The week with Chris, Steve and Joe was a great one. Not just for the superb mix of rivers and fishing but also for the chance to catch up with my good friend Chris Dore. One of the biggest cons about being a guide is that it’s so feckin hard to hang out with my fishing friends. We’re lucky to fish together once a year – usually in winter – so spending the week roughing it in Southland with Chris was great. We made time for a few beers in the evenings which always went down well. Chat, banter, fishing talk, the usual. The steak night in the caravan when Shellen joined us was a blast. She tied up a few flies and the craic was good. It was really good to meet her and I wish her the best with her future as a guide.
Chris and I go hard with our guiding and work at about the same intensity. We don’t look for easy options and we’ll do whatever it takes to give our clients what they hope for, and usually a lot more. This made us a good team to look after Steve and Joe. According to Steve and Joe, we guide in a different way but we compliment each other and both of the fellas enjoyed alternating between Chris and I each day. This is something we may do more of in the future. Chris and I enjoyed it too. It’s a great way for 2 anglers to really get the most from a trip to NZ. No sharing shots and you can hang out with your friend and compare stories each evening.
The week was very varied. It started with two completely different Heli days out of Wanaka. Both produced great results but they didn’t always come easy. Heli fishing doesn’t guarantee anything other than a remote and beautiful location so it’s always a relief when the fishing is good. It usually is good, but like I say, no guarantees. Then to Southland for another 5 days where we mixed it up with some of our favourite rivers. We had some really great days and some tough ones but we always came up trumps. Joe and Steve are both great anglers which really helps!
This takes me up to the end of January so I’m still way behind but that’s okay! There’s been some great highlights since, including 10lb brown with an epic story. The fishing gods really looked after us! More on that later..
Check out my flies featured below and a few more at Fulling Mill. They’ve all been great for me and quite a few others this season.
Next season is filling up quickly. Feel free to get in touch to make a booking or talk about options.
Tight lines.. Ronan..
Back to the trip with Chuan! The day we got jumped.. I decided not to share the pic of the truck.A fat 5lber!nice water..One on the Highcountry Green Cicada..A very tough day up here.. no fish!A solid physical day in this gorge..Fishing was decent!Back up here for another go after getting jumped a few days prior. Too cold for cicadas to move so the trout didn’t move either!The last day was really excellent!Dryfly action at its best.. Kiwi dun mostly.Great fish in tiny water.Fat and healthy.One on my indicator dry.Happy Chuan!The beginning of a great week with Chris, Steve and Joe.Steve into the first of 3 from this magic pool!Lovely markings..lovely.This magnificent 6lb brown was up front in the pool..A stunning 6lb brown displaying a striking blue spot.Small water with some nice big pools..Steve enjoying the day..We ran out of fish at about 2pm but what a day up to that. Lots of action.And then a very different wilderness.I’m with Joe today while Chris looks after Steve.The best of 5. Not easy but rewarding fishing.Clear water but blind fishing is essential.Thistle flower..Such beautiful water.I see faces..Stunning place to catch a trout!Possibly a seatrout.Time to go..Landing to pick up Chris and Steve..Scoping some water on the way home..Chris from Wanaka Heli took us for a stunning glacier flight on the way home. best flight yet!Photos don’t really do it justice..Such a wild country..Then a sedate frontcountry river with Steve..Fishing was okay.Joe again. This time we had to deal with insane wind.Not many anglers would have a chance in this wind. Joe can cast!the shot....successThen upriver after lunch as the weather further deteriorated..It was worth it! A great day in shocking conditions.A very diverse week of rivers..Lovely water but lots of bad luck! So many eats didn’t stick.This one made the day. Happily rising. A well presented kiwi dun got the desired result.Sticky things.Back south with Joe.A perfect weather day with superb fishing! My 16 claret here..Brilliant fish.Gorgeous river..Stunning..Final day.. .. and it was a good one! Thanks fellas.. Looking forward to next time.
