Ronan's Report

I never seem to have enough buggers. They’ve always been a fly which I tie the night before a trip, so at best, I’ll have 6 nice ones in my box – but I’ve often been reduced thrashed old shite. They’re such a useful fly and can be fished anywhere, so finally, I bit the bullet and set out to tie a box of them. Although, initially that wasn’t my intention – I started by tying a few for a friend, then a few for me – then, when a bad cold went through the house, I found myself with time to tie and a new fly-box to fill. What I ended up with was a box of about 120 buggers from size 12 with 2.4mm beads up to size 6 with 4.6mm beads – all on Fulling Mill Competition Heavyweight hooks. I generally like to avoid starkly contrasting colours but since I was tying a comprehensive collection I tied a bit of everything. They’re all tied with possum bodies and marabou tails. I’ve been using this combination for many years now and I find it to be excellent. Rabbit is also very good in the body, but years ago I lucked onto a load of possum in lots of colours and that’s really what set this combination in stone – I had lots of it, and it worked. I don’t add much bling or rubber legs, just one or two strands of flashy stuff on each side or none at all. Of course they’re far from the original pattern. No chenille, no palmered hackle but if a fly has a marabou tail then it’s in the bugger family.

Last weekend I put them to the test. Myself and Brayden went to Mackenzie Country for a couple of days on the lakes – both of us trying to shake off a cold. Day one would have been good but there were 5 other anglers on the lake which made it harder to find good water. We got a few fish none the less, we just had to work a bit harder to get them. The scenery was really spectacular though. In winter, the snow really shows you just how big and dramatic these mountainous valleys are. My eyes were regularly taken off the water to enjoy the scenes. At the end of the day a couple of hot whiskeys were most welcome!

Day 2 – Fog! The fog never left the water all day. This was a bit frustrating because the skies were clear above it and sun was trying unsuccessfully to break through all day. There were a few fish cruising the edges in the morning but they were just hard enough to see to make them very difficult to approach. We worked hard to land a couple for the day and we covered lots of lake edge to get them. June on the lakes is generally hard because the majority of fish are up the rivers spawning. I don’t mind that it’s tough. There are still enough fish about to make for a good days fishing and I can’t wait to get back up there.. The new buggers did their thing anyway! I lost a couple but replaced them yesterday..

I still have a heap of photos from local fishing over the winter to date but they’ll have to wait for the next blog. It’s just too many photos otherwise!

If you’d like to get in touch about guided fishing over winter or next season please get in touch! ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website. Tight Lines, Ronan..

Link to my fly patterns on Fulling Mill here – and a link to my latest article for the fulling mill blog here -Winter in New Zealand.

Another river season has come to an end. Many rivers are still open in May but I find myself looking toward other options –  lakes, river mouths, the canals or possibly the West Coast. Prior to a recent mission to the canals I did a little research on surrounding lakes, tarns and rivers to see if any remained open in May. As it turned out, all were closed since April 30th but it gave me lots of new ideas for next season. I’m actually pretty excited about it. There are some spring creeks, tarns and rivers that I’ve never fished, new territory to explore and some of it is not too far away. That’s one of the amazing things about this country; waterways in abundance and always something new to check out if you make the time to explore. Try something new instead of the tried and trusted.

Mark Adamson, Robbie Mcphee and myself finished off the brown trout season with a 3 day mission on a river we all enjoy. The fish were difficult, not really looking at our offerings at all but we all managed a few fish. We had a fantastic hut to stay in and the craic between the 3 of us in the evenings was as good as the fishing. I had a bad cold to deal with and deal with it I did with a few hot whiskeys. Mark had a couple too just because they’re a great drink to warm up the bones after a cold day on the river. The story of our trip is told in the photos below.

The lakes in central are fishing well! Iza and I had a great trip there 2 weeks ago. We had plenty cruising rainbows to fish for in certain spots and browns in others. I got my fathers buzzers working on Benmore too which is always a pleasure. It’s a very underrated, or more to the point, unknown way to catch trout here in NZ. When they work, they really work!

Finally, Trevor Bourne, a long time sexylooper has just moved to Wanaka from the UK to build Epic fly rods for Carl Mcneil. you’ll be seeing more of him up here. An all round good bugger and great angler. Welcome Trevor! And Happy Birthday..

Tight lines.. Winter is not closed season, its just the winter season!

Ronan..

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Back he goes...

This Taimen like trout was incredibly long, it weighed 8.5lbs. with condition it would have been some fish, but, as we say in Ireland, "If your aunt had balls she'd be your uncle!"

On day one I got the fish of the trip. This went 9.25lbs and was one of my best this season. This fish never saw a mouse!

Breandan??

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We regularly had to climb out of the gorge to make the going upriver a little easier.

The river was high and remained high each day due to constant snow melt and lots of rain.

Myself, Robbie ans Mark at the beginning of our 3 day mission.

A cracking late season fish for Robbie Mcphee. I love the "W" spot!

Robbie with a nice wee brownie.

Day 2, Mark into a good fish after a few false starts!

An old gold miners hut.. I'd like to light a fire in the fireplace and spend the night in it!

Back at camp, Mark shows us his battle scars..

..while I make the hot whiskeys!

Fishing with Robbie and Mark, April 2015 223_1024x768

Mark into a fish on day 3.

On a day when fish were not in taking mood at all, this one went all out to eat Marks nymph.

After what is always a tough climb out we had the ease of a track to walk out on.

Torrential rain on arrival back at the river. I hooked one, then we decided to get to the safe side of the river.. shortly after we decided to call it a day.. and a season!

We decided to pass quite a bit of hardshp while we were up there. With limited fishing time due to the river rising quickly we had to hit straight for the best bit.

As the rain came in we climbed out of the gorge to skip a bluff..

Even though there are lots of rivers open in May find myself drawn to the lakes.

Iza into a good rainbow at one of my secret spots near Omarama!

Fishing with Robbie and Mark, April 2015 287_1024x768

Strong fish!!!

And another great fish for Iza. She's had a super season!

Fabulous colours..

I had some good buzzer fishing on Benmore to finish the Omarama trip. As always, we stayed at Buscot Station Backpackers.

A herron on the toilet!

Lake Hawea is a spectacular place..

Recently I caught up my old friend, Trevor. He lives in Wanaka now building fly-rods. The stars have aligned for him, that's for sure!

The only fish of the day on the first cast!

Back to hut. Fire, craic, beer and food. Oh yea!