November
The 1st of November sees the highland and backcountry rivers open.
We’ve had a mixed bag with the weather but some good fish have been brought to the net, in fact the largest Brown Trout I have got a client onto was caught this month and weighed in at a whopping 15lb.
Federico Caloi
It was such a treat getting this fish,Fedrico had booked 2 days but the night before our first day it rained very hard and all the rivers colored.
Frederico said he wanted to go, even if he just had one shot all day, I told him of a spot I had seen a good fish while hunting down south over winter, it was a long drive and a good walk. Federico got 3 shots before she took the fly, it was quite a sight watching this girl, tail walking all over the show.Well done Federico, we caught some fish the next day but this is the one we remember.
Wilderness Fishing
One of my favorite parts of fly fishing is where it takes you, I often say to people if you travel with a fly rod you will see some of the best sights a country has to offer.
When you get to go places like this the job never gets old.
Most of these places we never see another person let alone another angler.
Camping out is always a good way to make the most of your time on the water, and sitting around the camp fire telling yarns is always good too.
This month we have had some good wilderness fishing, some being accessed by helicopter, some by boat and some by 4WD, but really, it still comes down to putting in the effort once your on the ground.
I work a lot with a mate Henare Deewes from dreamwaters.co.nz, people say we are a great team and sometimes on our real wilderness fishing trips, we go one on one with clients, its a great way to get the most out of it. We have been working that much together with fishing and other trips, we have started another website, check it out sionz.co .
This is classic example of wilderness fishing, but still putting in the effort.
I caught this fish with Henare, but don’t think these beauties come easy, this is on day 3 of a 4 day camp out by ourselves, we didn’t see one other person.
You need to be fit and prepared to put in a good effort for these type of fish, but man it sure is worth the effort, to be honest it is this type of fishing I find the most rewarding.
A beautiful Rainbow.
5 nice fish hooked and landed in this pool alone, well worth the walk and extra effort, just to be here was so cool let alone the fishing.
Tom and Meg Gordon understand NZ fishing, the rivers got a load of water before we went out, they knew using the boat and doing some yards was the only way we were going to make it happen on that day.
I have a few more days booked to round out the month and am looking forward to summer really kicking in.
Next post will be end of December so merry Xmas everyone, take care and of course, tight lines.
October
October was a great month with the rivers opening and conditions being good.
The fish have been in good nick and for the most part the weather has played it’s part well.
Now, we are into November and the highland rivers have opened, this is great as it opens up our back country water and gives us more options of where to fish on any given day.
With the Rugby World Cup being held here during Oct we were quite busy not only with the fishing but with a bit of our other work as well here are a few snaps of the month.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves….
Looking forward to the next few months, it’s looking like there are going to be some good fish to be had.
Tight lines
Season about to kick off!!!!
Well only days any now and the season will be open.I’m really looking forward to it.
Early season often has great results and with the Rugby World Cup here at the moment bookings are coming in so if you are thinking of getting out make sure you book to avoid being disappointed.
Most of the water we fish in Oct are Brown Trout streams and as they have had no pressure over winter they do fish quite well.
Come Nov our highland rivers open and most of these hold Rainbows.Fishing these back country rivers is my favorite, camping out and being on the water on multi day trips is were its at for me, after the days fishing sharing the camp fire and sharing fishing stories, it starts to be more like two mates out there rather than a guide/client situation.
Because no two people are alike I like to customize each trip to suit the individual so feel free to contact me to discuss options and we can put together a package that suits you.
The Italian Job
Last week I had the pleasure of guiding two very good fishermen from Italy,Angelo and Gianfranco.
We spent 6 days on the water with a mixture of camp outs and Motels.
My favorite type of guiding is camping out and doing the yards, it puts you in the best places and maximizes your time, we caught over 100 fish in the 6 day’s but it was more about where we were fishing and hooking up in beautiful locations.
If you travel with a Fly rod there is a good chance you will get to go too some of the most scenic places a country has to offer, these boy’s were fit and we did do some good walking….well worth the effort.
Angelo would be the best fisherman I have taken out, he could cast both hands and was very quick to pick up on local patterns and understanding our style of fishing.
Gianfranco was very good as well, at night the guy’s would tie a few patterns as they were keen to catch trout on there own fly’s, and they all worked.
We fished a mixture of freestone rivers, spring creeks and small streams.
Fly fisherman’s paradise.
It’s a tough job when you have to go to places like this.
A nice Brownie.
You almost expect a T-Rex to come running out.
A beautiful wee Bow.
If you want to catch great Trout in some of the worlds most dramatic scenery get in touch I can can put together a package for you, many of my clients have fished all over the globe and they tell me these trips are world class, for me I have only fished in the south island of New Zealand so it’s hard for me to compare, but I do know it’s pretty bloody good.
1/2 Day
Roy Chapin only had a few hours up his sleeve and was keen to wet a line so we headed out and hooked a couple of nice Browns.
Not a bad way to open the account.
We worked hard for this fish and it felt sweet to get it to the bank, Roy is a cool guy and our morning together was great fun with heaps of laughs, thanks Roy.
Tom and Meg Gordon.
Tom and Meg had a day with me and it must have left a good impression as they have already booked in for a few days next season.
Both Tom and Meg were very good on the stick and the rewards came but once again it was all about the overall experience, catching trout in such a beautiful place is hard to beat.
A very happy Meg.
Big smiles.
Tom with a healthy bow.
Great fun and look forward to seeing these guy’s again.
Al and Whitey
Al and Whitey are two of my more regular customers.
We spent a week fishing with 2 camp outs, these guy’s are really starting to become good fishermen and with another week booked latter in the season I’m looking forward to spending more time with the guy’s and sharing more tales around the camp fire.
We stayed in a mixture of back country huts and tents with a night or 2 in a motel to keep everyone fresh.
A box of tricks.
Whitey with a nice brown.
The good thing with camp outs is you never feel rushed, heaps of time to fish and nowhere else to be….perfect.
Al with a good brown.
The guys caught a lot of fish, too many to show all of them, but it wasn’t really about the numbers more about the whole overall experience of back country fishing.
As the week went on the boy’s were getting sharper and sharper, these guy’s will become excellent fishermen soon that is one thing I am positive of.
Catching trout in a place like this really is quite special.
Al with a really nice Bow and just so you know Al is about 6ft 3.
Whitey with a very nice looking brownie.
A great way to travel, we did our far share of walking but it was great to use the heli on the odd occasion.
The crew myself,Al,Whitey and Henare.
This really was a world class fishing adventure and one I wont forget.
First fish in NZ
Jason Plato and Heather Jenkins got out on the river with myself and fellow guide Henare from Dream waters and we got them each there first NZ trout.
Heli fishing was the call for the day and with Johny from heliworks at the controls we were soon into the back country.
Heather with her first Trout on the fly.
Jason who had never fished with a fly rod before was on the board with this wee rocket.
Heather in the back country lazy boy chair.
It was obvious Heather had used a fly rod before and with a little coaching she was hooking fish everywhere.
A great day out with great people.
The kiwi backcountry experience.
Bill Abshagen and myself headed out for a 3 day camp out up a back country river.
We camped in the tent one night and in a private hut the next.
Bill is a real cool guy with a great attitude towards fishing and having the overall experience.
The places we get.
In our job it’s pretty cool the places we get too, we are all way’s trying to go to the best location that suits the client and the conditions.
Here is a few snaps of were I’ve been over the last little while and a few of the fish that live there.
How’s that for some cool water.
