Ronan's Report

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..

As we flew deep into Fjordland last January I wondered what might make this adventure an adventure. Something always happens when you put yourself in the hands of nature. Could be good, could be bad, maybe dangerous maybe not but something always adds to the story…

We landed about 3kms up a river which flows directly into a Flord. It looked as if we were above the tidal zone so we thought it should be a good base of opperations. Nick brought his raft so from here we could access the fjord downstream or the main river upstream. The objective for the 3 days was to learn and explore as much of the system as possible by foot and raft from the ocean to the headwaters. When the heli departed we were alone in the wilderness. I joked that I hoped we haden’t forgotten anything.

Day 1.

After considering the weather forecast we decided that the best option for day 1 was the main river. The sea breeze in the forecast might make the fjord difficult for the oarsman. Upstream was a very large, long pool; barely flowing. We decided to assemble the raft to get through that first pool to access the flowing river above it. It made sence to have that job done anyway. As we started to assemble the raft I noticed Nick looking a little bothered – and nothing bothers Nick! “What’s up”, I asked? “Forgot the bolts’ he said.. Feck. Okay, so this is a hurdle. We have a raft but we can’t assemble the frame. Not going to let this beat us, we gathered what we could to put the raft together. Tent string, 80lb nylon, duct tape and zip-ties. What couldn’t be assembled with that? Well not this raft! Before long we were all go. MacGyver would have been proud. After a couple of teething problems we advanced up river. As we rowed up Nick questioned the damp green slime on the logs. Is this tidal? We agreed that it could be but wern’t totally sure. When we got to the end of the long pool we tied up the raft with 80lb test and continued upriver on foot.

The river was small, a few cumecs I guess. Clear and beautiful flowing through pristine beech forest. A mix of bouldery pools and gravelly runs. Ideal trout water. We quickly moved upstream without trout to slow us down. We blind fished now and again when a piece of water screamed fish – but they weren’t there. We fished to about a kilometre short of where the river becomes unfishable. At that point we decided not to push on since they simply weren’t there. Apart from a couple of 2lbers we saw nothing. After a 2 hour hike back down the river we got to the raft. It was strewn up on top of some logs with the 80lb test tangled in a root system. I guess it was tidal. I rowed back down the long pool. About 20m from camp, Nick hooked into a super fish from the raft. A great surprise. A 6.5lb stunning seatrout and a perfect end to the fishing day. We got back to camp and cracked open a cold beer from Nicks Yeti and got the fire going. I then set to work cooking steak, spuds and beans. Good food, company, fire and few beers in the wilderenss is hard to beat…

Day 2.

The best weather day. Since there were no fish in the river then they must be in the tidal zone. Nicks big seatrout from tidal water the evening before certainly made us feel very excited about 3kms of tidal river water before getting to the fjord. We set off at about 7am. Nick on oars and me casting. Teamwork. Nick keeping the boat on the best bank, just far enough out for me to efficiently and effectively cover the water with my streamer. After a slow start I picked up a fish from a stream mouth. Then the fishing really amped up. We’d catch about 2 a piece and then swap positions – oars for the rod. The fish generally weren’t big but the action was pretty constant. We were fishing this tidal zone at low tide. There was great excitement as the tight river section opened out into an awesome fjord. Just to see it was enough. But what will we find here? First up was a very fishy shorline. We pulled up the raft and fished it from the shore – and it was good! We landed quite a few here before heading for the drop-off where thousands or years of deposition from the river meets the ocean. Now and agian the tent string keeping the oarlocks from falling down would break. We got pretty good at fixing this on the fly. a couple of minutes and we were off again. The flats on the way from the river to the drop-off looked fishy we saw very little. There were occasional bust-ups out in the black ocean water, sometimes close to the drop-off. This was clearly an opportunity. Before we persued that we tried for a blue cod for dinner. We were depending on catching fish for dinner! Nick and I lost one each but didn’t get one. As luck would have it, A cray boat in the bay saw us and came in for chat. A beautiful boat called the Amazon. Certainly the nicest fishing boat I’ve seen! The crew were a very sound bunch of fellas and we chatted for quite a while. When they offered us a few cray tails we happily said yes please! Dinner was sorted. Before they went on their way they towed us way out into the fjord so that we could drift back in with the wind and catch some cod. The idea was good but it was unsuccessful. We then turned our attention to the drop-off and the bust-ups. When a shot finally presented I picked up my 7 weight trout rod. I hooked a kahawai (probably – but who knows) which took off out and down. When I was near the end of my backing he broke me. My mistake. Wrong rod. More to the point – wrong reel. The birds were following the fish so we followed the birds. This was not easy on oars with considerable wind. Finally another opportunity. This time I picked up Nick’s 10 wt Scott Meridian with a large Hatch reel on it. This time I was correctly armed and landed a nice kahawai after a super strong fight. Nick and I hooked a couple of others too but just the one landed. It was high summer so the days were long. That was a good thing because we were about 6kms from camp and it was getting late. We wanted to fit in the fishy bank again too. By now the tide would be low again. We got another couple there before the row up the tidal zone of the river channel. The tide was going out again which slowed the progress on oars but still no major problem. The fishing was quiet while I rowed. Nick took the last kilometre on oars while I fished again. Then, right at camp (just like yesterday) I hooked into a strong fish. I caught a glimpse and said it wasn’t a trout or a kahawai. To my delight a jack mackerel came to the net. This is an ocean fish 3kms up a river in fresh water! Tidal, yes – but fresh water. What a day. It was 9.30pm by the time we made it back to camp. I got a big fire going. Nick was on cooking duty. Spuds, beans and crayfish. Probably the best crayfish I’ve eaten thanks to Nick the chef and the fishermen from the Amazon. After Nick went to his tent I stayed up for a while to wind down and just relax by the fire. I needed it after a non-stop brilliant day.

