{"id":17692,"date":"2026-04-16T11:11:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/?p=17692"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T09:21:18","slug":"a-great-season-for-big-fish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/16\/a-great-season-for-big-fish\/","title":{"rendered":"A Great Season for Big Fish!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The season is winding down now with only a few more days booked in. I like this time of the season where I can step back and relax a little. Today I’ve spent some time at the tying desk trying to finalise a few more patterns for Fulling Mill. I’m almost there so hopefully I’ll have a few new patterns in next seasons catalog. Thinking about the season thats been; it was an amazing one for big fish. The best yet I’d say – and the cream of the crop are all in this blog. I like to see one elusive double figure fish each season. I usually do but not always. This season there were 3. They all have a great story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve’s 12lber<\/strong>. Chris, Nick and myself were looking after Joe, Will and Steve for a week. We swapped around the guide \/ angler combo each day. It was an epic week of adventurous, full-on fishing. Lots of fun with a super crew. On the last day Steve and I were together. We arrived at the river at a respectable time but it was very busy with anglers on all the accesses. We killed time for a few hours fishing unproductive water and then went in behind another angler. He was a few hours ahead of us at this stage. We took our time as we moved up river. I just wanted to find one feeding fish. We found 2. The first wasn’t doing much but we persisted for about an hour. Steve made a few great shots to that fish but no joy. We continued slowly until another opportunity arose. A fish was cruising up and down a cut bank. It was generally hard to see him so we took a safe position well back to get a good read on his beat. He was cruising up and down about 50m of bank. On the first approach we went in my green cicada. Once the fish turned at the bottom of his beat we followed. Our approach was ultra cautious because he was hard to see – we were waiting on a rise to give his position away. The rise came – it was well up the beat so we chased, running up the bank with quiet footfalls. The fish was travelling up much faster than we initially thought. He came into view and slowed down at a choke point. This was our chance. Steve made a good shot and the fish came to the fly but rejected. “Reset” I said. We went back to the start, changed to the tussock cicada and tried again. We waited. The fish rose at the bottom of his beat and we could see him briefly as he turned to travel back up. Once again we chased quietly. Once again he slowed at the same choke point and Steve made another good shot. The fish came to the fly – put his nose on it – and rejected. This time he turned and quickly swam down river looking for us (they do that). We both tucked and rolled quietly away from the bank hoping he didn’t see us. We went back to the start again – reset. I was worried that he was spooked – he was certainly onto us. We waited. No sign. Eventually I decided we should move up a little. There he was, still rising on the upper part of his beat. This time we went in armed with Mcphails blowfly. We followed the fish as he approached the choke point. When he slowed down Steve put in another good shot and the fish swung out and confidently ate the blowfly. A well timed strike and it was all on. The fish was heavy and used his weight and power to bulldoze under the high bank. The rod tip was under water keeping the fish under control and away from the undercut. After a pretty stressful fight I got the net under the fish well downstream of where Steve hooked it. Relief, excitement, exhilaration. This was teamwork and we both played our parts. The tactics were right, the casts were good. A pursuit of happiness that neither of us will forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcus’s 12lber<\/strong>. By 5pm on day 2 we still didn’t have a fish in the net. On day one on this river system the conditions were terrible. Glaring light from white clouds. We could rarely see well and didn’t get any proper shots. Marcus did hook one on the blind but the leader broke somewhere in the middle of a 3x section. We have no idea why. We do know it was a big fish. Day 2 was crazy. So many things happened that I don’t think I can remember them in the correct order. Without going into too much detail I’ll give you a quick rundown of the day..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We broke in a very big fish early on through some really awful luck. We saw him. An incredibly fat lump of copper. That one hurt. Marcus was almost in tears. He tried to explain to me what he was feeling, “it’s called emotion, Marcus” I said. We laughed. We had multiple eats which just didn’t connect, then a loss – not all big but some were certainly top end. It got to the point that it felt like there was a higher power just saying “no, not today fellas”. We had landed a fish over 10lbs on the first day of the trip so we figured the fishing gods had decided that was enough for us – which we understood. We continued regardless. Then we had a fella fly his drone over to us and chase the trout we were fishing for around the pool. A karearea made a half attempt of attacking it. I wish he succeeded! The drone pilots camp was about a kilometre away. I roared politely to ask him to take his drone off the river. Thankfully he did although the damage was done. We got to the end of the beat by about 4pm. No fish. We walked back to the pool where we had most action. Fish were rising again, although cautiously. They were occasionally refusing real cicadas. We worked our way through the opportunities and hooked and landed 3 from 3. Truely incredible fish. 8.5, 9.5 and 12. All in about 45 minutes and all on my Highcountry Green Cicada. The condition of the first two fish was absolutely magnificent. I totally lost my shit with my Mcleans weigh net trying to weigh the second fish because all the increments wore off. Each time I’d try to count the increments the fish would jiggle as I got near the end – its was extra frustrating because it was so near the 10lb mark and I couldn’t tell if it was over it or under it. The quality of those nets is pretty crap these days. Must get a digital scale. Anyway, back to the fishing – had we landed even one fish during the day we would not have gone back to that pool. I think the fishing gods admired our persistence and paid us off in style. We were absolutely blown away. Especially to catch a 12lber. Fish this size are so rare in NZ, it’s hard for me to grasp that there’s 2 in this blog. Such a rollercoaster of emotions over the 2 days with Marcus. The highs of hooking a large brown on a dry followed by the devastation of a break or a loss. These are no ordinary fish, many would be considered a fish of a lifetime for most anglers, hence the heartbreak when we lose these beauties and the thrilling highs when we succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lots more to come from this season in my next blog – more big fish too. The pics below take me up to mid March. I limit each blog to about 60 images so that it’s easy to see them all without getting too bored! Still some gaps next season if the USI don’t bring us to WW3. You can contact me on ronan@sexyloops.com<\/strong><\/em> or visit my website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see my flies over on Fulling Mill click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To quote Kurt Cobain, “Peace, Love, Empathy”.. Ronan..