lines All!!!

Ronan..

PERSONAL FISHING GALLERY

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A few of days ago while planning a day fishing for myself, I was surprised to see a perfect weather forecast. Blue skies all day, gentle southerly blowing and a high of 15c. “With a forecast like that for a Sunday I better set off early” I thought. The following morning I was away before dawn. It was a long drive to the river. There was rain first off, then it stopped, then it started again and continued. “Weird” I thought, “It’ll pass”. Before I left internet coverage I decided to check the forecast again in case I made a mistake. I did! I got the forecast for a town in the USA with the same name.. Lesson learned!

There was no going back, and I didn’t want to.. I was excited to take on whatever conditions nature would throw at me. I got a mix of sun, rain and wind all day. High, slightly coloured water too. A streamer day I thought but I ended up catching most sight fishing with small nymphs. Any fish I saw was hard out feeding just below the surface and they were keen to eat my offerings. My own size 16 nymph and one of Stu’s Superior Nymphs did the trick.

The best moment of the day was spotting a large fish swing to the right from behind a deep boulder. I though I had spooked it but wasn’t sure.. I took off the nymphs and tied on a Glister. I slung it across the pool slightly upstream so that it would cross the boulder on its way down. Up from the gloom came the large fish and engulfed my streamer. I lifted into solid weight and the fish played to his strengths and stayed deep. Just under 7lbs. He made my day!

I’m playing catch-up a bit with this blog! Some pics go back to last winter, others from a recent trip to the canals where I finally cracked a big one; 18.5lbs of ugly! Fishing with Guy, a mission to the Coast with Iza, Robbie Mcphee’s 43rd birthday.. Enjoy the pics!

I’ve known Stu Tripney for pretty much as long as I’ve been coming to NZ. He, his shop and his flies have become legendary over my 15 years in NZ. This season I’m putting Stu’s flies through their paces and I’m more than happy with the results. Check them out! http://www.stusflyshop.com

I’ve had a couple of days guiding which have been good, and a few more coming up over the month. There are plenty spaces available and October is a great month! So maybe its time to get yourself down here for a day out! ronan@sexyloops.com for bookings and information.

One more thing, Just in case I don’t get a blog out before October 31st, thats the day mine and Jeff’s episode of “Pure Fly New Zealand” airs on Sky TV in NZ… Good reports from the director so here’s hoping he’s right! http://www.manictackleproject.com/pure-fly-nz-coming-soon/

Tight Lines everyone!

Stuntman Ronan (It’s on my license!)                ronan@sexyloops.com

As of now, 2.00pm on the 12th of October, my website is live! www.ronansflyfishingmissions.com

A birthday beer for Robbie (and me) he just turned 43.

Ed Lamont with one of 2 after a 2 hour refresher casting lesson.

Ed with a bow and arrow...

A great day to be guiding!

After a rookie mistake misreading the weather in the morning, I ended up having a great day landing 6. This was the best, just under 7lbs.

This was the probably the nicest. All day I had a tough time finding a good place for the camera with the ten second timer.

Iza and I had a great time on the river yesterday. She landed the best fish of the day! Stunning.. Nice fish too!! :D

These few pics of mark and I from winter! Lunch!!

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Up the Clutha in the Wakatipu Anglers Club boat...

Then the a Clutha braid, no fish but I did rescue Marks hat!

The Lowburn Inlet saved the day.. as it often does!

I found a brazier on the river recently so now I can have campfires at home.. Modern technology!! I think this was my birthday party!

Size 12, Kamasan B175, 3.5mm tungsten bead.

Breakfast for Camo-Guy and I before we hit the Clutha..

Guy and I..

Into a wee one!

Had a couple of these, then off to the lake..

Guy working on a number of rising fish..

And he's in!

Guy hooked 4 of these and landed 2..

Then home for dinner.. Iza cooks up a feast!

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Enjoying my portable campfire!

Iv'e been having heaps of success using Stu's Superior Flies..

This is one of Stu's slender, weighted nymphs. I was able to target trout cruising 10 - 12' down using these on a long fine tippet.

perfection!

If you're passing Stu's Fly Shop, grab a few of these!

Mission to the Coast!

Not a touch all morning but lunch was great! Bacon, beans and eggs! Hard to beat.. (pun not intended!)

The whitebaiters weren't catching any so no surprise there were no trout around..

Fish or no fish, Iza and I both love the coast!

Finally! After about 9 hours fishing a Kahawai for dinner! We forgot the chicken so this fish was very welcome..

The surf rolls in..

A perfect sized Kahawai for 2. Filleted in the last of the sunlight..

A perfect sized Kahawai for 2. Filleted in the last of the sunlight..

The West Coast is a great place to camp and I hope it always will be!

A pan full of Kahawai.. We had it with spuds cooked in chilli and lime.. Dam good!

With full bellies, time to relax!

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It was time to put my name on the Canal Big Fish Board! 18.5lbs on a Dore's Mr Glister. He was a while coming!