Day 3.

The main river was not an option so it had to be the tidal zone again. With the tide slightly different we had a chance to see it in another light. This was indeed interesting. With higher water in the tidal zone the fishing was very poor. Nick got one or 2 and I got my best trout of the trip. A stunning, fat seatrout. A great result but nowhere near the numbers of trout on the previous day. Down at the fishy bank, we arrived on low tide and it was good again. We caught a few. The advancing tide filled the edges quickly and this knocked out the fishing. We thought it might improve it but it didn’t. At least not on this day! We then fished the flats concentrating on the gutters or anything fishy. It was quiet but nick did get a follow from a very large trout. Possibly over 10lbs – that sort of big. Time flew by and we had a heli to catch. We checked out some shallows filling up with the rising tide. These were full of whitebait. I’m sure trout would come into these areas at times but not today. The row back up river was easy with the flowing tide. We got back to camp at high tide. Funny how our timing worked out – this was the first time we saw camp at high tide in 3 days. Luckily there was enough gravel for the heli to land. We took the raft apart and laughed about how the duct tape, zip-ties, 80lb nylon and tent string held it together for 3 days of hardship. With everything packed up there was time to sit down and have a beer and chat about 3 amazing days exploring this system. We discussed what we had learned and agreed that it left us with more questions than answers. We’ll just have to go back!

Nick Reygaert

Most of you will have seen some of Nicks fly fishing productions from The Source to Pure Fly NZ and so much in between. You might know him as a cameraman more than an angler. Well I can tell you something – he’s an angler first and foremost, and one of the toughest I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with. Dawn til dusk is no problem for him. Fly fishing is his life whether he’s behind a camera or not.

Tight lines, Ronan.

Ps, for guiding bookings visit my website or email me ronan@sexyloops.com. For a look at my flies available from Fulling Mill, including the streamers I used on this trip, click here. FYI, just enough time to grab some kiwi duns and size 16 clarets for the end of april – best hatch fishing of the year!

Between 2002 and 2011 I fished the majority of every NZ season. Total freedom. I’d work in Ireland during the NZ winter and save as much as I could for the next trip to NZ. After moving to NZ full time in 2011, much of the freedom continued – I just had to fit the fishing around work. As a single man I’d fish every weekend, public holiday and day off throughout all seasons. Things are different now. My wife and 2 kids are now my priority. It’s amazing how quickly time passes and I’m enjoying every minute with them. Recently I got a window to go away and fish myself for 3 days. I really don’t remember when I had this last! Guiding is different, I’m talking personal personal fishing time. Mark was on board to join me right away as we were trying to put a trip together anyway. Next I thought I’d ask a few of the other lads. 4 of us ended up hitting the road for 3 days… I forgot how great the freedom of being on the road fishing feels. That was the drug for 9 years of NZ seasons before I decided to live here. Of course I still fish a lot, a few days a week I’ll get out for a fish. Even if it’s just a few hours. But it’s so hard now to get away over night with my 2 little beauties to look after.