Every now and then the prospect of a fishing trip is incredibly exciting – more than the average trip. I get that buzz if I’m going abroad to experience a new fishery, or exploring new water, maybe in a new wilderness area. I think the key word is new. Seeing a piece of water for the first time is always exhilarating. A trip myself and Bryan put together last January was one of these. One of these with bells on! Not just one piece of water to explore but lots. We pooled our resources and planned a wilderness float trip. NZ was our oyster! Where do we go? After studying google earth for ages I had an idea. I knew very little about the chosen system which included lakes, rivers, streams and backwaters but that was the point. Some real adventure! We took plenty safety precautions. We went in with one sat phone and a PLB each, life jackets, raft repair kit, plenty food and first aid kits. The NZ wilderness is no place to take lightly. The river looked pretty safe to raft on google earth. Once everything was prepared and packed, it was time to hit the road to get the helicopter into the wilds!
On arrival, the pilot came out to greet us. As we chatted he gestured towards the raft fully assembled on the trailer and asked if that was the pack raft – sarcastically of course. There was a breakdown in communications in our correspondence. They thought pack rafts and we though they could sling-load the 40kg raft in. It turned out that they can’t sling load with passengers and even if they could it would be a very slow and therefore expensive trip. No problem though! We disassembled the raft and the pilot easily got it onto the back seats and into the pod on the side of the helicopter. We were off!
The flight in was spectacular. They always are. Mountains, rivers, forest and then our destination became visible. The weather was good and excitement was hard to contain. We landed and got our bearings. We had a rough plan for the 3 days. I had marked every place of interest on NZ topo 50. To fit them all in we had to get cracking. Once I reassembled the raft the trip was underway..
The fishing on day one was pretty poor. Lovely lake flats with only a few small trout. Then a river to explore. Lots of potential and reasonable numbers of mostly old looking trout – spooky trout! Some of the spookiest. We blanked on that river, but it was a magical spot and I’ll certainly have another go sometime. A few riffles and runs but mostly glass calm, slow moving pools. There were some stunning big lake like pools too but these were inaccessible due to treacherous soft silt.
After fishing the river we had a pretty major piece of water to cover to get to camp. Lots of rowing and drifting. The rain had come in as we fished the stream and it kept coming. As we travelled down the system the un-forecasted rain got heavier. Our gear and ourselves were getting soaked, even through rain gear. Camping outside was not too appealing at this stage but thankfully there was a backcountry hut not too far downstream. We jumped out now and again to fish likely water but the rain was getting to the point that the hut really started to beckon. With the GPS function on NZ Topo 50 it was easy to find the hut. We pulled up the raft and secured it to a tree well up a sandy bank in case the river rose with the rain. Once we got the gear into our home for the night we could relax a bit. I got the fire going while Bryan put on the spuds, then we hung up all the wet gear – almost everything! We demolished a couple of rib eyes with black beans and spuds. Some nice wine too. We slept well to the sound of rain even if we were a little anxious about the state of the river in the morning.
Day 2. The raft was still safely secured to the tree. The river had doubled in size over night but was perfectly clear and fishable. This was a huge relief since the rain didn’t quit until after we ate breakfast. With great excitement we took on the river. We started blind fishing all likely water and Bryan quickly got a nice 3lber to put us on the board. Then I hooked and lost a better fish and sighted another. As the sun broke through the clouds the cicadas started chirping and the trout responded. We had a spectacular few hours of fishing in the afternoon. One spot took us ages to pass because every time our flies passed the drop-off a trout would eat the fly. Dream fishing. All beautiful, healthy 3 to 7lb trout and mostly on a large Stu’s Cicada. The water was quite diverse in its make up. Lots of bouldery pocket water, some large pools, sandy glides, cut banks and fallen trees. A real wild river. We were sad to have to leave it to continue our mission downstream but we had more water to explore in our limited timeframe. The thrill of new water never waned and once we were back on the raft we couldn’t wait to see what was around the next bend. Before we made it to the next camp spot we had some good fishing on a small, tannin tributary. Very interesting spot. I got a follow from the same fish to my streamer about 10 times without an eat. Bryan had a nymph a foot under a dry. I suggested that I’d tease the trout in and then remove my fly quickly so that Bryan could cast to the fish. It worked a charm and the trout took the nymph while wondering where the glister disappeared to!
