New fly fishing blog and site for New Zealand Fly fishing expeditions

Hi there - I have been busy developing my new blog and website:

www.flyfishingexpeditions.co.nz

so please go check it out.

I have been working away on developing some new fly fishing expeditions for the serious fly fisher so keep your eyes out for the new expeditions when the info goes live on the site. I will post another blog to let you all know.



In the meantime ----- One of the more grunty weather systems has been smashing southern NZ over the last 72 hrs and the worst of it is arriving now and for the next 24 hrs. Snow has fallen to very low levels over the South Island and Mt Hutt in Canterbury has received well over a meter of snow and may end up with a excellent base going into the ski season.
NZ Fly Fishing Expeditions - Fresh snow

NZ Fly Fishing Expeditions - Fresh snow

It has been a while since I have fished in conditions that require de-icing of the fishing rod guides and at the moment I am not rushing out the door to experience it. The extremely cold blustery southerly that is blowing has certainly got my hopes up for a good duck shoot this afternoon.

There looks like there could be a few small gaps in the weather next week so there could be some good options to get out then - if I can find a stable couple of days together we are going to try to get into Fiordland for a late season hit on some of the big browns that are getting ready for spawning.

The reports of a long and cold winter ahead of us may well becoming true and it will interesting to see if it translates into big snow which will then make for some big run off come spring time through the rivers systems. If the winter is long and cold it will also have and effect on the health of the trout at the beginning of the season - it will take longer for them to put condition back on.

Lates Season Fishing down South New Zealand

The last week since Easter has seen some odd warm (ish) weather with quite large quanties of precip falling west of the divide with some signifacnt spill over. The eastern side has not recieved too much rain but with the temps being warmer (until now) on top of the large floods we recieved about 3 weeks ago in many areas have certainly taken a toll on the the big mayfly hatchs we normally get. Although there has been some good steady action on the lower Mataura and yesterday on the upper “X” saw a good mid afternnon hatch of mayfly with fish feeding on the sub surface on the emerger but no actual surface action.



With the cold and clear weather on us now and steady thru to Friday there should be stronger hatches and we should see trout coming to the surface to sip the mayfly a great deal more on most of the Southern rivers.




With only 9 days left to go before the lowland rivers close it’s nice to see some stable weather for a change. This season has certainly been hard due to the very chanageable weather patterns but with good local knowledge has produces some great fishing at times.

The back country rivers stay open until the end of May and if the weather patterns give us some decent weather there will be some more good fishing available for the keen angler.



I am starting to get ready for some duck shooting and have been bringing bags of feed back from Southland to feed our ponds - (evening shoots preferred) but I will get in a bit more trout fishing before I head up to Golden Bay in mid May for a wee break. I am taking some saltwater fly fishing gear in the vain hope there might be some snapper around still (they usually move on around the end of April to follow the warm water) - we will see.
NZ Fly Fishing Expeditions - Back country Rainbow

NZ Fly Fishing Expeditions - Back country Rainbow

My last few days of guiding have been interesting from the tuition front. An interesting point is how detrimental to good fly casting is the habit of wanting to overmuscle the rod to load it up as opposed to allowing good technique to work the rod and allow for clean excution of the presentation. It’s something we are all gulity of now and again and is probably excerbated by “hog fever” and trying too hard rather than feeling the smooth rhythm of good fly casting. To be sure powering the rod up takes musclar activity and especially so when it comes distance casting but the majority of trout we catch is in a 30 -45 ft distance using long (and sometimes very long) leaders. Having the skills to deliver an acurate cast the right length, first time can make a huge difference to the results at the end of the day…….practice your casting. Make the time to practice particularly before going on a trip. Practice casting is best done on the grass in the park and not while seeing a 8+ lbs New Zealand feeding parked in a tricky pool eye. Yes life is busy but do yourself a favour - PRACTICE - it will pay off!

Autumn fishing is here.

Daylight saving time has changed back (thank goodness), the leaves are changing colour and there is one month left for the lowland rivers (the ones that run to the sea)these close on the last day of April and the high country rivers close at the end of May.

There is some great fishing from now until the end of the season with some good Mayfly action.

The Pommy had a very big and quite localised rain event about 2 weeks ago that created a very large flood event (it also hit the Waikaia but not as bad) which has seen debris left to very high levels up the banks and has certainly pushed fish back downstream and knocked them about. They will be moving up again.

The Oreti and Aparima have seen fresh fish moving up in last week and spawning runs are getting underway. It is no longer possible to target salmon in these systems due to the seasonal license restrictions in place from F&G. Even on poor light days blinding thru runs and riffles should produce a result or two - forget the aquarium pools unless you want to hit them after dark.

The Greenstone is now free slather (no booking system) again for all (if you have the correct licensing)until next season and is fishing well. The Caples is also fishing well and both are holding good numbers of fish and more Brownies are showing up in the systems. Even getting trout coming for cicadas still!

If you want to catch lots of fish, hitting the Mataura and working the riffles and waiting for the afternoon mayfly hatch is the way forward.

Quinnet salmon have been gathering at the heads of the lakes for their runs and the deltas have been productive.

Certainly now the days are shorter more gentlemanly fishing hours are available and there is some very productive fishing during the shorter light hours - particualry mid afternoon when the hatch is on!

Tight Lines,

Simon

SW Guiding - Fly Fishing New Zealand Report 13.03.09

Update from Fly fishing New Zealand

I am just about to post a vid blog but in the mean time:

The lower 1/3rd of the South Isalnd has been fishing well.

The Cicada season on the west coast is at an end and in-land has been reltively poor due to the regular cold snaps we have been getting over summer killing off the grub.