We had 3 brilliant days of fishing. We broke up in different groups each day and covered small streams, stillwaters and rivers. It was a nice mix of tried and trusted and totally new water. One of the exploration days yielded a superb find. A piece of water that I cant wait to get back to with better conditions. Also an excellent guiding option. The highlight of the 3 days for me was a stillwater that I used to fish a lot many years ago. Kevin (Shotgun) first took me there in about 2004. I have so many great memories of the place since then. I had magic fishing on it with my dad – some of our best memories of fishing together over here actually. I also fished it with Chris Dore, Bob Wyatt, Tonio, Fraser and now Wesley. Early season access has always been hard to get with lambing but we were just lucky on our day that they had moved the ewes into the next field and the farmer was happy to let us through. About the fishing – Wesley went left and I went right. Numbers were less than in the past but still plenty to keep us focused. We each landed a few of the most beautiful trout an angler can can catch. Sight fishing with a dry dropper accounted for most. When we were almost finished on it, I changed to a double nymph rig to fish some deep water blind. I moved 3 before landing another stunner.. That was the icing on the cake. I have to say, I’m delighted and relieved to have my HT6 again. It’s been cursed that rod! It keeps getting broken – not manufacture error I should say – just stupit shit keeps happening to it! I feel like the curse is now over and I’ll be able to enjoy this fabulous rod again. If not, I have a back up. Ha! Take that, curse!

Part of the craic on a trip like this is getting into the pub at the end of the day for feed and a schather of pints. I rarely look past the steak option and the beer was good. The pub was quiet but 4 like-minded fellas will always have a good time!

3 days, good friends, lots of craic and plenty trout. Now I need another fix!

In other news, I’ve had a few days guiding – delighted to get them under the circumstances. All very successful days with lots to the net each day. The best result had to be from Angela, who after a casting lesson landed three 5lb browns. That was her first day with a fly rod! Pretty amazing result. Great to see Brian again after his 11lber last season. Also lovely to get out with Sam and Fred again. Last time we fished together Sam broke in 4 big trout. On our recent day she made no mistakes! They both landed some magnificent trout. I know Chuan will be jealous..

Pure Fly NZ has moved off mainstream tv and onto youtube. This makes it very easy to access where ever you are in the world! Myself and Jeff had some super fishing in our episode and Nick was right there to capture it all. You can watch it, and all the other episodes from series 4 for free on youtube. Here’s a link to our episode.

If you’re in NZ and interested in some guided fly fishing, feel free to drop me a line to book a trip before you can’t travel at all!! Visit my website or email ronan@sexyloops.com

My nymphs have been accounting for nearly all the river fish and some of the lake fish in the gallery below. If you’re thinking about stocking up for the NZ season, these are my tried and trusted range of weighted nymphs. You can check them out here.

Tight lines, Ronan..

Last winter we had a little treat! Fish & Game opened a river to anglers to fish for monster rainbows on their spawning run. These fish reach incredible sizes from living in a man made canal system. Like a giant spring creek, the canals have a constant flow and they’re always cool. Perfect for trout to grow year round. They have a diet which consists largely of cockabullies, snails and fish pellets from under the salmon farms, all aiding their rapid growth. For the most part, these fish spawn in the canal system itself but some have the opportunity to spawn in a river – the one that was opened to anglers last September. I spoke to Rhys from F&G about the decision to open it. He said that by that stage in the winter all the redds are already full of eggs so no damage can be done to future stocks by fishing to the new arrivals. He also said that the river would not be opened in September again. This decision was due to the expected onslaught of foreign anglers next year. A pity I thought. I sugested making it for residents only. This year it was for residents only because there were no foreign tourist anglers due to the Covid travel ban. The river was busy at times but there was room for everyone. The perfect case study. In my opinion, making it for residents only would be a very easy management system and we could keep this unique fishery open in late winter. Last Septembers successful opening provides strong evidence that it would work. We also chatted about leaving the river open in May to allow people to fish for the first run of large browns which have all but gone by September. Who knows what will happen here in the future. I think the closed season in NZ in general is in need of a total overhaul. Many closed seasons make no sence and protect little or nothing – especially on lakes and still waters.