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A great day with Will. Most fish taken from backwaters ..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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.. but this on came from the main flow. A top end for this system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Joe today. A great start – the bridge fish!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On my brown nymph #16.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A tiny stream..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Down time at Simons Trout Cottage with Nick and Chris! Mighty craic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Great start for Will. Claret 14 doing the business.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A dream day! Blue skies and fish looking up..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Good for the soul.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Plenty quality trout..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My tussock cicada accounted for most fish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Taking it all in…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The last day with the boys – Steve today… 12lbs. We were both as high as kites after this!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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What a fish!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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3 careful approaches to capture this beauty..
One last look before he swims away. A special day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Driving back to see Chris, Nick, Joe and Will for dinner…
A few well deserved beers went down with stories from an epic week!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mackenzie with Bryan for a few days.. I love still waters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cruiser heaven.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Exploring. I’ve wanted to check this out for ages.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Got this fat beauty on my kiwi dun 14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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An unforgettable day with Bryan.. Many fish blind fishing with a double nymph rig.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My Straggle Nymph #12 was brilliant on the point.
Not many took the buzzer on the dropper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A clue!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bryan had most success with my hotspot
14 fished singly and retrieved slowly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A couple of days with Ron.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fishing was tough but the location was stunning..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nice water..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Out with my little buddy..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First fish of the trip for Marcus. 10.25lbs..
Hard to beat (but we did!).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Amazing fish. We almost walked past her but
Marcus had another look as she swung out a little!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Wesley dropped in to say hello – we were having a celebratory whiskey!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A good day chasing pristine rainbows.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Backcountry beauty..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Home for the night..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Day 1 we had bad light and one heartbreaking loss..
Day 2 was a rollercoaster of emotions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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More crazy stuff happened on this day than maybe any day I’ve guided…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Still no fish at 5pm…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ended up with 3 – 8.5, 9.5 and 12lbs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The leviathan swims away… <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another river, more great trout..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Very little activity so we blind fished all day. This 8.5lber made my day!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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His good side..
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A gloomy, wet day – we checked out some still waters I used to fish.
If you have Bob Wyatts book “What Trout Want” check out the back cover!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This pic is for you, Bob!
Ive had may great trips with Marcus but this was next level.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Eric.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A great day 1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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7lb seatrout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Eric fished well – great company on the river too!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Day 2.. Into a cracker!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Magnificent seatrout on my claret #14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A little beauty on my kiwi dun from Fulling Mill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fishy water!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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End of the day! now for a near 2 hour walk out!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A fishless day fishing alone on lower lake Dunstan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The season is winding down now with only a few more days booked in. I like this time of the season where I can step back and relax a little. Today I’ve spent some time at the tying desk trying to finalise a few more patterns for Fulling Mill. I’m almost there so hopefully I’ll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[292,1430,66,753,202,1408,454,1222,1012,1150,785,895,1431,862],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17692"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17692"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17761,"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17692\/revisions\/17761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sexyloops.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}