Back on the raft it was time to think about making camp. We had heard about a bushman living somewhere in the valley and that he didn’t mind a visitor. When we saw smoke coming from a chimney we decided to go and investigate. Sure enough it was Bruce. He opened the door with a big smile on his face and invited us into his house – which he said nobody owned and we were welcome to stay. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth we did stay. The craic was great! We took out our bag of wine and filled up everyones cup, steaks on the pan, cheese and crackers to start. This was one of those unforgettable experiences and we both knew it and made the most of it. Bruce regaled us with stories about many topics from eels to DoC to politics to topless women. We tried to take it all in while adding a story or two of our own.
Day 3. In the morning we had breakfast together before taking on our respective days. There were a few flags on my map yet to explore. Bruce was able to put me wise about which ones to avoid – not because there were no trout there necessarily, but due to the logistics of bush-bashing in to them. We said goodbye to Bruce but he said he’d be down to the helicopter later to chat to the pilot and to see us off. He took off down the river with his 15hp while we took a more leisurely pace. Over the day we found some really nice water. A pool with a waterfall that really must be right up the with the most beautiful places I’ve caught a trout, a backwater off the main river with lots of eager but pretty small trout. The size really didn’t matter to us though. The location and the quality of the fishing more than made up for that. Then a tiny spring creek with some quality trout that we didn’t catch and finally another lake edge to explore while we waited for the chopper. About half way through the day the rain made another appearance and quickly closed in to the extent that we weren’t sure if the helicopter could fly. Bryan got on the sat phone when they were a bit late only to get no solid information – they weren’t sure either! The pilot was stuck somewhere due to the weather and fuel was an issue. A short time later we heard the helicopter in the distance. He landed and seemed a little panicked by the weather closing in and fuel was indeed an issue. The helicopter had no pod on the side this time, so we quickly loaded everything onto the back seat of the helicopter. It was a tight enough squeeze but no problem. After we said farewell to Bruce it was time to go. Bryan and I both fitted in the front. At first the pilot thought he’d have to drop us to a road about 50ks from my truck but thankfully as we flew we caught a gap in the weather and made it back to the heliport. Absolutely pissing rain again, we hurriedly unloaded the helicopter and jammed everything into the back of the truck – far from the tidy truck that arrived here a few days ago. A quick change into dry clothes and we were heading home. What a trip – certainly, one of the best.
Let me know if you’d like to book a trip for next season. With all the uncertainty in the world right now my season is filling slowly so there are plenty spaces available. Email me ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website. I do not offer guided float trips by they way! But for anybody interested in this style of fishing you should contact Wanaka based Greg Dougherty.
Tight Lines! Ronan..
All the gear weighed before loading into the chopper.
Some great views on the way..
Might be worth a look!
Checking out some potential fishing water before landing..
The boat reassembled and loaded up. Now for some fishing!
Stunning flats but only a few small trout about here.
We gave it a couple of hours but nothing much happened. A few 1 to 2lbers..
Pulled up at a river mouth..
Exciting! Crystal clear..
Some stunning water but mostly glass calm pools and some of the spookiest fish in NZ!
Off down river and the rain starts.. Fishing has been tough!
We found a rising fish here. Late in the day, we were cold and wet! Hard to muster the enthusiasm to take the shot. No joy!
After multiple kilometres of rowing and drifting we made it to a cabin..
With all the gear soaked this cabin was bliss. Camping was the plan but we were glad of the hut. Steaks and spuds on. Time for a wine!
The rain didn’t quit all night.
The river had doubled in size but was still clear. Phew!
It didn’t take Bryan long to open the account.