Needless to say I had to have a crack at this river. It’s possibly the best large trout river in the world at this time of year. I fished it for 3 days over the month landing 10 between 13 and 25lbs. It quickly became clear to me what I loved most about these winter rainbows. Not the fish or the fishing but the fight! Usually I like that trout are not like bonefish. I like that I can get them in quickly so that I can get back to the fishing. These were different. Unique because how often are you not worried about loosing a 10 to 30lb trout? I loved leaning into these brutes with heavy gear. Get them in fast and returned after a quick snap. I used an 8wt TCX, a Lamson reel with a decent drag and 12lb Maxima. No playing around with 5 or 6 weights. In the great scheme of my fly fishing I rarely fish for anything over 10lbs so it was great just to feel that weight and power on the other end. Watching a 20lb trout run, jump and thrash with the rod hopping and reel screaming was some of the best craic I’ve had fly fishing!

I chose a method at the start of day one which I stuck with each day I fished. I blind fished a weighted streamer (possum and marabou of course!) on a long leader fished on a floating line. This worked well because I could get the fly deep with some simple mends. Depth was key for me to blind fish the deeper water. A sinking line can be a disaster with heavy didymo and large boulders so more reason to use a floater. I love the control with this method. I can get the fly to the depth I want and make it move how I want. Not so easy with a sinking line since you lose much of your ability to mend. Dead drifting the streamer through deep bouldery runs or moving it slowly was the most effective for me. 9 out of my 10 trout over 3 days were bright, healthy hens. Just what I wanted. I saw some fellas happy to fish for coloured up jacks off redds at the tails of pools. This was not for me but each to their own. I did throw a few casts at these fish but when I got the feeling that they were spawners I left them alone. One thing I learned from this trip was that I really dislike fishing with egg flies – so I didn’t!

In more recent news – the new season has been fantastic so far! Some very big fish about too. I’ve already had 2 over the mythical 10lb mark. More about those and the season to date in my next blog. The boat has not been out yet but I do have an engine on the back of it now so I’m just waiting for the opportunity to get out there. I’ve had a couple of very successful guide days with clients landing trout to 8lbs. Some more work coming up too so very happy about that! Myself and Jeff have another epsiode of Pure Fly NZ coming up soon. We have a plan to watch it at the pub since neither of us have whatever channel it’s on. Duke I think. I’m looking forward to watching it. We had a some great action. It’s always a lot of fun filming with Jeff and Nick. We’re all on the same page. Anybody within NZ who’d like to get in touch about some guided fly fishing, I’d love to hear from you. ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website. For a look at some of my fly patterns available at Fulling Mill click here.

Tight lines.. Ronan..

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..

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

P1130835

P1130837

P1130841

P1130842

P1130849

P1130853

P1130858

P1130861

P1130868

P1130871

P1130874

P1130881

P1130885

P1130886

P1130888

P1130897

P1130904

P1130909

P1130914

P1130964

P1140016

P1140018

P1140053

P1140054

P1140056

P1140071

P1140073

P1140081

P1140098

P1140106

P1140114

P1140121

P1140145

P1140157

P1140168

P1140184

P1140187

P1140208

P1140221

P1140227

P1140241

P1140247

P1140249

P1140256

P1140267

P1140094

P1140122

CRANE-FLY-FISHING…

Earlier in the season while fishing with Dean Whaanga he told me about fishing the Crane Fly in his neck of the woods. He told me that it usually fires after the first frost late in the season and that he’d let me know when its happening. Recently he called to tell me “its on” and to invite me to join him the next day. Luckily, I wasn’t guiding so I was there with bells on. John Roach of the Canterbury Fly Fishing Club was in town so he came along too. I was excited to see and try this style of fishing which was pretty new to me. Fishing the crane fly, or daddy-long-legs as I prefer to call it, is well known on the Irish loughs but fishing them on NZ rivers is quite unique. I guess there are not too many rivers with a high enough crane fly populations around them that they get blown onto the river in sufficient numbers for trout to lock-on to them? A frosty start followed by a warm, breezy day is ideal. We didn’t get that, but the day warmed up a little and wind increased but there were not too many daddies about. Possibly due to the lack of a frost in the morning. For a while during the day there were a few on the surface and we saw a few rises. It was enough for me to see the potential of this type of terrestrial fishing. The trout seemed quite keyed in on daddies anyway because we all had a good few eats off the top. We landed two 6lbers, two 4lbers and lost 6 more! It’s always good to learn about a new way to catch a trout, particularly something seasonal and dependable like the cicada or mayfly. I have it marked in my calendar for next season!