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The work truck is all spruced up for my guiding season ahead!

Here's a dozen of my size 16, Kamasan B175, 2mm tungsten bead nymphs..

A couple of Stu's terrestrials..

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One of Stu's cdc mayflies.. It has already proved successful on Oct 1st!

A dozen size 14s, a little sparkle can help in coloured water..

My standard dry.. Basically its always the same. I play around with different bodies and colours but the form remains the same. I design my flies to catch fish and to be very easy and quick to tie. This is also great at holding up tungsten nymphs. Any size, any body, any colour deer hair, any post.

A great selection from myself, Manic Tackle Project and Stu's Superior Flies.

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Tim Proctor into one on opening day.

A good start to the season!

After getting rudely jumped on our chosen river, we went to plan B. A small stream. we saw 5, hooked 3 and landed one.

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My first of the season! High, coloured water but the streamer did the business.

That's Robbie down there. Very few fish out but a beautiful place to be!

Plenty fish about too, although we had to cover a lot of river to find them..

Day 2 with Robbie Mcphee.. Perfect weather!

Fit as fiddles every one!

Robbie into another..

A healthy brown..

We had 13 between us for the day, Fantastic fun! I love October!!

I realised a year or two ago that fishing for really big trout is more about the fish than the fishing; while fishing for average sized or smaller trout is more about the fishing than the fish. Of course both can cross the divide into the other category but generally speaking this is true. For me at least. Really big NZ fish, say in the 8lbs plus class, are often really stunning here in Otago and worth the effort in hunting down. They are few and far between and very hard to catch. Not necessarily because they’re “smarter” than smaller fish (they’re not really!) but because they often take up lies that are very difficult to get a fly to. The bottom of a deep pool for example or under a submerged log, and sometimes they are just really really spooky! These very big fish wont be seen every time you fish a river, some days they may be out visibly feeding and once in a while they may take up a part of the pool where you can get an easy cast to. You just have to persist, be there at the right time. If you can get a fly to one of these big trout without spooking it at all, (there are varying degrees of “spooked”) you’re almost as likely to hook it as a 2lb trout from a riffle. Landing it of course is a whole other story. When it all comes together and you get one of these trophy trout into your net, it’s a real high. If it turns out to be one of the really beautiful fish it’s even better again!  Since the last blog I hunted down some of the big fellas with good success.

Jeff and Myself went and checked out some rivers on the west coast recently. We fished some water I had not seen for a few years. We had a mixed bag. One great river and one not so great but both were absolutely spectacular. The fishing is described in the photos below but there was one little event I’ll have to share with you. (sorry, Jeff!) We were given conflicting information regarding which gate to drive through to get to the river, I thought we were to go through the left gate, but we were told right.. so we both agreed to go right, at least we could come back if we were wrong, right? Jeff fumbled with the padlock before realising it was actually open and that the key we had didn’t fit it anyway. He opened the gate and I drove through. Jeff closed the gate after him and then I waited for a while, “whats the delay” I thought, as I jumped out of the truck. “Ronan, I fucked up” Jeff said. He had closed the padlock and we had no key to open it. There we were, miles from anywhere with the truck locked on the wrong side of the gate. Some Irish/American ingenuity prevailed, much of it inspired by a Macgyver episode I had seen years ago. We managed to open the gate in reverse without doing any damage at all so we knew we could get back out. After driving for a short distance we realised that we had indeed gone the wrong way. We should have gone left! In the end we got to the river and the fishing began.

Have a look at my facebook page to see the results of my happy clients! Plenty spaces still available for the season.. ronan@sexyloops.com for bookings and information.

https://www.facebook.com/ronans.flyfishing

Tight Lines..

Ronan..

Magnificent..

This is why fishing for big fish is more about the fish than the fishing.

Jeff shows the scale of the place..

I had a big trout chase my streamer here..

West coast clarity..

After a great start with a fish each we struggled for the rest of the day.. but what a place to struggle!!

Jeff on a recent mission to the west coast..

Day 2.. Lots of bush bashing to get to the river..

Likely water..

Not a bad start..

In the air..

Full pressure..

In the net..

Fish like this make any day worth while..

This one took a nymph..

Back he goes..

Iza's caramel slice..

Gandalf!

a vein of Greenstone I think..

Nicely marked..

A likely spot which produced a fish..

The iconic NZ symbol..

Heath, A very happy client during a 4 fish day. 5lbs best.

A leisurely morning on the river. Iza caught one!

Goats are amazing creatures. Feck all to stand on and apparently less to eat!

A mountain goat living up to his name!

Thorns..

One for me.. A tank of a hen fish.

No stranger to big trout!

A great fish for Robbie..

Robbie strikes again..

Back to freedom..

A fish in a most unexpected place on the way home!! Spotted by Robbie from 150m.. Great red spots.

Pete with one of two for his day on the river with me..

Pick one, Pete!!

