Ronan's Report

Piscatorial

          1. Of or relating to fish or fishing

          2. Involved in or dependent on fishing

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

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

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

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

Cicada Time

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

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

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

Ronan..

Another view from farther along..

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

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

Lots of climbing!

The Piscatorial Pot, 2015 040_1024x768

2 of these for the day..

The Piscatorial Pot, 2015 009_1024x768

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

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

Waka, poolburn with Iza, Guy. Feb 2015 054_1024x768

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

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

Waka, poolburn with Iza, Guy. Feb 2015 070_1024x768

Catching fish makes an angler happy!

Iza kept her fly tight to the shore..

This little fela from Poolburn Dam. Breandan??

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

The Hot Torpedo under strain..

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

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

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

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

..while Guy and I prepare the koura..

Iza makes some sag aloo..

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

Heading in...

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

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

Dinner!

FFFFF isn't that right, Bob!

Last Saturday Mike Bonn and I took the Wakitipu Anglers Club boat out on Lake Wakitipu to target Cicada feeders. I have not fished for trout feeding on Cicada’s very often but one observation I made in the past stud true on the day. The trout were sipping down the big morsels like little mayflies. There were very few smashing rises, In fact,we only saw about 10 free risers all morning. If they were smashing them we’d have seen heaps! They were clearly zoned in on cicada’s because our big, shop bought cicada patterns were all they wanted. I have often heard about fish hitting cicada’s very hard but I have rarely seen it happen. The truth is that once a cicada lands on the water he’s not getting off it again. Trout zone in on this behaviour after eating a few and instinctively adapt their behaviour to match ( I hope I worded that correctly Bob Wyatt, feel free to comment!!) Cicada’s range widely in size and colour so maybe they only sip down the medium sized grass green ones!! Who the hell knows.. Regardless, Mike and I had a great few hours on the water. Afterwards I went to James and Caroline Wilkinson’s Wedding.  Thanks James and Caroline.. Great fun had by all! (apart from getting a speeding ticket while trying to keep up with Jeff on the way the the river the next day!)

Wednesday, Waitangi day. No work so Jeff Forsee and myself set out to catch a big searun brown. I’m tired now so I’ll keep this short! Basically, Jeff had to open about 15 gates before we got to where we wanted to go, then a 300m climb into a gorge, then about 5ks of very rough gorgy terrain to get a shot at a handful of fish. They were tough! We each had a 7lber. I lost 2 more one of which I reckon was 9 plus. Then the walk out. Down the river first then up a stream, then up and over a mountain, down a gorge, and back out the same gorge to find the truck a few k’s down the track. Fitness helps about as much as stubbornness! My knee gave up but still worked. Thankfully it’s almost fine today but my legs are sore! Jeff said his were too and Kanai is still asleep. Was it worth it?…  Fuck yes.

Ronan..

Labour weekend has landed so the next 3 days are mine. I’m relaxing now after a tough week making the heaviest doors on earth. Before I take on this weekend’s mission I’ll briefly fill you in on last weeks…

Saturday. Hung over.

Sunday. Drove too far for a day trip but I wanted to check out some of my favourite water on the Maniototo. I picked up a fish en route to where I was expecting great things. Got back to the truck, it was dead. Walked 1.5 hrs to find a farmer to get a jump after assuming I fixed the problem. After the jump start I drove to the good spot which was not so good but I got one. Got back the truck at 7.30ish after a hell walk through the flooded marshland. Dead again. Another long walk to find another farmer to get another jump. Drove home. 380k round trip.

Monday. Got an auto electrician to fix the truck. Simple fix thankfully!

Let this Labour Weekend roll! Hope you all have a great one.. Tight lines and screaming reels!

Ronan..

Ps. I wish all you new fly-anglers who recently joined the Wakitipu Angling Club the very best in your new sport. It will change your lives! I’m happy to help you all in any way I can. Contact me on facebook or through the club.

Last weekend we had one of or monthly club excursions. We went to Lake Monowai. The fishing was terrible but it really didn’t subtract from what was a great trip. On the way home Mike Bonn and I stopped at Lake Manapouri. We were off Monowai earlier than we thought because neither one of us had a watch. This turned out to be a good thing! We had some very exciting sight fishing on Manapouri not far from where we put in. The photos tell the story. Hard luck on losing that fish on the last cast of the day Mike!

Tomorrow many rivers reopen. I won’t be out because I have to go to work but I don’t mind. My season never ended anyway! I was going to head out tonight at midnight and try to catch the first of the season but its pissin rain now and motivation is failing! Tight lines to all who venture out tomorrow.  Hopefully this rain won’t put the rivers up too much.

As our season is starting The Irish season is closing! I hope it was a great one. Hello to all who fish Lough Inagh today for the last day of the season. Colin, Will, Ulrich, Brian, Thomas, Kevin, Vincent, and the rest, have a Guinness or 6 for me!!

Ronan (Stuntman, C.I., Fishing Host, Joiner)