A SPECTACULAR TROUT…

On a recent trip to a Wakitipu feeder stream I found what I was looking for. I wanted to encounter some browns moving up from the lake to spawn in a few months time. Along with a number of rainbows, I had 5 browns in the 5 to 7lb range eat or attempt to eat my fly. I only landed one but that fish alone was worth the trip. A very pale coloured trout, it was indeed unique, unlike any trout I’ve seen before. A unique fish like this is at least as satisfying to catch as a really big fish. It’s the brown trout’s infinite differences in shape and colour that make it the species I want to target more than any other. I hooked and lost another fish around 5lbs with what appeared to be a yellow back, again unlike anything I’ve seen before. I really wanted to see this fish out of the water. On hooking, I briefly saw a very deep, silvery flank. I’ve been back since in the unlikely hope of finding him but without success.. Wakatipu feeder streams are open until the end of may so I’ll be back!!

SQUAWKING, FLAPPING AND CRASHING! (AND A VERY BIG TROUT!)

Over the last couple of days Tom McAuliffe and myself went to a river we both enjoy. As luck would have it Robbie was there too so we all fished together on day one. Just before we met Robbie on the river he had landed an 8lb brown. Shortly after we saw another big trout and then things went quiet for the day. In fact we didn’t spot another fish! I had a couple of follows from a dark pool while blind fishing. Shortly after at the head of the same pool it felt as though I became connected to the reef I was fishing across. It was no reef!, it was a solid brown of about 5.5lbs. A real tank of a trout; I was happy to get it under the difficult circumstances. Two great fish for the day but the lack of trout about was a little concerning.

On day 2 it was just Tom and me. We decided to go hard into the wilderness and hope for the best. I had been in a few times before this season with poor results due to terribly low fish numbers but I’m a sucker for a good gorge! As before fish numbers were low. All season long I was hoping the fish were in hiding, under rocks in semi hibernation as these fish tend to do but now I’m confident the fish just aren’t there. Maybe its a cyclical thing and they’ll return but I’m worried to be honest. The number of shags living on the river is also a concern. These creatures feed on fish and only fish. More about that another time. About half way through the day we found the first fish (apart from one I spooked). It looked really big, maybe a double! Sitting apparently dormant against a rock at 90 degrees to the very slow current at the bottom of the pool. A weird position to say the least. Tom won the rock, scissors, paper to take the shot. I advised him on the approach I’d use since he was new to this type of fishing. A very long leader and a heavily weighted streamer, cast well above the fish, let it sink to the bottom and strip it passed its face. The leader had to be long so as not to line the fish in deep water, also to get the fly far enough up stream to give it enough time to sink to the bottom and still be upstream of the fish when it reaches the bottom. While we were setting up, the big trout decided to jump and then do a rapid loop of the pool for no apparent reason. This was a great sign! The fish was awake and not doggo. Tom made a number of accurate casts and from my vantage point I could see the fly passing just in front of the fish but it never flinched.. Then it became awake again, starting to swim up from the rock it was lying against just as Tom landed the fly in her vicinity. “Let it sink” I said, as I watched the fly drop into the fishes lair. “Strip, strip, strip” Tom did so.. I watched as the fish charged and inhaled the fly. Tom could see nothing from his position in the river but I could see everything form my vantage point. “Strike!!”, I said. She was on. After a dogged, heavy fight we got the fish into the net. We thought she might have been a double but the net doesn’t lie (I hope), just over 9lbs of magnificence. Tom was on top of the world and so was I.

Over the next while we saw a few fish. We had a couple of grabs to a streamer and missed one on a nymph but nothing of any size. There was one pool I wanted to get to before we called it a day. We had to push hard and waste no time to get there. We arrived quite late on the Autumn day. On arrival we saw nothing obvious. We carefully made our way up the pool trying to spot every inch of it as we went. In a backwater on the far side of the pool we saw 1 then 2 then possibly 3 or even 4 fish rising. My jaw dropped with anticipation and awe. At least one was a very big fish. Then Tom spotted a huge fish at the tail of the pool where we had just crossed. Now totally on the back foot, which fish do we target? behind or in front? The fish behind had to have been aware of us due to his position. He started to make his way up the pool. A shot had to be taken quickly. I had a dry and nymph on and took the shot. It seemed a better option than Toms streamer in the shallow, glassy water at the tail of the pool. The fish enquired, then enquired again firstly to the dry, then looked at the nymph. When I moved the nymph off the bottom he followed it a number of times before swimming away into the safety of the dark water. I was disappointed because this was a really (really) big, beautiful, catchable fish. However! We had possibly 4 rising fish to target so I looked forward with a confident smirk, Tom looked at me with the same smirk, we took a few steps forward, both considering the best plan of attack. Rise after rise, both of us eager to take them on. “That’s close enough” we both agreed.  With that 2 paradise ducks came squawking, flapping and crashing into the pool, sliding 25 foot right on top of all the rising fish before immediately lifting off again. Birds gone, fish gone, silence. Dumbfounded, I managed to ask Tom “What the fuck just happened?”,  “Fucked if I know” he replied, “para’s”. That was it, all over. I landed a 2.5lber in the next pool but it didn’t even take the edge off how I was feeling. Utterly heartbroken and time to head out. I hate Paradise Ducks!