Clouds starting to break.
We prospected fishy water with some success.
Then we got onto the good stuff!
Lovely!
Super dry fly action!
I’m not sure what hawk this is. It looks different to the common one on the roads.
The fish of the trip!
Heaven!
We had good fishing in the pocket water.
Bryan works his way upstream..
Another fat reel screamer!
Time to go back to the boat and continue our mission..
A rare opportunity to cast from the boat resulted in a magic slow motion take from a solid brown.
Result!
Another little stream to explore.
Okay fish numbers but we didn’t land any here.
On we go just enjoying the float and the wilderness.
Tourists!
The river gets bigger as we progress downstream. I’m on a constant lookout for logs or dangers, always trying to pick safe lines.
Night 2 camp after a great day!
We heard of a bushman living in the vicinity. We saw smoke and called in.
Bushman Bruce gave us a great welcome.
We had dinner, told stories, drank wine and generally had the craic. An amazing, fortuitous experience. Great to meet Bruce.
Day 3. A quick 10 sec timer shot before we go.
Some more banter..
Bruce has stuff to do..
..and so do we. A little backwater off the river.
What a place.
The fish weren’t big but they were happy to eat.
Stunning.
Bryan in again..
Brilliant markings.
Another healthy little trout.
This was a little better!
Bryan into a good trout.. The unweighted PT was all they wanted.
Great fish.
Trout skins. All unique.
Back on the boat..
Another stream to explore..
A tiny creek but it held a few trout..
No joy but they were there.
This was possibly the most spectacular spot I have caught a trout. Worth the effort to get there.
There were 2 or 3 here. After I got the first one the others disappeared.
Trying the streamer..
Wow!
Almost time to go..
Last look for a trout before we go..
With weather closing in the chopper only just made it to us.
No pontoon this time..
..so the boat and all our gear goes onto the back seat.
Bruce has a chat with the pilot before we take off..
Heli-fishing is a tough one! For me, it’s often very stressful. When people are spending the extra 2 or 3k for this mode of transport to the river, I do my best to get them value for money. I usually spend unpaid hours trolling through weather reports, getting info from mates, emailing and phoning heli companies; whatever it takes to remove as much uncertainty as possible. It’s a bit of a catch 22 too. The whole reason for heli fishing is to get to a remote, rarely fished location but as a guide I need to know the river well. I can’t afford to fly in to locations on a reconnoiter mission and walking could take days (Which I’d love to do but don’t have time!) so learning the rivers sometimes happens on my clients time. I make no secret of this. If I’ve never been to the river, I’ll tell my client. I have faith in my abilities to read the river and to deliver a great day but the intimate knowledge of a section of river which begins at about 5 visits takes time to achieve.
There are no guarantees with heli-fishing. I have not had a bad heli trip yet but its certainly possible. Flying in doesn’t mean we’ll have the river to ourselves. I inform my clients that if we arrive to find anglers who’ve walked in then they have the right of way – first choice of water. I always ask the pilot to fly above and below where we intend to fish in search of other fishermen in an attempt to avoid unnecessary confrontation. Some helicopter options are used by more than one heli company so its possible that another party could arrive before or after you. Just recently a chopper dropped off fishermen 3kms above my party right into the best spot on the river. We had pretty tough fishing outside the “golden mile” but everyone understood that this can happen and we all had a super trip regardless – though we all felt the sting of loosing the cream of the river! On that 3 day trip where we fished 11ks of river (actually 10 subtracting the good bit) we only landed 5 trout. My point is that heli fishing doesn’t guarantee great fishing or lots of fish. The nature of the remoteness and the often fickle ways of backcountry rivers means that a lot is left to chance.