Piscatorial

          1. Of or relating to fish or fishing

          2. Involved in or dependent on fishing

Months ago I agreed to run one of our fishing club events. Mike had an idea that there needed to be more events close to home so Lake Dunstan seemed perfect. It’s my home water so I was happy to organise it. I was unsure of what to do to make the day unique and enjoyable so I thought back to some Irish competitions. I had never fished the “Piscatorial Pot” on Lough Corrib but always wanted to. Both my father and John O Malley won it recently which may have helped it spring to mind.  I decided to steal that idea but needed a little more…  The Irish angling legend, Jackie Coyne, runs a competition on Lough Roisin Dubh at the end of every fishing season. Over the course of the day every angler gets an hour in a lakeboat. I also decided to adopt that idea and a new competition was born. The Piscatorial Pot (NZ).

A scrap of Macrocarpa with the lettering freehand routed into it made the base. A little stain, oil and rustication for effect. 10 minutes on ebay and I had a piss pot. Put them together and we have a perpetual pis-pot.

There were not too many fish caught over the day but Colin Kelly managed a solid fish of 3.25lbs making him the winner. James Waggett was not too far behind with a 2.5lber. Colin has been a member of the club for years and is never afraid to put in the hard yards. Spin gear or fly, kayak or bank, river or lake, Colin will be there in the thick of it. I was happy to present him with The Piscatorial Pot.. though, I’m not so sure that he was as happy to receive it!!!

We all had a great day on the water. Afterwards we enjoyed the craic, good food and beer or two.

Cicada Time

Right now it’s cicada time here in NZ. Some hatch from forests, some from barren grasslands, some are very big, some are quite small but trout love ’em all. On Saturday Iza and I took out the Wakatipu Anglers Club boat to fish a piece of shoreline on Lake Wakatipu that has treated me well over the years. Conditions were good. We had a breeze which varied in strength but was fairly consistent and able to push a few bugs onto the water. I drove the boat into quite a big chop to get to the area we wanted to fish. I set the boat up for kilometres of shore drift, an occasional pull-start to keep us tight to the shore and we were fishing. Iza quickly hooked and lost a really good fish by this shores standards, about 3lbs. Shortly after she hooked and landed one… then another.. then another and so it continued until she had 11! Casting, striking and playing fish all nicely in tune. By 4pm we got off the lake, the wind was shifting all over the place, dropping and gusting and the rain was bucketing down. We finished with 18.. (yes, she out-fished me!)

Something interesting to note for our day afloat was that we did not see a single cicada on the wing or in the water all day. Neither did we see any trout free-rising yet we landed 18, all on chunky dry cicadas. The takes were all confident sips, no slashes or smashes and easily missed in the wave.. On a few occasions I didn’t see the rise until it was as big as a dinner plate, some Iza didn’t see until her rod was bent. This is not an unusual phenomenon. I remember fishing with my father, Joe Creane, on Lough Corrib years ago. Mayfly time but no fly on the water and nothing rising. 10 boats in the bay catching very few, all stripping wets. Dad and I had 13 on dries (most on a size 10 adams). It’s not the first time I’ve seen this in NZ either. Fly on the water or not, trout will recognise a large dry as food at certain times of year.. It might be worth fishing one in October or any time for that matter! I bet you’d be pleasantly surprised..

That’s it for now.. If you want to win The Piscatorial Pot, Join the club.. The Wakatipu Anglers Club that is..

Ronan..

Another view from farther along..

A new gorge with Robbie Mcphee.. Climbing out of this part of the climb gave me a healthy tingle of fear. Its a long way down and the bottom is out of sight.

Colin takes the first "Piscatorial Pot" victory. A very deserving winner he is.

Lots of climbing!

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2 of these for the day..

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11 of these all on a single, blind fished cicada.

Iza into her first of 11 for our 5 hours afloat! I managed 7.. What have I created??!!

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I made the base for the perpetual pot from a scrap of Macrocarpa at work. I oiled it with a well worn out pair of underpants.

Wakatipu glows when the sun shines. Our dries are visible here. This was a magic piece of shoreline!

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Catching fish makes an angler happy!

Iza kept her fly tight to the shore..

This little fela from Poolburn Dam. Breandan??

A silver one.. They come in a range of colours on this shore during cicada time..

The Hot Torpedo under strain..

During a day fishing on Poolburn it pays to put some pots down. We got a bakers dozen of big crays (Koura)!

Lunch with Guy.. We didn't see a single cicada on the wing or in the water all day nor did we see a single free-riser.

A fat little brown on a cicada. I fished a clear intermediate and a bugger. 2 each for the day.

Waka, poolburn with Iza, Guy. Feb 2015 135_1024x768

..while Guy and I prepare the koura..

Iza makes some sag aloo..

Koura! Common in many of the dams around here and absolutely delicious!

Heading in...

Boiled and shelled, before a brief flash on the pan with some butter, garlic and chili.

A few cutlets off a 15lb rainbow from the canals thanks to Guy.

Dinner!

FFFFF isn't that right, Bob!