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Posts Tagged ‘trout’

Some Late Season Highlights…

June 7th, 2023 No comments

There was a nice mix of fishing to be had in April. At times the rivers were in great shape between rain events and I made the most of those opportunities for myself and my clients. There were a few days where the rain pushed me away from the rivers to take on some lakes – this worked out very well. As anyone who reads this knows by now, I love any opportunity to fish the lakes. Generally my clients prefer rivers but for one reason or another, most of my regular clients have fished lakes with me by now. Some are a little bit on the fence with some aspects of still waters but the majority now love it and usually request at least one lake day on a multi day trip.

Later in the month my streamers really came into their own. As some chunky browns congregated around some high country stream mouths, it was time to get stuck in. I had some great fishing for myself and for my clients landing trout with a few over the 7lb mark.

After 7 months looking after Adaline and Lochlan, our Au pair, Ilana wanted to catch a trout. We got out for a day on Dunstan where I figured trolling sinking lines would easily do the business. It didn’t! She lost one right away, then got a few hits before finally (after many hours!) getting stuck in a 1lb rainbow. She was delighted and relieved, we all were! I prepared it for dinner, crudo style with lemon, salt, olive oil and capers. A lovely way to eat fresh, wild trout.

It was great to see many of my regulars over the month and a few new recruits too. Seeing people coming back for more certainly makes it all worth while.

If you’d like to check out my range of flies for NZ you can do so on the Fulling Mill website. It’s winter now so I recommend my hotspot nymphs for the larger rivers which remain open and my range of streamers for the rivers and lakes. You can see them all here.

Next season is filling up fast but feel free to get in touch to lock in a trip. You can contact me at ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website.

Tight lines. Ronan..

Fly-Fishing Comradery…

February 17th, 2012 No comments

After writing my previous blog I set off for Lake Burbury. It was useless. The tea coloured water was extremely low and the total lack of weed beds or features made it very difficult to read. After a few hours fishing I left the lake and spent the next few days touring the Northwest of Tasmania. It’s a stunning place with the hilliest and windiest roads I have driven. This was not easy in Sean’s car. It was as if one wheel did the steering and dragged the other one around the bends!! Might have been something to do with the cv joint. It was ticking away in a sort of rhythmical beat the whole time but it could only be heard on tar seal.  Granville Harbour and Strahan were the highlights.

Meeting people is a common by-catch of fly fishing. I met a fella called Ras on the side of the Great Lake a while back. We got talking and he invited me to join him and his friends on a 4 day mission into the Tazzy backcountry to an area I had not yet been to. Naturally I accepted.

After a 4 hour hike we made camp for 4 days. The fish were small and difficult but we all had a few each day. After the first full day fishing the plan was to have fish for dinner but everyone put their fish back in the hope of catching a better one. Ras had a never fail plan though. After dinner he went ball deep in the lake and got one on a spinner. We ate it raw with soy and wasabi.

On day 2 and 3 we covered shitloads of miles over difficult terrain, we explored looking for good water but we didn’t find it. The place is spectacular, truly wild and unspoiled, so much so that the frustration of not catching didn’t bother me as much as it usually would. However catching fish is the reason I’m here so after a fishless day I went out for a night fish and had some good action on lumo flies.

After a day on the lake in this wilderness it’s always a pleasure to get back to camp and chat with the rest of group to see how everyone got on. Wine, sambuca, whiskey, or whatever else people bring in all add to the craic and bring out all sorts of stories. It’s a shame there’s such a strict fire ban out here because camping is not camping without a fire. Once Paul, Hair and I turned on the red light function on our headlamps and put them under some small sticks to give the illusion of fire. It worked. Better than nothing anyway.

On the last day Ras and I teamed up and fished a number of lakes over the 5 hour walk back to the truck. Fishing with a pack on is tough going and generally I do what I can to avoid it. Sometimes you have to and in this instance it was worth it. I spotted a brown cruising slowly near the surface on what was the most beautiful lake I had seen in my few days in the bush. I threw off my pack as the sun went behind a cloud and lost sight of the fish. He rose but I couldn’t see him. I put my dry to the left of the boil and within a few seconds the 3lber sipped it down. I had another chance a little later in a shallow sandy bay but in my haste my pack got stuck on my fly vest. I was about 5 seconds too late getting into position and lost visual. I didn’t make a blind cast in case I’d spook the fish. There was always a chance he could reappear. He didn’t.

To Ras the doctor, Mike the farmer, Hugh the artist, Pete the… sorry Pete I cant remember! and Simon the maths teacher. It was a pleasure to get to know you all. And hi to the 2 Donegal men we met on the way in, It was great to meet people who actually read this!

Since the backcountry mission I’ve had a few days on the water and the fishing seems to be improving. Today Hair and I had 11 on one of the 19 Lagoons. Yesterday Paul, a copper from Geelong and myself had 7 on the Great Lake fishing blind with dries. Paul was part of a gang of anglers from Victoria staying across the road from me. Rob and Tommy cleaned up on the lake with 20 or so fish. Glenn and Stu also did well. I had dinner with all these lads on their last night and I was well buckled by the end of it. Thanks fella’s! See you all next year…

Ronan..

Mayfly!

May 11th, 2011 No comments

It was yet another big weekend on Corrib starting at 5am on Friday morning. We first targeted pike to no avail, then John went to work and I focused on trout. The mayfly is up early this year and thankfully the trout are responding to them. For the first time this year I really want to be trout fishing. Gales, thunder, rain and squalls made the going tough all weekend. I met about 12 or 15 trout on Friday but only landed 2. They were good fish though, the best was around 3lbs. I hooked another of about 4lbs on the middle fly (a long shanked invicta) which quickly broke at the knot, then foul hooked him on the tail fly which also broke at the knot! Bad leader i fear. There were not huge numbers of trout showing but there were enough to keep me interested and focused.

No joy for me on Saturday but John had a great fish around the 4lb mark on a wet Green Drake. There were much fewer fish showing. I only moved a few and straightened a Royal wulff in one! Angling author Nicholas Kearns joined us and moved a few fish to the dap..

Sunday was blowing a gale so we decided to avoid the main lake and target Pike in a sheltered bay. We had 2 and lost a few more.

All in all it was a tough weekend on the water but I’m glad to say trout are finally feeding on the top.. not many but enough to fish for and they are catchable. Also, from the fish I’ve seen and heard about, the average size must be up at least 1lb.

All the best! Ronan..

Ps. If the wheels on your vehicle take 5 nuts, 4 wont do.. i nearly learned the hard way…. again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In and on the Water…

March 30th, 2011 No comments

Not many fish to report from the weekend but it was not all bad. I managed one nice trout in flat calm conditions on Corrib with Dad on thursday. I fished with just 2 buzzers on a 5lb flourocarbon leader. If there was any breeze at all  would have been fishing 3 or 4. I’ll tie a few for a blog in the near future.

Friday I was on sea without a flyrod with my good friend Fuzz.. We got a feed the old fashioned way with our hands and spears!

Saturday Fuzz and I fished the Corrib for both pike and trout but we had no success. I did explore a large chunk of the lake i never fished before and did not see a single fish. Conditions were tough once again. I’m really looking forward to a day on this lake when everything is just right.

By the way there are still no pike near Maam! Bad mistake putting my boat there for the early part of the season.. I’ll know better next year!

Enjoy the week! Ronan..