Having outlined the risks I think it’s important to talk about my actual experience with heli fishing. Once all the planning is done and we board to fly in it’s great fun! It’s the ultimate way to look around this unbelievably beautiful country which I’m so lucky to live in. Only twice have I encountered other anglers and both times a fairly positive outcome was achieved for both parties from a friendly meeting. Heli fishing has been very good overall but little or no better than rivers I can drive to. The one thing that heli fishing does guarantee is that you will be fishing in a remote and beautiful environment. The rivers are usually crystal clear flowing through spectacular and dramatic landscapes. Heli fishing usually requires a pretty high level of fitness. Most backcountry rivers require a lot of walking to get a decent number of shots at trout and the terrain is often bouldery and difficult. To get the most from a heli fishing experience its best to stay in for 2 or 3 days and go hard. It’s about the whole experience from the flight in and out, to the walking, to the trout, to the environment. It is fun!
It’s been a great month or so of guiding since my last blog. Plenty dry fly action and pretty good weather. Great people too! Justin Spence from Big Sky Anglers was over with his friend, Dan. The lads gave it hell for a week smashing some of my guiding records. Justin is one of the best fishermen I’ve met. We were very much on the same page with our fly fishing philosophy and understanding. I’m pretty excited about staying connected with him and his business in Montana. If your thinking about a trip to his neck of the woods I can’t imagine that there’s a better guide out there to take care of you. You can check out his website here.
It was great to see Tom Doc Sullivan over from Ireland for a month. We fished together about 25 years ago on Lough Corrib and now in NZ. He’s already planning a return journey next year. He’s been bitten by the bug! See you next year, Tom! The box of stuff you left will still be in the garage.. apart from the mug, I swiped that.. and the headlamp.
The fishing in the last week has been some of the hardest all season! I hope it picks up soon.. The pics in this blog don’t include the very recent stuff. I might have a chance to edit a short film for the next blog too.
Still a few places in March and plenty in April if your thinking about a visit! See my website or email me for bookings and information, ronan@sexyloops.com
Tight lines,
Ronan..
I don’t have much time to fish myself at the moment so this day meant a lot!
Wesley Snipes ready to do battle with trout! This quare hawk catches some fish!!
“Distressed” Simms shorts. Reversed S to avoid copyright infringement..
Wesley and Tom Doc..
One of 3 for me.. Lovely red spots!
Not much happening on the river but the backwaters were good.
A great fish for me!
Just under 6lbs.. Trialling new tippet cost me 4 more trout.
Recently I’ve realised I want to see the tail more in my photos. The old NZ grip and grin usually blocks out the tail but it’s a very secure, safe way to hold a trout..
Myself, Tom Doc Sullivan and Wesley Snipes.
The end of the day!
Guiding Chip was an interesting one!
A good caster!
Painting was part of the brief from Chip so beautiful places were always on the agenda.
Chip into one..
Nice!
While Chip painted, I fished!
A rising trout! A happy sight.. always!
Lovely!
This was a well earned fish! Casting straight into a stiff breeze, Chip got the desired result..
And back he goes..
Then the wind came and lasted for days!
Lovely water..
Wind, wind, wind..
I went off to catch a fish for dinner while chip found a sheltered spot to paint!
Painting in the morning..
..trout flats in the afternoon!
Black Stilt.
Last day and a fish right away!
The beginning of a super week with Dan and Justin.
I guided Dan each day while Justin went exploring armed with some info from me..
Dan enjoyed blind fishing on lakes so this spot was perfect!
Between the 3 of us we had about 20 for the day!
Glorious but this very hot day shut the fishing down at about noon..
I got this fella before shutdown, Justin got one too..
This fella would catch a fish anywhere!
A nice fish on a deeply fished nymph..
Dan into one while Justin was having a red letter day on the river smashing my guiding record for number of trout in a day – although I had little to do with it!
Great start.. and the action continued!
Super fish! Almost 6.
Low water but the fish were active!
Heli day!
Arriving on the river just before the sun hits the valley floor..
Let the action begin!
Stunning! The fishing was slow to start but the lads ended up catching lots!
Siesta!
I’m not sure how I didn’t snap one or two fish pics!
Perfect conditions and a backcountry experience to remember..
Home time!
