n orange hot head woolly bully in brown pulled across the top of the shallow weed beds, deep gutters and drop offs proved the undoing of both the above fish.The Airflo Clear Camo Intermediate fly line is perfect for this type of fishing as it blends right into its surroundings. The ultra supple Camo Core and clear PU coating blend to create a suppleness making it perfect for gentle presentation and a distinct lack of knotting on a hand twist retrieve, even on the coldest of days.

My son Louie and I decided we needed a back country fix and planned a day on a local river that we hoped would fish well after some recent heavy rain. This time of year sees some good numbers of browns begin their migratory runs into the head water streams on their annual spawning pilgrimage and we hoped to encounter some fit, well conditioned browns and the odd rainbow too !

Several of my local rivers have good populations of these large carnivorous nymphs and I have had some success fishing artificial patterns over the years. Ive used large Hare and Coppers over the past few seasons, along with several fly patterns I’ve created my self that have produced the odd fish here and there. Martins DVD gave me some inspiration to try some materials I’d had sitting on my tying desk for some time and never really had any use for !

Semperfli's synthetic rabbit adds a new dimension to many traditional flies and will not water-log like traditional rabbit zonker strips making it much easier to cast. The below pattern is one that Louie has recently tied for when we get out of the ‘ lock down’ period and we can get back out into the rivers !

This was Laurent’s 6th trip to New Zealand fly fishing and probably the trickiest in regards to the river conditions and weather. The lower South Island had been hammered by record flooding back in early December then again a week before he arrived with some rivers reaching flows never before seen since records have been kept ! The beauty of the Multi-Day trips is we have the flexibility to move around based on what the river conditions and weather systems are doing.

With the recent break in the weather and a little bit of sunshine cicadas have begun to show up …finally ! And as per usual Ive left the filling of my Terrestrial fly box until the very last minute, despite having all winter free to do it ! I always enjoy sitting at the vice cutting out foam, prepping rubber legs and making wings out of varying materials dependent on the type of cicada pattern your wanting to imitate.

I have been over twice now with Louie in the past month and seen several behemoth Rainbow trout caught by the canal walls both times the water clarity has been poor due to all the rain we received in May and the flows were very high we were told by other anglers. It seems to be the time to catch the big Rainbows as they get ready to spawn, many of them head up the canals to the intake gates perhaps triggered by their natural instincts as the gates are beginning to be opened more as winter approaches ?,

So my last fish for 2018 on was a perch ! A first me on the fly , we’ve hooked a few whilst trolling the lake from the boat but never caught one on the fly. The New Zealand Perch came from the Tasmanian stock that were brought out from England in the 1870s . They are well established in both Otago and Southland and prefer the slower moving moving and still water habitats where they feed mainly on common bullies, inanga, smelt and fresh water cray fish.

The team at Swift Fly Fishing have produced a stylish leather wallet handcrafted in Europe by master craftsman Tuby Muchlow who hand cuts and stitches each wallet from genuine cows hide, then lines them with sheep's wool. The wallets are generous in size (13cm-25cm) and securely hold around 30 fairly large streamers. I particularly like the fact the wallets are open ended allowing the flies to breath if put away wet or damp, I will often open the wallet completely after a day on the water and place it on the dash of my truck in the sun if required.

The abbreviation "ABR" stands for Abrasion Resistance, which is gained through a variety of heat & pressure treatments. Stroft ABR has the same strength characteristics as Stroft  GTM but is made from a more abrasion resistant material - It is slightly stiffer and harder than Stroft GTM (soft and more supple) making it an excellent choice for turning over bigger nymphs and dries.

It has a very user friendly "horizontal" fold down work bench and internal elastic dividers which keep every thing neat and tidy preventing things rolling around inside the pack. I opted for the smaller 10L version over it's bigger 27L brother as I was after something for when I fish with my Switch rod over the winter months and not venturing to far from my 4WD, as all I needed was something to hold a couple of spools of tippet ,fly boxes and a leader wallet.....this is perfect !

So after 30 years of fishing on the Clutha river I finally caught my first Clutha river trophy rainbow trout ! A cold grey old day with fog shrouding the river greeted me as I pulled into a favourite stretch of the Clutha river, just outside of my home town of Wanaka . A stretch where I've seen several big fish sitting on a drop off over the winter months for the past 20 + years, but have never managed to entice one to eat my flies !

Im still relatively new to the double hander fly fishing scene and am learning more and more each time I venture out. I have really begun to realise the importance of the speed of the fly as it swings across the current and into the view of a fish. Fishing over the winter months here in Central Otago region on the bigger rivers such as the Clutha and Makarora usually means targeting migratory fish, fish that aren't usually actively searching for food. For this reason it is important to get the flies in their faces and most hits are more out of aggression than hunger, so getting your fly down and having it swing at the correct speed becomes very important. Below are a few ways in which you can slow down the swing of the fly making it look more appealing and keep it in there faces for longer !

Today is the final day of our South Island back country rivers being open for fly fishing. Lakes Wanaka, Hawea and Wakatipu are open to fish all year round as a others a little further afield with Lakes Benmore and Aviemore springing to mind as a couple of favourite winter destinations to fly fish so still  plenty of fishing for those brave enough to venture out.

Below are a few of the reasons why I think they are quite possibly the best fly box on the market at present and nothing really comes close in my opinion. Its silicone slit storage system holds flies like no other fly box I have ever owned , no more open your fly box to find all the heavier tungsten weighted nymphs rolling around inside only to drop out when you open the box.

We don’t always get to fly fish the rivers and streams we want here in New Zealand when the weather gods throw a curve ball at us , sometimes we have to fall back on plans A,B,C and D. Still waters are always a great option when all seems lost and are over looked by many anglers. I thoroughly enjoy stalking fish along the lake margins and try to get out as often as possible throughout the season.

We all want that shot of our New Zealand trophy trout right ? But the welfare of the fish should always be the first thing on our minds once we have hooked, played and netted it. Here are a few tips for handling trout, getting a quick photo then carefully releasing them. The shorter the time they are a out of the water the better ! Using a lager soft mesh or rubber net helps prevent fin/gill damage as the fish isn't jammed in as you net it and also protects the skin of fish once netted. I use a McLean short handle Large net that easily attaches to my Simms fly fishing vest.

Back water cruiser :  Most of the rivers in Southland today we're carrying extra water as well as being slightly coloured after some heavy rain that fell overnight. We hit today's river and focused our attentions on it's backwaters and side channels where we found quite a few fish taking refuge from the heavier water in the main rive

An amazing day guiding Josh from Tasmania today on a fantastic wee Southland stream well known for its fussy brown trout. Right from the first run of the day the fish we're on the chew ! The river had previously been very low and the water temperature was high making fishing pretty bloody tough !

A few days chasing rainbows in the rain with Chris and Fabian. Lots of dry fly action over the days with around 20 + fish up to 5lb wetting the net , along with the odd sneaky brown too !