That’s all folks! 3 days left of the brown trout season and I’ll be fishing all three of them I do believe!

Ronan..

Ps. Internet problems led to a one day delay in getting this out so just 2 days left of the season! Jeff and I fished today and landed 10 fish up to 8lbs! More on that in the next blog. Also, I wanted to write about filming and upcoming NZ fly-fishing TV show with Jeff Forsee filmed by Nick Reygaert but I’m out of steam now so next blog maybe. I also had a few great days and nights in Southland with Robbie Mcphee and Chris Jackson, stars of New Zealand Trophy Waters ( http://www.fishingvideo.co.nz  ). We fished, ate, drank and were merry! Very merry!! Also great to fish with and catch up with one of my first made friends in NZ, Bob Toffler. See you next season, Bob!

MAY IS STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS! For any guiding bookings or enquiries, ronan@sexyloops.com

A handful of daddies..

Lunch with Dean Whaanga and John Roach.. We lost a few in the morning but nothing to the net..

A superb copper brown, about 6lbs, confidently ate my crane fly just after lunch..

Another quick shot before he swims away..

P1070419

P1070420

P1070421

Away he goes...

Difficult water to read and to spot but they're there!!

P1070428

Dean into one..

P1070431

Almost there..

Heavily marked with that striking blue on the cheek..

P1070438

P1070443

John enjoying the Maniototo..

This stunning 4lber took the daddy. There were not many on the surface but the trout certainly responded well to them for a few hours..

Having a bad day?

Having a bad day?

Back at the truck at the end of a great day!

A little exploration, It's been a few years since I fished here..

Stunning place.. not many fish about but I did encounter some quality browns..

Magnificent pool..

This superb brown took a streamer under the white water at the head of the pool. I lost his twin just after putting this one back.

Unusual colouration on this migratory brown. The infinite variation in brown trout shape and colour is a huge part of why I love to target them above any other species.

P1070471

Karearea making a racket! Beautiful bird they are..

P1070476

Karearea, NZ's only endemic falcon.

'shrooms!

A healthy Mataura brown swims away..

The picture of health!

Trout!

A few dries and nymphs for the Mataura...

Fishing with Chris Jackson and Robbie Mcphee. Two main player from the "New Zealand Trophy Waters" movies..

Chris and Robbie..

A fantastic Mataura evening..

Chilling at the Trout Cottage..

Chris, the chef, takes 5 (ish) for a glass of wine!

A great meal!!

I have no words!!

Autumn weather in Southland.

Bob and I managed a couple each in tough conditions. Lots of fly coming off but not many fish where we were..

Bob Toffler and myself before we took on the Mataura..

A nice view over Pigeon, Pig and Tree Islands on the way to work..

Chris with a healthy rainbow during a fun day in the wilderness!

Heading home..

Dan into his best of 4 browns for his half day out..

Gives him stick!!

Happiness can simply be a trout!

A great fire on a cold night! This after day one filming with Jeff Forsee and Nick Reygeart for an upcoming NZ fly-fishing tv show.

Frost makes way for droplets..

P1070752

Some Otago gold mining history..

Although we managed a great fish each, The overall fishing was poor with very low numbers of trout about for our 2 days..

P1070774

Fishing with Robbie and Tom..

P1070786

A great sky at the end of day one..

Tom about to cast at the biggest fish he's ever seen..

Nerves didn't affect him- correct and skilful application of tactics got the deserved reward!

Over 9lbs..

A very happy angler with a truly magnificent creature..

Back she goes...

P1070807

Mountain goat country! You need to be pretty fit and agile to contemplate fishing in here!

This and one a little bigger was all I could muster for the day!

The pool where the paradise ducks broke my heart!