The last day. I took a chance on a notoriously fickle lake..
.. Thankfully, it paid off!
The claw off some trout food..
Dan and Justin..
Dan kicked our arses! He worked the shore carefully casting a dry cicada. He landed 4. Justin and myself landed 4 between us! Nice work Dan..
We went around the lake off tracks and had super fishing.
Almost 5lbs of perfection..
one of 2 almost 6lbers for me.
Home time! The week with Dan and Justin was one of my most enjoyable weeks guiding!
Some exploration with local regulars, Bryan and Tim. Tims son Tom came too..
Our river to explore for 3 days..
The plan was to fish it from the sea to waterfall where trout cant get passed.
Day 1.
A super panorama at the mouth.
Bryan was into one right away on a streamer fished on a super fast sinking line.
7lbs of silver! Stunning!! I left him to help out the other 2 upstream and landed a 5lber while I was away..
On up the river..
Magic water but trout were scarce..
People in the pic give scale to these boulders!
Almost through the gorge..
Tom into a super-strong brown!
Lovely!
Spectacular water..
Walking 2.5 hours back to camp!
Just what we all needed as the sun went down! A chest high crossing..
day 2. A 2.5 hour walk to where we stopped fishing on day 1.
Bryan got one blind fishing an edge.
After a lean day I was happy to sight a fish in a deep riffle..
Careful fishing and a few fly changes got the desired result. A fish like this makes a day great! Simply beautiful..
Back to fight another day..
Working a likely wall..
Deposition from god knows when..
Lichen.
Day 3 breakfast!
The one that got away!
Tim in action..
A super 3 days! Unfortunately a heli landed upstream of us one of the days fishing the cream of the river! If this didn’t happen it would have been a much better trip but heli fishing comes with no guarantees. The helicopter got us into the wilds but we walked about 50kms while we were in there..
Jeff, Fraser and Travis had also been in the backcountry! We all met for a beer and feed after..
Bobs 81st birthday!
And his birthday fish..
Then Carole stepped up and got one too!
A tank!!
His 4th visit to this river and his first fish! The curse has been broken..
I sighted a fish from the top. As we waited for the wind to ease off to make a cast the fish appeared to spook. I watched the water for ages but there was no sign of the fish. I walked on. Pat advised Matt to make a few blind casts and suddenly there was a loud shout..
At #5. Matt was on form for the whole trip making this top 5 specimen well deserved. Almost 8lbs.
7.75lbs..
..a moment worth celebrating!
More opportunities followed but that was it for the day.
Nice view!
Old Split Fin lives! The most famous trout in New Zealand. He was enjoying a feast of cicadas today.
Tight spot so we tried the bow and arrow!
The best of 6 for the lads..
Small water! They finished their trip in style with a successful bow and arrow cast to a grubber and a near impossible cast from under a bridge with barely enough room for a side cast to fish just upstream of the bridge. 10 points!
In a blog over winter I spoke about river keeping. After that I bought a saw, a cheap one with a 200mm fold up blade. That’s what I’ve been using. I carry it every day I go fishing. Many of the rivers I fish are willow lined and these are the main contenders for having pools made difficult or unfishable from overhanging branches. At this stage this season I have made about 10 impossible pools possible and others more user friendly. It’s actually extremely satisfying – especially if there’s a fish that you can’t cast to at the time, because now you know you can catch him next time. There was one pool where I had to climb about 10 feet up the willow to tackle the offending branches. There were two. My saw and myself were at our limits trying to cut them. I realised then that I needed a bigger saw! My client that day, Tim, said I should get a Silky Big Boy. Yesterday I googled it and found a shop in NZ that sells them. Here is the link. This has a 360mm blade with extra large teeth! I think I can take out some serious trees with this. I’m looking forward to having it in my pack. If we all carried a saw we could keep our rivers under control. This would benefit every angler!
Guiding has been quiet enough so far but from tomorrow on it looks like it will be all go til the end of April. Hopefully I’ll be able to stay on top of my blog. Time will tell. Some nice images from a few trips in the pictures below.
