Flyshop NZ

Waikaremoana by John Giacon : "Waikaremoana by John Giacon “A Stillwater Flyfisher’s Paradise” My new book spans 30 years of my life as a flyfisher. It is a non-fiction account of my own and a group of New Zealand’s top flyfishers who have succumbed to the paradise that is Waikaremoana. It is a book about flyfishing, but it is far more than that, it is also about a region of our country that is aptly called the “Jewel of the Ureweras”. Set in New Zealand’s biggest native forested National Park, it contains a treasure of flora and fauna that does include introduced species, trout of course being one of them. Waikaremoana has a plethora of spectacularly beautiful scenery, the much vaunted ‘clean green’ image of our country is alive and well here and I have included this aspect throughout the book. The book has 120 colour photos spread over its 220 pages as well as a collection of Bird-Art prints by gifted artist Joyce Griffin. Yes, this book is about flyfishing, but it is specifical...

Miles Rushmer Bay of Plenty Miles is our North Island Trophy expert, over the year Miles has helped his clients onto numerous huge trout. In fact he's one of the most prolific guides for producing trophy fish in the country. These are mostly Browns but some Rainbows too. Prime time for fishing for these huge fish is January - June each year so if you fancy a monster then Miles is your man. Read about Miles's experiences here: One Hundred Pounds of Brown Trout or have a look at some of the photo's on these pages ; You'll be impressed...

A recent question: I have noticed that I am missing a few strikes lately. Am i striking to hard???? Or maybe too slow?? And it sometimes goes like that and you can miss strikes for no apparent reason. Sometime the hook just doesn't connect, or doesn't connect with anything very solid and pull free. If you’re using an indicator strike as quickly as possible because it dips when the fish has the fly in it's mouth and any delay gives it time to reject the fly. But an indicator isn't fool proof, for instance if a fish turns and follows the nymph downstream then takes it, the indicator won’t necessarily ‘indicate’ immediately because everything is traveling in the same direction downstream, likewise the nymph can land downstream of the indicator so in effect there’s slack in the tippet between nymph and indicator so there’s a delay before the indicator ‘indicates’ as the slack is taken up. In both situations it gives the fish time to reject the fly.... At other times...

Every now and again something really useful turns up; Waste tippet and leader material is such a pain, you stick it in your pocket and everything gets tangled in it. Here's an innovative solution: The Monomaster is an innovative new fishing tool that is a Must Have for every angler. This handy tool is small and lightweight and collects all the waste line that you generate when changing flies or rigs. Hang from a fishing vest, in your pocket, or tackle box. Monomaster provides an easy and environmentally sound solution. No more tangles in your waders, pockets, or tackle box. To empty simply open up and cut through with scissors and put in the waste bin

Traditionally as we learn to fly fish we tend to fish just one fly as it avoid tangles. As we progress and our casting improves it allows many more options. The benefits of the different types of dropper When using a Dry it acts as an indicator Using a heavy 'bomb' to sink a smaller more natural sized nymph into the fishes zone. ie Tongariro style One fly can act as an attractor, ie a gold bead head nymph to bring the fish over for a closer look allowing it to take the nearby more natural imitation It gives the fish the choice, noting that your first cast is often the most likely to catch a fish, showing the fish two eatable offering increases the chance that he'll take one or other of them Types of Droppers; The easiest and most common is the Dry with a Nymph tied off the bend of the dries hook. This is a pretty full proof method and covers the two options of water surface and water column. The Dry also works as an indicator so larger visible flies like a Royal ...

I learnt a lesson the other day, a pretty simple one really, after spending time fishing in windy conditions with not much success with fish being easily spooked we got a day with no wind! - But we were still spooking fish, not getting the hook ups - time to do something different..... With no wind we could lengthen the leader substantially by adding longer and lighter tippet sections. Watching the results the leader was landing much more softly on the water and a long way ahead of the fish while the floating line was also well out of the way.....end result was we started catching fish again. Several little clues to what has happened here; Firstly the weight of the leader landing on the water appeared at times to be spooking fish. We had been using shorter heavier leaders to help cast into the wind on previous days. Secondly the fish seemed to be seeing the floating line at times if the cast wasn't spot on. That had certainly been the case on the windy days when accuracy wa...

I was reminded of this the other day. I was first shown this by one of my guiding clients many years ago and it's a great way to carry long leaders set up ready to go, and it has a nice little release trick too so read on; Long leaders cause quite a few problems as we start out fly fishing, and for visiting anglers whom may normally use much shorter leaders. It can be frustrating getting all that leader out to start casting, getting it caught in anything and everything..... The easiest way to carry them on your rod is to hook your fly onto a guide a comfortable reach up your rod, (the longer the leader the further up it needs to go) keeping the leader tight bring the leader back down and hook it around the reel foot, then wind in the slack line onto your reel. Care needs to be taken not to twist the leader. This means that now as you walk up the river spotting fish you are ready for almost instant action. As soon as a fish is spotted, lift the leader off from around the reel...

One of the local High Country farmers came into the shop during the week, one of the things he was after was some indicators......Indicators, crikey I smiled to myself, you've got more indicators walking around your paddocks than I could possible ever sell...... I showed him the knot and he was set, just had to catch one of his sheep.... Now there are many creative indicators systems in use out there, all the old hands have their favourite. But it's hard to beat a bit of wool. This is the knot I use, just a half hitch, you pull it tight then make an extra loop which you fold over the wool too, this acts as a lock, keeps all in place. This knot is less likely to break than the slip knot style. Trim the wool to size and away you go. To take it off, pull the wool apart at one end, generally but not always that will open the knot.   from my newsletter archive

Here's a little tip I find very useful in general sight fishing but particularly when casting to fish close to willows, over hanging grass etc. I find I can cast time and time again to the same fish, missing willows by centimeters, by having the line land at exactly the right length. Here's how you do it. Simply, your line hand is your ruler, by maintaining a firm grip of the line in the one spot, you'll know with each subsequent cast the line will only go a certain distance. It may fall back closer to you or the leader may not fully extend, but if there's a willow 5 cms beyond your fly you'll never hook it - as long as you maintain your grip in the same place. If your first cast is a little long strip in as the fly drifts back, as the line reaches the right length grip the line in that spot and the next cast will be the right length. Even when you need to strip quite a bit of line, you can still keep a grip at that same spot, use your other fingers for strippin...