Sea runs have started appearing in some of our better know sea running rivers and also chinnook salmon are showing up. The Clutha River belkow Roxburgh is one example of this where a solid amount of large salmon have been caught.

The latest cold snap produced teh coldest day in QT in March since 1991 and also a solid flush thru most of the river systems. This should only help induce more fish to run up these systems and we are lookinglike getting some excellent mid to late season fishing.

Tight Lines,

Simon

SW Guiding and Carlin Bamboo

Back from Safari

Going on a New Zealand Fly Fishing Safari

Some tips on how to fight NZ trout

Here are some tips for fighting trout that I always find useful and spend time constantly telling people - they should up your catch rate (unless you count long line releases):

1. Use the strongest leader and tippet you think you can get away with.

2. Make sure you check your leader and tippet for any weaknesses before you cast to that hog.

3. Keep the rod tip up - show the fish the butt (not your's - the rod's). If you have a low flat rod you will shock load the tippet and risk losing the fish.

4. Keep your check (tension) low - enough to stop over spooling only - use your index and forefinger with the line running through it to increase or decrease tension when you need to. If you really need too up the check when you have the chance.

5. If the trout makes a long run away from you that will take care of all the lose line spooling around in the water.

6. Get on the reel.

7. Clear the hand from the reel (completely when the trout runs).

8. If the trout runs at you - strip line in (from behind the hand that the fingers are controlling the line tension with and if possible move away from the fish.

9. If you are in the water - move out of it when you get the chance - it's always fun when the trout swims between your legs.

10. Get your hands up above your head (until you too get tired). the extra 2-3 feet elevation on the rod will lift the trouts' head up (great on brownies) and allow you to maneuver the trout where you want it to go more easily.

12. Soft wrists when the trout goes airborne - if you lower the rod tip and end up with too much slack as you lift you may shock the tippet.

13. Use rod angle to direct the fish where you want it to go as much as possible.

14. Always keep one eye on the fish while you move over tricky terrain during the battle.

14. Be aware of the terrain - as much as a river runs through it, a lost fish is better than drowning.

15. The battle is not over until the fish is in the net or up the bank.

16. The net is unlike a tennis racket.

17. Try not to water net unless there is no other option - keep one foot on the bank.

18. If you are fishing with a friend communicate throughout the battle - generally the guy on the rod is the Chief and the net guy the Indian.

19. Fight Hard

20. Unless it's really necessary don't use a net - beach the fish.

21. Beg, steal or buy a set of knee high stockings - cut the toe end off - wear one on a wrist while fishing - when you go to handle the trout (with wet hands) roll it down and you will find you can get a much less slippery hold on the fish until you release it.

22. You can hold the trout quite firmly just in front of the tail fin (with the stocking hand) while the other rests very gently under the belly.

23. Photograph and take dimensions quickly. While you are doing this give the trout a drink between photos.

24. Hold the fish upstream in light flowing water (maybe behind a rock).

25. Release hands and watch the fish swim away to battle for another day.

Another Spring Week chasing trout in NZ

Local knowledge and good use of the 'net can be key - after the last rainstorm pretty much all the waters dirtied up and many fly fishers would have been disappointed. I did the research on the 'net and then the miles and dropped into a back country river which was at a higher flow but had remained clean while the catchment next door was dirty and all those around were blown out.

It ended up to be a great day with 9 trout to the bank and one long line release with quite a few other chances as well. Some on the dry and some on nymph with the same patterns from my last blog post being effective.

Check out my net vibes page:

http://www.netvibes.com/swguiding#SW_Guiding_Public_Fishing_Info

You will find access to some useful info you can get to for trout fishing purposes off the net all in one neat place.

November Rivers Open and the Spring weather continues

The weather was quite rough for Lower South Island back country opening day with high winds being followed by a nasty but quick moving front. Anybody who walked into the backcountry rivers would have had a great time if the had the opportunity to fish the next 2 days which were about as perfect blue bird as you can get.

It just goes to show how far South we are situated here (45 deg S) this morning it is snowing hard out (still is as I write this) and has even been settling in some places Queenstown. A very cold blast has come charging up from the Antartic. I am sure it will pass quickly enough and 2moro will probably be bluebird at least out west, maybe not down south.

The rivers wont be too affected as the storm has come in exceedingly cold. There could be some rises in river levels over the next couple of days when it warms up due to snow melt but the mostly there will be clean water available to fish and the higher up the system you go the better it should be.

I have been out guiding a bit since my last report and there has been some excellent fishing if you can beat the roaring 40's winds - local knowledge is a good thing - you can't beat the wind but you can work with it.

Some of the small spawning streams that have just opened seem to have had early spawning runs and numbers are down as rainbow trout have already been dropping back (it's always possible that its the other way round tho) into the main system or lakes. However the bigger of the backcounrty rivers are fishing well and will contiue to do so over the next few months and some of the small streams are still well worth a walk.

Nymphing has been the way forward for the upstream fisherman but dry fly is starting up as the temps increase and it won't be long now until we see some beetle action.

Didymo - it's still there so don't be complacent, check clean dry. Most of the rivers that have been more affected by it over last summer down here seem to have had some good floods strip much of it out and there was been some great fishing in areas that were choked up with it last summer.

Some of the rivers that have bad didymo build ups when I have been there over the last season or 2, the fish we have caught have been in excellent nick and have been very accepting of taking a dry. I have a theory - the fish are looking towards the surface more often for food sources to eat and therefore will come to the dry more easily than when they were feeding pre-dominatly on nymphs prior to didymo. I will continue to explore this strangely exciting idea.