I’ve had a bit of bad luck with my own fishing! With looking after Adaline while Iza is working I can’t fish as much as normal, so days out are more precious now. 4 of these precious days I’ve had to go to plan B. Once, because my chosen river was blown from a flash flood and 3 times from snowmelt. I knew I was taking a chance – a chance I wouldn’t take if I was guiding! However, I thought I’d get away with it. My plan B each time worked out well but still reduced my fishing time to a half day. The fish are in good numbers and in great condition. Between rain and snowmelt the rivers are nice a full with great prospects for November.
For bookings and information you can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.
Tight Lines,
Ronan..
MY OWN FISHING!
First brown of the season! A superbly conditioned 5lber.
Super fish..
Gotta love these blue sky days!
All in great condition..
River keeping is something I now do every chance I get.. This is the “before” shot.
..And “after”. Now the pool is much more fishable with a few minutes cutting!
Before..
..After.
Some large imposing limbs removed.
Another pool now fishable.
Nice tree!
The first out of my fly box!
over 6lbs..
I forgot my saw!
Fat!
All in magnificent condition..
Beautiful..
Christmas dinner!
The only fish I saw all day!
Wild thyme in full bloom..
Just enough clarity to sight the edges but nothing out!
GUIDING GALLERY
Day 1 of 2 with local regulars, Bryan and Tim. Tim into one here..
A super fish to start the day!
Bryan with a tough shot! We didn’t get this one. After he spooked I removed the overhanging willow limb which forced the bow & arrow cast. River keeping is always on my agenda now!
Lovely early season water. Most fish will drop back in the next month.
Tim with another good fish..
The grip & grin! With a little luck we would have landed a few more.
Day 2. Very different water!
This was Bryans day!
The best of 3..
Sighting cruisers from a height.
Great view!!
Welcome with one of 2 for his day! Not bad for a total beginner!
Bas on his second day with a fly rod! He did great!!
Mark releases one..
Away he goes..
Bas again..
Very good fishing! I think we landed 7 or 8.
Healthy fish, happy to eat flies!!
Great sighting conditions..
Well bent!
A cooling crossing..
Day 2 and 3 – into the wilderness!
We had to wait for the cloud to lift a bit before we could fly..
In the wilderness.. with a pizza!
See you tomorrow..
It didn’t take long to start seeing fish, but holy feck, they were spooky!
Blind and sight fishing..
Low cloud each day..
Great water..
I set out 10kms of river to fish over 2 days. It’s an exploration! This was new water for me too!
We hooked 2 here. One broke, one lost.
A lovely fish for Bas. Just under 6lbs.
Superb! This warrior of a trout gave Bas some battle.
The end of Day 1.
What a way to start the day!
stunning..
I tried sighting this pool from the high bank but the glare was too much..
More super spooky fish swim away..
Pools we dream about!
Bas into one from a riffle! Riffle fish are usually much less spooky!
A great result for a beginner to catch trout each day! We had a lesson at the beginning and then coaching during casting opportunities.
More lovely water!
on to a fish..
Heli fishing does not guarantee amazing fishing, but it always takes to amazing places!
Bouldery, fishy water! Most pools could be effectively sight fished even with low light. The tree lined, steep edges remove the glare.
Mark saw 4 trout in this pool as we flew in the previous day.. Here he’s casting to one. He hooked it on a dry but broke!
April has been a fabulous month! I had lots of time to fish myself but was also kept pretty busy guiding. The fishing was excellent! With terrestrial insects still locked into trout brains and magnificent mayfly hatches to boot, most of the activity was on the surface. It’s rare that I’ll fish with a single dry but I did a lot this April, both for myself and my clients. Cicada’s, blowflies and mayflies were the leaders of the pack. April sees the most consistent and reliable mayfly hatches of the year in these parts. For the last 2 – 3 weeks of April, the main hatch kicked of at 2.40 every afternoon on a number of rivers from Omarama to Invercargill. The dry-fly action during the hatch was simply as good as it gets and the best for many years by all accounts. It was most welcome after the constant onslaught of wind and rain brought by the early and middle parts of the season. Summer lasted ten days!
Earlier in April, Nick Reygaert, Jeff Forsee and myself got together again to film another episode for Pure Fly NZ, this time series 2. We went to the West Coast to film a variety of fishing locations. I think we all worked well together to bring something pretty full-on to the screen. I won’t elaborate too much so that I don’t give anything away before the show airs, but watch this space!
Most brown trout rivers are closed now, but many of the rivers flowing into the Southern Lakes (and a few besides) are open until the end of May. A few rivers and most large lakes are open all year, so thankfully, the season never stops. It’s May now and time to stalk migratory fish! I love fishing at this time of year as the leaves change colour and fall from the trees. Fish start to move up river on their spawning run and opportunities arise that are unique to May and the winter months. These fish respond well to streamers, large nymphs and a little later in the season, egg flies. The first part in fishing for migratory fish is finding them. In many cases when you find one you find a few or lots – fishing for migratory fish is like that. The first cast to a pod can get a chaotic response from a lot of fish, then it gets a little quieter. It’s not unusual to catch a few fish from a pod. At times you’ll stumble upon a large fish or two which has spent the last 8 months or so deep in a lake. This is exciting stuff and I will be trying to make it happen this month! I think I know where some will be..
I must change the format for this blog! With the amount of time that passes between reports I struggle to choose what to write about and end up breezing over everything. In the future I need to try (try) to write more often. Maybe less, but more specific content, the way it was before guiding.. I’ll do my best! The pictures below tell the story of full-on month on April!!
Tight Lines and bring on May!!
Ronan..
I’ll be guiding until mid July for the few that are keen on winter fishing! Let me know if you’d like to plan a mission.. ronan@sexyloops.com or see my website http://www.ronansflyfishingmissions.com
PERSONAL GALLERY
Perfect. This on a damsel nymph (no marabou!).
Flowers. Breandan? About 10mm across.
Such condition! 6.5lbs
A sockeye salmon. Not the target species but quite aggressive towards my streamer.
Wesley, early on a bitterly cold april day.
The cold brought on a great hatch and we had some superb dryfly action. 17 to the net.
Wesley working a big pool.
First of the day..
..they kept coming..
..and got bigger as the hatch intensified!
Best fish of the day. Almost 6lbs.. Did I say it was cold?? Feckin freezing!!
The cut banks were great fun!
The daylight diminished quickly..
It was a great day to be out and about!
Home time!
Some recent filming with Nick Reygaert and Jeff. The Land Cruiser saved the day..
..twice!! 😀
Lots of tactics utilised.
Out in the Stabi Craft..
Searching!
Stunning place!
I think we got some great stuff!! I won’t elaborate, you’ll see the show next season!! Pure Fly NZ – Season 2
A recent trip to my secret dam!
We found fish!
This late season beauty was my best. Wesley had one about 6 as well as the one photographed.
Great colours..
Sometimes the only thing an angler can see when sighting a fish is that dark line on the end of the tail, very visible in this pic!
Tom, Robbie and I fished together for a few days late season..
We hit the canals one day.. Tom and I had a big salmon!
10lbs for me, 11.5lbs for Tom.
The first of 4 for a day in a gorge..
Robbie.. there were a few fish here.
Still a few of these fellas about!!
One of our favourite pools but no fish there!
Lunch!
In the gorge..
Tom into a good one which ran round a rock and got off! These fish fight dirty..
Robbies gap!
This fish was hell bent on eating my possum / marabou streamer!
Last day of the brown trout season, Mike Bonn into a good one..
One for me from a rising colouring river..
My spun possum and marabou streamer is doing the business. It has a great profile and movement in the water..
Streamer fishing for rainbows at this time year can be exhilarating!! This was May 1st..
